Methods and apparatuses for continuous, large scale, commercially viable production of nanoforests. A roll-to-roll process passes a flexible substrate, including fibers and fabrics, through a furnace. Precursors are introduced in a growth zone in which a vertical or horizontal nanoforest of nanotubes or nanowires is grown on the substrate. Sensors and actuators with feedback control are provided for parameters such as substrate speed, substrate tension, furnace temperature, precursor flow rate, nanoforest thickness, and nanoforest. The furnace is preferably enclosed for environmental and safety purposes. The feed roll and take-up roll are disposed in housings can be attached to the furnace via airlocks, which enables rapid loading and unloading of the rolls using techniques well known in the industry while maintaining furnace conditions. The furnace can encompass flattening rollers and a second growth zone to enable manufacture of orthogonal nanoforests comprising a vertical nanoforest grown on a horizontal nanoforest.

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.

A process oven includes a housing structure with a conveyor system configured to carry product through a housing structure from a first opening to a second opening. A perforated flame holder is positioned within the housing structure and configured to apply, to the product, thermal energy released by a combustion reaction held by the perforated flame holder.

A continuous heating furnace includes a furnace main body, a conveyance unit configured to convey a baking object W in the furnace main body, a plurality of heating sections heated by combustion, each having a first radiation surface configured to be heated by combustion and transfers heat to the baking object conveyed by the conveyance unit and arranged in the conveyance direction of the baking object in the furnace main body, and a cooling preheater having a second radiation surface configured to receive radiant heat from the baking object when being opposite to the baking object conveyed by the conveyance unit and a gas flow path configured to preheat a gas used for combustion in the heating section by the heat from the second radiation surface.

A method and plant for the thermal treatment of friction elements including a convective heating step which is performed within a convective tunnel oven. The friction elements are arranged laid, in an orderly manner, upon a plurality of trays each tray having a perforated resting plate upon which the friction elements are laid in a position next to one another only, but not overlapped. The trays are piled on top of each other whilst being kept distanced from one another in a stacking direction by an amount that is greater than the thickness of the friction elements. Groups of piled up trays containing the friction elements are arranged side by side on belt conveyor means that pass through the tunnel oven in order to transport the friction elements therethrough.

Methods and apparatuses for continuous, large scale, commercially viable production of nanoforests. A roll-to-roll process passes a flexible substrate, including fibers and fabrics, through a furnace. Precursors are introduced in a growth zone in which a vertical or horizontal nanoforest of nanotubes or nanowires is grown on the substrate. Sensors and actuators with feedback control are provided for parameters such as substrate speed, substrate tension, furnace temperature, precursor flow rate, nanoforest thickness, and nanoforest. The furnace is preferably enclosed for environmental and safety purposes. The feed roll and take-up roll are disposed in housings can be attached to the furnace via airlocks, which enables rapid loading and unloading of the rolls using techniques well known in the industry while maintaining furnace conditions. The furnace can encompass flattening rollers and a second growth zone to enable manufacture of orthogonal nanoforests comprising a vertical nanoforest grown on a horizontal nanoforest.

Disclosed is a firing furnace for firing an electrode of a solar cell element, which is provided with: a transfer member, which transfers a substrate having a conductive paste applied thereto; a heating section, which heats the substrate and fires the conductive paste; and a cooling section, which cools the heated substrate. The furnace is also provided with a heating means for heating the transfer member. Specifically, at the time of firing the electrode paste using the wire-type firing furnace, since a wire is fired at a temperature substantially equivalent to the ambient temperature of the heating section, deterioration of yield due to having the electrode damaged by a deposited material of the metal component of the conductive paste is suppressed, said deposited material being deposited on the wire, and the wire-type firing furnace can be continuously used.

A method for ventilating an oven configured to cure a binder bonding mineral fibers placed on a conveyor, the oven including, in series on the path of the conveyor, an inlet, a plurality of heating chambers and an outlet, the method including a procedure in which a predictive model for estimating an amount of pollutants is used.

A device for heat treatment is provided. The device includes at least one processing chamber arranged in an elongated housing having a heating device and having a transport system for continuous transport of material to be treated through the processing chamber. The transport system has two parallel endless conveyor belts spaced from each other and a plurality of cylinders made of quartz glass that bridge the distance between the conveyor belts. The cylinders are supported on these belts and the material to be treated is supported on the cylinders for the heat treatment. The cylinders are designed as twin tubes, formed by two tubular compartments separated from each other by an intermediate partition. Each tubular compartment has a longitudinal axis and is connected rotation-free at its end with the conveyor belts.

A method and plant for thermally treating braking elements after a forming step, including a convective heating step at 150-300 C. and a infrared irradiation heating step, immediately in succession one relative to the other. A tunnel convection furnace is crossed by at least a first conveyor belt which translates along a first direction and on an upper face of which the braking elements are placed, is arranged laterally adjacent, with respect to the first direction, to an infrared heating tunnel furnace crossed by a second conveyor belt which translates along a second direction, parallel and opposite to the first one, and on an upper face of which the braking elements are placed. The first conveyor belt is larger than the second conveyor belt, and the braking elements appear in multiple side-by-side rows in a transverse and oblique direction with respect to the first and second directions. Robots placed at the opposite ends of the furnaces transfer the braking elements from the first conveyor belt to the second one or vice versa to a first end of the furnaces and place them on the first conveyor belt or second one to a second end of the furnaces being opposite to the first one, so as to change at will the sequence in which the infrared and convective heating steps are performed.