The invention relates to a method for sintering carbon bodies (16) in a furnace comprising at least a first furnace chamber (11) for receiving the carbon bodies, which are accommodated in a packing material (23), the carbon bodies being arranged between lateral chamber walls (12, 13, 21) of the furnace chamber, and the furnace chamber serving to form a preheating zone V, a heating zone H provided with a heating device, and a cooling zone A, wherein a packing material (23) made, at least in part, of a highly heat-conductive material is used.

Moving metal strips can be heat treated with any number or combination of dimensionally variable tempers across widths, lengths, or thicknesses of a metal strip. To provide dimensionally variable heat treatment, an apparatus can include one or more heating units suitable to increase the temperature of a metal strip moving proximate the apparatus to a heat treatment temperature. The apparatus can also include one or more cooling units positioned near the heating units to absorb heat and cool the metal strip to minimize the amount of heat transferred from a first region of the metal strip that is to be treated to a second region of the metal strip that is not to be treated.

Example systems include a vacuum chamber enclosing a pouring cup and a platform configured to support a casting assembly. The casting assembly is configured to hold a plurality of joinable components and a mold defining at least one mating groove configured to join at least two joinable components of the plurality of joinable components when occupied with a metal or an alloy. Each respective mating groove is fluidically connected to a respective surface opening of a plurality of surface openings defined by the mold. The pouring cup and the respective surface opening are movable relative to each other by moving at least one of the pouring cup or the platform supporting the casting assembly to substantially align the pouring cup with the respective surface opening. The pouring cup is configured to pour a respective volume of molten metal or alloy in at least two surface openings.

A method for opening up electrochemical energy storage devices in connection with a subsequent recovery of valuable materials contained therein as secondary raw materials, in which method the energy storage devices are opened up by a thermal treatment system to remove the electrolytes and reactive substances, before the thermally treated material is subjected to processing, whereby secondary raw materials in the thermally treated material are separated from one another. The thermal treatment is performed in an indirectly heated furnace under atmospheric pressure conditions or a slight overpressure relative to the ambient pressure of up to 20 mbar in a reducing atmosphere, and influence is exerted on the course of the thermal treatment process via the reducing atmosphere, as a control variable. Furthermore, a thermal treatment system is described for removing electrolytes and reactive substances in electrochemical energy storage devices and consequently for pyrolytic opening.

A machined ceramic article having an initial surface defect density and an initial surface roughness is provided. The machined ceramic article is heated to a temperature range between about 1000 C. and about 1800 C. at a ramping rate of about 0.1 C. per minute to about 20 C. per minute. The machined ceramic article is heat-treated in air atmosphere. The machined ceramic article is heat treated at one or more temperatures within the temperature range for a duration of up to about 24 hours. The machined ceramic article is then cooled at the ramping rate, wherein after the heat treatment the machined ceramic article has a reduced surface defect density and a reduced surface roughness.

A heater and/or cooler chamber includes a heat storage block or chunk. In the block a multitude of parallel, stacked slit pockets are each dimensioned to accommodate a single plate shaped workpiece. Workpiece handling openings of the slit pockets are freed and respectively covered by a door arrangement. The slit pockets are tailored to snugly surround the plate shaped workpieces therein so as to establish an efficient heat transfer between the heat storage block or chunk and the workpieces to be cooled or heated.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for cooling hot articles, in particular an apparatus for homogeneous, contactless cooling of hot, primarily non-endless surfaces; the cooling apparatus has at least one cooling blade or a cooling cylinder; the cooling blade or cooling cylinder is embodied as hollow and has a cooling blade nozzle edge or a plurality of cooling cylinders arranged in a row; in the nozzle edge at least one nozzle is provided, which is aimed at an article to be cooled; and at least seven cooling blades are arranged in such a way that the flow pattern on the surface to be cooled forms a honeycomb-like structure; and to a method therefor.

An electrode plate heating device includes a box; two roller groups installed in the box, where the two roller groups are spaced apart along a first direction, and each roller group includes at least one first guide roller for the electrode plate to be alternately wound around all the first guide rollers in the two roller groups successively; and a heating assembly installed in the box and configured to heat the electrode plate after coated.

A fuel tank producing apparatus that allows the thickness of a resin on the surface of a tank container to be uniform and that is capable of improving the curing quality of the tank container. The fuel tank producing apparatus includes a conveyor for conveying the tank container, a plurality of heating chambers for heating the tank container during the conveyance, a cooling furnace for cooling the tank container at a position downstream of the plurality of heating chambers in the conveying direction, a gas supplier for supplying gas to the plurality of heating chambers, a plurality of nozzles for blowing the gas supplied from the gas supplier onto the surface of the tank container in the plurality of heating chambers, and a plurality of plug heaters for heating the gas between the gas supplier and the plurality of nozzles.

A dual annealing apparatus and use thereof for precision annealing of an article are provided. In one aspect, an annealing apparatus includes: a first heating plate opposite a second heating plate; a first cooling source associated with the first heating plate; and a second cooling source associated with the second heating plate, wherein the first heating plate and the second heating plate are independently controllable, and wherein the first cooling source and the second cooling source are independently controllable. A method for annealing an article using the annealing apparatus is also provided.