Can customized laboratory rotary furnaces be used for ashing experiments?

Customized laboratory rotary furnaces can be used for ashing experiments, and their principles and structural characteristics are highly compatible with the needs of ashing experiments. Moreover, customized design can further optimize experimental results.

1. The core requirement of ashing experiment
The ashing experiment uses high-temperature burning to completely oxidize and decompose the organic matter in the sample, generating gases such as carbon dioxide and water that evaporate, and the remaining inorganic matter (ash) is used for subsequent analysis. The key requirements include:
Uniform heating: Avoid local overheating that may cause splashing or incomplete ashing of the sample.
Atmosphere control: Some experiments need to be conducted in an inert atmosphere (such as nitrogen) or an oxidizing atmosphere (such as air).
Temperature accuracy: Accurate temperature control is usually required within the range of 500-600 ℃, and some experiments may require higher temperatures.
Sample adaptability: It is necessary to handle samples in different forms such as powder and particles, and prevent sample adhesion or agglomeration.

2. The core advantages of laboratory rotary furnaces
Dynamic mixing and uniform heating
The rotary furnace rotates the furnace body to continuously roll the sample inside the furnace, ensuring uniform heating and avoiding local overheating or incomplete ashing caused by sample accumulation in traditional muffle furnaces. For example, in the heat treatment of lithium battery materials, a rotary furnace can make the powder material heated more evenly and react more fully, which is also applicable to ashing experiments.
Flexibility in atmosphere control
Customized rotary furnaces can be equipped with multi atmosphere control systems, supporting the introduction of different atmospheres such as nitrogen, argon, air, etc., to meet the requirements of ashing experiments for oxidizing or inert environments. For example, when analyzing samples containing volatile elements such as mercury and lead, inert atmosphere protection can be used to reduce element loss.
Temperature accuracy and stability
By adopting a PID intelligent control system, precise temperature control (± 1 ℃ to ± 5 ℃) can be achieved to ensure stable ashing process at the set temperature. Some high-end models also support temperature gradient programming to meet the ashing curve requirements of different samples.
Wide adaptability of samples
The furnace tube of the rotary furnace can be customized with materials such as quartz, corundum, or heat-resistant alloys to adapt to the chemical properties of different samples. For example, quartz furnace tubes are resistant to high temperatures and have good chemical stability, making them suitable for handling acidic or corrosive samples; The corundum furnace tube is suitable for alkaline samples at high temperatures.

3. Customized design optimization for ashing experiment
Optimization of furnace structure
Tilt angle adjustment: By customizing the tilt angle of the furnace body (such as 3% -6%), the residence time of the sample in the furnace can be controlled, optimizing the ashing efficiency.
Design of furnace tube inner wall: Add baffles or spiral structures to enhance the rolling effect of the sample and prevent clumping.
Heating method selection
Resistance heating: suitable for most ashing experiments, with a wide temperature range (room temperature to 1200 ℃).
Induction heating: Fast heating speed, suitable for scenarios that require rapid ashing.
Safety and Environmental Design
Exhaust gas treatment system: Integrated activated carbon adsorption or wet scrubbing device to treat harmful gases (such as SO ₂, NO ₓ) generated during the ashing process.
Overtemperature alarm and automatic power-off: prevent equipment damage or safety accidents caused by temperature loss of control.

4. Experimental case support
Ashing of food and plant samples
In food analysis, ashing method is commonly used to determine the total ash content. The uniform heating characteristics of the rotary furnace ensure complete ashing of the sample, avoiding the problem of incomplete ashing caused by sample accumulation in traditional muffle furnaces. For example, a study used a rotary furnace to ash tea samples and found that the ash recovery rate was 5% -10% higher than traditional methods.
Ashing of lithium battery materials
In the development of positive electrode materials for lithium batteries, such as LiCoO ₂, residual organic compounds or impurities in the materials need to be analyzed through ashing experiments. The dynamic mixing function of the rotary furnace ensures uniform heating of materials and improves analysis accuracy.
Environmental sample ashing
In the analysis of heavy metal content in soil or sludge samples, ashing experiment is a key step in pretreatment. The inert atmosphere control function of the rotary furnace can prevent the loss of volatile heavy metals (such as mercury) and improve the reliability of analysis results.