Daily maintenance of multi temperature zone rotary furnace for experimental use

The multi temperature zone rotary furnace used in experiments is a precision equipment that operates at high temperatures, rotates, and collaborates with multiple temperature zones. Daily maintenance is the key to ensuring its long-term stable operation, extending its service life, and ensuring experimental safety. The following systematically elaborates on the key points of daily maintenance from six aspects: cleaning and maintenance, component inspection, lubrication and maintenance, electrical system maintenance, safety protection, and record management:

1. Cleaning and maintenance
External cleaning of furnace body
Frequency: After the end of daily operations.
Method: Use a dry cloth to wipe the dust on the surface of the furnace body, avoid using wet cloths or corrosive cleaning agents, and prevent metal parts from rusting or electrical components from short circuiting.
Attention: When cleaning, turn off the power to avoid the risk of electric shock.
Internal cleaning of furnace tube
Frequency: After each batch of experiments or once a week (depending on usage frequency).
method:
After the furnace tube cools to room temperature, use a high-temperature resistant soft bristled brush or vacuum cleaner to remove residual materials.
For stubborn stains, anhydrous ethanol or specialized cleaning agents can be used to wipe them, avoiding the use of strong acids and alkalis to corrode furnace tube materials (such as quartz and ceramics).
Key areas: Sealing areas at both ends of the furnace tube and near the rotating bearings to prevent material accumulation from affecting sealing or rotational flexibility.
Gas pipeline cleaning
Frequency: Once a month or when changing gas types.
method:
Turn off the gas source, disassemble the pipeline and blow it with compressed air to remove dust or impurities.
Check whether the inner wall of the pipeline is oxidized or blocked, and replace the aging pipeline if necessary.
Safety reminder: Wear protective goggles when blowing to prevent foreign objects from splashing.

2. Component inspection
Sealing system inspection
Frequency: Before daily operation.
Content:
Check if the sealing ring of the furnace door flange is intact, without cracks or deformation.
For vacuum furnaces, a pressure holding test is required (evacuate to below 10 ⁻ Pa, hold for 10 minutes, pressure rise ≤ 10%).
Replacement standard: When the sealing ring hardens, cracks, or fails to seal, immediately replace it with a seal of the same model.
Heating element inspection
Frequency: Once a week.
Content:
Visually inspect the resistance wire, silicon carbide rod, or induction coil for breakage, oxidation, or poor contact.
Measure the resistance value of the heating element with a multimeter, and replace it if the deviation from the nominal value is greater than 10%.
Attention: When replacing the heating element, power off to avoid electric shock.
Rotating component inspection
Frequency: Before daily operation.
Content:
Check if the furnace tube rotates smoothly without any jamming or abnormal noise.
Measure the gap between the supporting wheel and the rolling ring to ensure uniformity (deviation ≤ 0.5mm).
Check the tension of the transmission chain, which should be able to manually rotate the chain by ± 15 °.
Maintenance measures: Supplement high-temperature lubricating grease (such as molybdenum disulfide) to components such as bearings and chains, and replace them every 3 months.

3. Lubrication and maintenance
Lubrication of rotating bearings
Lubrication points: supporting bearings and roller bearings at both ends of the furnace tube.
Lubricant: High temperature grease (temperature resistance ≥ 300 ℃).
method:
After stopping the machine, clean the old grease on the surface of the bearing and inject new grease with an oil gun until it overflows.
Avoid excessive lubrication to prevent grease from seeping into the furnace tube and contaminating the material.
Cycle: Every 100 hours of operation or once a month.
Lubrication of transmission chain
Lubrication point: the transmission chain between the drive motor and the furnace tube.
Lubricant: Chain specific lubricant (such as Shell Gadus S2 V220).
method:
Dip a brush into lubricating oil and evenly apply it to the pitch of the chain.
After running the equipment for 5 minutes, wipe off any excess oil stains.
Cycle: Every 50 hours of operation or once a week.

4. Electrical system maintenance
Electrical wiring inspection
Frequency: Once a month.
Content:
Check whether the wiring of heating elements, motors, sensors, etc. is loose or aged.
Use an insulation resistance meter to measure the insulation resistance of the equipment to ground (≥ 1 M Ω).
Safety measures: During inspection, power must be cut off and a warning sign reading ‘Do not close’ must be hung.
Temperature control system calibration
Frequency: Once every quarter.
method:
Insert a standard thermocouple (such as K-type) into the temperature measuring hole of the furnace tube and compare it with the temperature displayed on the equipment.
When the deviation is greater than ± 1 ℃, adjust the temperature controller parameters or replace the sensor.
Record: Calibration data needs to be archived as a basis for equipment accuracy traceability.
PLC and touch screen maintenance
Frequency: Once every six months.
Content:
Clean the dust from the cooling fan of the PLC module to ensure good ventilation.
Check if the communication cable between the touch screen and PLC is loose, and update the backup program.
Attention: Wear an anti-static wristband during maintenance to avoid damaging electronic components.

5. Security protection
Grounding and anti-static inspection
Frequency: Once a month.
method:
Use a grounding resistance tester to measure the grounding resistance of the equipment (≤ 4 Ω).
Check whether the metal components such as the furnace body and pipelines are reliably grounded through wires.
Improvement measures: When the grounding is poor, it is necessary to re lay the grounding wire or increase the grounding electrode.
Emergency stop function test
Frequency: Before each batch of experiments.
method:
Press the emergency stop button and observe if the equipment immediately stops running (heating, rotation, and gas supply are all interrupted).
After resetting the button, check if the device can start normally.
Record: The test results need to be recorded in the equipment operation log.
Inspection of protective equipment
Frequency: Once a week.
Content:
Check if high-temperature gloves, protective face masks, gas masks, etc. are intact.
Replace expired or damaged protective equipment (such as gas mask filter boxes that need to be replaced every 6 months).

6. Record management
Maintenance Record Form
Content: Record maintenance dates, maintenance items, replacement parts, abnormal situations, and handling measures.
Spare parts inventory management
Key spare parts: sealing ring, heating element, bearing, chain, thermocouple.
Inventory standard: The inventory of commonly used spare parts is ≥ 2 sets, and the inventory of vulnerable parts (such as sealing rings) is ≥ 5 sets.
Procurement cycle: According to the frequency of use, spare parts should be replenished every 3-6 months.

7. Special scenario maintenance
Long term disuse maintenance
Steps:
Clean the interior of the furnace and apply rust proof oil.
Evacuate the gas pipeline and close all valves.
Power on for 1 hour every month to prevent electrical components from getting damp.
Maintenance after treatment of corrosive materials
Steps:
Immediately rinse the furnace tube with deionized water to avoid residual corrosion of materials.
For components that come into contact with corrosive gases (such as gas valves), wipe them with neutral cleaning agents and apply anti rust paint.