A glass body manufacturing apparatus includes: a first heating furnace including a furnace core tube accommodating the soot and a first heater, to supply a dehydration gas into the furnace core tube and heat the soot at a first treatment temperature lower than a softening point of the porous portion by the first heater; a second heating furnace including a structural body accommodating the soot and a second heater, to heat the soot at a second treatment temperature equal to or higher than the softening point by the second heater; and a conveyance container, connectable to each of the first and second heating furnaces while keeping airtightness with respect to the atmosphere, to accommodate and hold the soot, and convey the soot between the first and second heating furnaces.

A rapid thermal processing method and a rapid thermal processing device are provided. The rapid thermal processing method includes the following operations. A wafer is provided. A first heating operation is performed on the wafer to heat the wafer to a first temperature. The wafer is controlled to start rotating. The first temperature is maintained for a first predetermined time. A second heating operation is performed on the wafer to heat the wafer from the first temperature to a second temperature, and the second temperature is maintained for a second predetermined time. A third heating operation is performed on the wafer to heat the wafer from the second temperature to a third temperature, and the third temperature is maintained for a third predetermined time.

An impedance heated continuous emission monitoring system has a first terminal of an electric power source connected to an input end of a tube communicating an emissions stack with an emissions analyzer and a second terminal of the electric power source connected to an output end of the tube. An electric current produced by the electric power source flows through the tube and heats the tube by impedance. Heating the tube maintains the temperature of the emissions travelling through the tube from the stack to the emissions analyzer above a dew point temperature of the emissions.

The invention relates to a method and to a device for stabilizing precursor fibers for the production of carbon fibers. In the method, precursor fibers are first heated to a first temperature and held at the temperature for a predefined duration. Subsequently, the precursor fibers are heated to at least one second temperature, which is higher than the first temperature, and held at said temperature for a predefined duration. During each heating and between the heating steps, the precursor fibers are in a gas atmosphere having a negative pressure in the range between 12 mbar and 300 mbar and having an oxygen partial pressure of 2.5 to 63 mbar. The device has at least one evacuable, elongate vacuum chamber for feeding the precursor fibers through, at least two lock units and at least one heating unit. At least one lock unit is used for the sealed insertion of precursor fibers into the at least one vacuum chamber, while at least one other lock unit is used for the sealed removal of precursor fibers from the at least one vacuum chamber. The heating unit has at least two individually controllable heating elements, which are suitable for heating the at least one vacuum chamber to at least two different temperatures in heating zones which are adjacent in the longitudinal direction.

A reactive heat treatment apparatus is provided to treat a thin-film device. The reactive heat treatment apparatus includes a furnace pipe. The furnace pipe extends in a direction and has a first end and a second end. The furnace pipe further includes a high-temperature portion, a low-temperature portion, and a furnace door. The high-temperature portion is disposed close to the second end and configured to receive the thin-film device. The low-temperature portion is disposed close to the first end and provided with an airtight configuration. The furnace door is disposed close to the first end. An inner side wall of the low-temperature portion has a sunken portion. A height differential is formed between the sunken portion and an inner side wall of the high-temperature portion.

A continuous nitriding treatment furnace includes a nitriding chamber, a heater, a first nitriding zone, and a second nitriding zone lower in atmosphere gas temperature than the first nitriding zone by 25° C. to 150° C., the continuous nitriding treatment furnace being configured such that an atmosphere gas in the first nitriding zone flows into the second nitriding zone and being configured to execute a nitriding treatment that forms an iron nitride compound layer composed of an ε phase or of the ε phase and a γ′ phase on a surface of the steel member in the first nitriding zone and precipitates the γ′ phase in the iron nitride compound layer in the second nitriding zone.

An annealing line for a steel strip, a device for use in such an annealing line and a method for annealing a steel strip. The annealing line including a connecting chamber connecting a first heating section and a second heating section, wherein one or more devices, located in the connecting chamber, are arranged on one or both sides of the steel strip for oxidising the steel strip using an oxidising gas mixture, each device having a body including an internal chamber and one or more openings to project the oxidising gas mixture onto the surface of the steel strip.

In a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet manufacturing process of processing a steel slab having a predetermined composition to a final sheet thickness and then performing primary recrystallization annealing and nitriding treatment, the nitriding treatment is performed in at least two stages of temperatures including high-temperature nitriding and low-temperature nitriding, and a residence time in the high-temperature nitriding is 3 seconds or more and 600 seconds or less. In this way, nitrogen is efficiently diffused into the steel of the steel sheet before secondary recrystallization to precipitate AlN. Such a method can manufacture a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet having excellent magnetic property.

A finish heat treatment apparatus for an iron powder. Raw iron powder is placed on a continuous moving hearth and continuously charged into the apparatus. In a pretreatment zone, the raw iron powder is subjected to a pretreatment of heating the raw iron powder in an atmosphere of hydrogen gas and/or inert gas at 450 to 1100° C. In decarburization, deoxidation, and denitrification zones, the pretreated iron powder is subsequently subjected to at least two treatments of decarburization, deoxidation, and denitrification. In the pretreatment zone, a hydrogen gas and/or an inert gas serving as a pretreatment ambient gas is introduced separately from an ambient gas used in the at least two treatments is introduced from the upstream side of the pretreatment zone and released from the downstream side so as to flow in the same direction as a moving direction of the moving hearth.

A continuous annealing furnace for annealing steel strips that is a vertical-type annealing furnace is configured so that part of gas inside the furnace is drawn and introduced to a refiner disposed outside the furnace including an oxygen removing apparatus and a dehumidifying apparatus, oxygen and moisture contained in the gas are removed to lower the dew point of the gas, and the gas having a lowered dew point is put back into the furnace. At least one gas inlet through which gas is drawn from the furnace into the refiner is disposed in the vicinity of the entry side of the furnace at a distance of 6 m or less in the vertical direction and 3 m or less in the furnace-length direction from the steel-strip-introduction section located at the lower part of the heating zone.