A reactor furnace for coating fiber tow includes an elongate reactor having a fiber tow inlet and a fiber tow outlet; a thermo-chemical reactor section positioned along the elongate reactor; a first microwave source for directing microwave energy along the reactor from a first end of the reactor toward a second end of the reactor; a second microwave source for directing microwave energy along the reactor from the second end of the reactor toward the first end of the reactor; a gas inlet upstream of the thermo-chemical reactor; and a gas outlet downstream of the thermo-chemical reactor.

Provided are a method and apparatus for refining titanium scraps and sponge titanium, which can remove oxygen from a melt by supplying a deoxidizing gas to the surface of the melt in order to refine titanium scraps and sponge titanium. The method for refining titanium scraps and sponge titanium comprises supplying hydrogen ions and electrons in plasma to a titanium melt to remove oxygen from the titanium melt surface having an oxide layer formed thereon. In addition, the apparatus comprises: a vacuum chamber; a crucible located in the vacuum chamber and configured to perform melting by the magnetic field of an induction coil in a state in which a melt and the inner wall of the crucible; a calcium gas supply means configured to supply calcium gas from the bottom of the crucible to the space between the inner wall of the crucible and the melt.

In a heater unit for a carburizing furnace that carburizes a workpiece, a heater that heats a furnace atmosphere; and a heater supporting member that reflects radiant heat of the heater are provided, in which a heat generation part of the heater is attached to the heater supporting member, and a heat generation body composing the heat generation part is formed in a bellows shape.

A direct current plasma arc furnace includes a tank having a crucible delimiting a chamber to receive material to be melted and/or treated; refractory walls surrounding the crucible outer surface; a metallic frame covering the refractory walls; and a heating system for heating the received material. The heating system includes two electrodes acting as cathode and anode, respectively, wherein the first electrode is a movable electrode to project vertically into the chamber. The crucible is part of an anode system also having the second electrode and at least one part connecting the crucible and second electrode. The crucible receives and holds material to be melted and/or treated and provides electric conduction for the flow of current to heat the material, such that the voltage potential difference between the cathode and any point of the crucible surface defined to be in contact with the material is the same.

Disclosed is a heating system for molten metal handling devices, examples of which are troughs, launders and other vessels. The heating system may include a refractory containment body, heater assembly, a containment shell and a thermal inducing interface between the heater assemblies and the containment shell and/or refractory body.

An apparatus for detecting ground faults in a multifurnace installation with at least two induction furnaces and a multifurnace installation are described. A ground-fault sensor is associated with each induction furnace and is connected to the electrical supply line to the induction furnace coil. Furthermore, the apparatus has a ground-leak sensor. Moreover, the apparatus includes an additional ground-fault sensor that measures at the same location as the ground-leak sensor. In this manner an improvement of security during the operation of the system is obtained.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a heating furnace that sufficiently exhibits the microwave effect produced by microwave heating and allows economical heating taking advantage of the characteristics of each heating method. The provided microwave composite heating furnace (1) is equipped with: a housing (10); a heating container (11) for accommodating and heating an object to be heated; a heating means (12) for heating the heating container (11) from the outside; a microwave irradiation device (13); a to-be-heated object supplying device (14) that supplies the object to be heated to the inside of the heating container (11); a gas introducing means (15) for introducing gas into the heating container (11); and a gas recovery means (16) for recovering the gas generated when heating the object to be heated. The heating container (11) comprises a material that has high electrical conductivity so as to reflect microwaves and confine the microwaves inside and that has high heat resistance so as not to react with the heated object, thereby confining microwaves irradiated into the heating container (11) not through the outer wall of the heating container, and allowing an improvement in electromagnetic field density.

A sintering apparatus is provided. The sintering apparatus includes a case having an internal space formed therein and including a door provided in a front portion thereof to open and close the internal space, a magnetron coupled to the case and oscillating microwaves toward the internal space, a heat insulating unit disposed in the internal space to form a chamber space and blocking transmission of heat of the chamber space to the internal space, a susceptor unit disposed in the chamber space and having a sintering space in which a to-be-sintered material is accommodated, and a cooling unit cooling at least one of the case or the chamber space.

A tunnel oven and associated method for the heat treatment of friction elements, and in particular braking elements such as brake pads is provided. The friction elements are arranged on a resting surface of a conveyor device, are moved between an inlet opening and an outlet opening of the tunnel oven, and are heated by irradiation by at least one heating device. The heating device includes a radiating plate made from stainless steel arranged facing the conveyor device and heated by electromagnetic induction using at least one inductor arranged facing the radiating plate and spaced apart therefrom on the side opposite to the conveyor device. A cooling air flow for the braking elements between the resting surface and the radiating plate is directed in counterflow to a feeding direction of the conveyor device.

A heating element for use in a system for melting materials during the production of a glass or ceramic material is disclosed. A method for melting materials during the production of a glass or ceramic material is also disclosed. The heating element comprises a first coupling member configured to couple to a first side of the interior of a melt tank; a second coupling member configured to couple to a second side of the interior of the melt tank; and at least one elongate strip extending between the first coupling member and the second coupling member. The at least one elongate strip is integral with the first coupling member and the second coupling member. The heating element is configured such that during a heating operation, current flows between the first coupling member and the second coupling member of the heating element, along the at least one elongate strip to thereby radiate heat to materials located within the interior of the melt tank.