A heat treatment device includes: a heat treatment chamber which accommodates an object to be treated; a cooling gas supply unit which supplies a cooling gas into the heat treatment chamber; a cooling gas circulation unit which circulates the cooling gas in the heat treatment chamber; and a gas purge unit which gas-purges, with an inert gas, a portion in which there is a possibility of mixing of the cooling gas supplied into the heat treatment chamber and an oxygen gas, in which the cooling gas supply unit supplies a hydrogen gas into the heat treatment chamber as the cooling gas.

A heat treatment device includes: a heat treatment chamber which accommodates an object to be treated; a cooling gas supply unit which supplies a cooling gas into the heat treatment chamber; a cooling gas circulation unit which circulates the cooling gas in the heat treatment chamber; and a gas purge unit which gas-purges, with an inert gas, a portion in which there is a possibility of mixing of the cooling gas supplied into the heat treatment chamber and an oxygen gas, in which the cooling gas supply unit supplies a hydrogen gas into the heat treatment chamber as the cooling gas.

Heat shrink wrap product packaging oven or tunnel apparatus and processing methods are provided which incorporate or utilize airfoils in conjunction with hot air-providing side walls to desirably control impact of hot air onto a product wrapped with a tube of heat shrink wrap film and being conveyed on a conveyor thereby. In such heat shrink wrap product packaging apparatus and methods, such airfoils can be movable, e.g., rotatably moveable, relative to the side walls to vertically alter an air impact point onto the product.

Heat shrink wrap product packaging oven or tunnel apparatus and processing methods are provided which incorporate or utilize airfoils in conjunction with hot air-providing side walls to desirably control impact of hot air onto a product wrapped with a tube of heat shrink wrap film and being conveyed on a conveyor thereby. In such heat shrink wrap product packaging apparatus and methods, such airfoils can be movable, e.g., rotatably moveable, relative to the side walls to vertically alter an air impact point onto the product.

A heat-treating furnace has: a rotary shaft; a rotary bottom surface pivotally supported by the rotary shaft and rotates; a plurality of workpiece storage chambers arranged on the rotary bottom surface in a multi-stage torus configuration around an axis of the rotary shaft as a center; a hollow bell-shaped hot-blast guide disposed in a center of the torus configuration on the rotary bottom surface around the axis of the rotary shaft as a center so as to decrease a volumetric capacity in the furnace and to adjust a quantity of a hot blast fed in from above itself into the workpiece storage chamber on each stage; a furnace body bottom surface spaced away from the rotary bottom surface; and a furnace body lateral surface disposed on the furnace body bottom surface.

A heat-treating furnace has: a rotary shaft; a rotary bottom surface pivotally supported by the rotary shaft and rotates; a plurality of workpiece storage chambers arranged on the rotary bottom surface in a multi-stage torus configuration around an axis of the rotary shaft as a center; a hollow bell-shaped hot-blast guide disposed in a center of the torus configuration on the rotary bottom surface around the axis of the rotary shaft as a center so as to decrease a volumetric capacity in the furnace and to adjust a quantity of a hot blast fed in from above itself into the workpiece storage chamber on each stage; a furnace body bottom surface spaced away from the rotary bottom surface; and a furnace body lateral surface disposed on the furnace body bottom surface.

A furnace, and a method of firing it, wherein part of the fuel supplied to the furnace is produced from waste plastics by a depolymerisation process, waste heat from the furnace being used to promote the depolymerisation process. The furnace is equipped with regenerators for waste heat recovery and is fired alternately in first and second opposed directions, with the direction of firing periodically reversing between the first direction and the second direction. The supply of fuel to the furnace is temporarily interrupted while the direction of firing is reversing, means being provided to accommodate the fuel produced during the temporary interruption. The furnace may be used for producing glass.

A furnace, and a method of firing it, wherein part of the fuel supplied to the furnace is produced from waste plastics by a depolymerisation process, waste heat from the furnace being used to promote the depolymerisation process. The furnace is equipped with regenerators for waste heat recovery and is fired alternately in first and second opposed directions, with the direction of firing periodically reversing between the first direction and the second direction. The supply of fuel to the furnace is temporarily interrupted while the direction of firing is reversing, means being provided to accommodate the fuel produced during the temporary interruption. The furnace may be used for producing glass.

A shuttle kiln (100) according to certain aspects includes at least one flue channel (124) and multiple flue risers (122) in fluid communication with the flue channel (124), and at least one shuttle (104) defining multiple exhaust shafts (140) arranged above the multiple flue risers (122), wherein an aggregate volume of a first exhaust shaft/riser pair (140-1, 122-1) differs from an aggregate volume of a second exhaust shaft/riser pair (140-2, 122-2). Such configuration at least partially compensates for different backpressures that would otherwise be experienced by flue gas exiting a shuttle kiln cavity (138) through different exhaust shafts (140), thereby improving uniformity of flue gas flow and reducing temperature variability within a kiln cavity (138).

A shuttle kiln (100) according to certain aspects includes at least one flue channel (124) and multiple flue risers (122) in fluid communication with the flue channel (124), and at least one shuttle (104) defining multiple exhaust shafts (140) arranged above the multiple flue risers (122), wherein an aggregate volume of a first exhaust shaft/riser pair (140-1, 122-1) differs from an aggregate volume of a second exhaust shaft/riser pair (140-2, 122-2). Such configuration at least partially compensates for different backpressures that would otherwise be experienced by flue gas exiting a shuttle kiln cavity (138) through different exhaust shafts (140), thereby improving uniformity of flue gas flow and reducing temperature variability within a kiln cavity (138).