What are the applications of Hybrid Furnaces?

The Hybrid Furnace, which integrates tube furnace and box furnace, combines the continuous processing capability of tube furnace with the static heating advantage of box furnace. It is suitable for scenarios that require atmosphere control, high temperature uniformity, and flexible process switching. Its main application areas are as follows:

1. Material synthesis and sintering
Ceramic materials:
Tube furnace modules are used for the synthesis of nano ceramic powders (such as titanium dioxide nanoparticles), while box furnace modules enable the sintering of large ceramic components, ensuring temperature uniformity and reducing the risk of cracking.
Metal powder metallurgy:
A tube furnace is filled with reducing gas (such as hydrogen) to activate metal powder, and a box furnace is used for high-temperature pressing and sintering to improve material density and performance.
compound material:
By combining the rapid heating of the tube furnace with the long-term insulation of the box furnace, gradient heat treatment of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites is achieved.

2. Metal heat treatment
Annealing and quenching:
Tube furnaces are used for continuous annealing of small metal workpieces (such as stainless steel strips), while box furnaces are used for quenching processes of large workpieces (such as gears) to prevent oxidation through atmosphere protection (nitrogen/argon).
Carburizing and nitriding:
The surface hardening is achieved by introducing carburizing agents (such as methane) into the tube furnace, and the toughness treatment of the core area is carried out in the box furnace to improve the wear resistance and fatigue resistance of the parts.
Aerospace aluminum alloy melting:
A hybrid furnace design similar to Inductothers, with tube furnace modules for melting and box furnace modules for insulation, supporting rapid switching production of multiple varieties of aluminum alloys.

3. Chemical Industry and New Energy
Catalyst preparation:
A tube furnace is used to reduce supported catalysts (such as platinum/alumina) in a hydrogen atmosphere, while a box furnace is used for phosphorus modification of molecular sieves to optimize catalyst activity and selectivity.
Lithium battery materials:
The positive electrode material (such as lithium cobalt oxide) is calcined in a tube furnace, and the negative electrode material (such as graphite) is processed in a box furnace to improve the battery cycle life through precise temperature control.
Gas processing:
Tube furnace removes oxygen from raw gas (such as synthetic ammonia production), and box furnace dries sensitive gases (such as electronic grade hydrogen) to ensure process purity.

4. Semiconductors and Electronics
Crystal growth:
Thin films (such as silicon-based materials) are deposited by tube furnace CVD method, and wafers are annealed in box furnace to reduce defect density.
Encapsulation testing:
Vacuum packaging chips in tube furnaces and aging tests in box furnaces to simulate reliability in extreme environments.

5. Research and Education
Material characterization:
University laboratories use tube furnaces to synthesize new inorganic materials (such as perovskite solar cell materials), and box furnaces to conduct high-temperature phase transition research (such as intermetallic compound synthesis).
Graduation thesis experiment:
Students can use temperature control programs to achieve multiple heating curves and explore the performance changes of materials at specific temperatures (such as measuring thermal expansion coefficients).

6. Environmental Protection and Energy
Analysis of flue gas:
Box furnace simulates high temperature environment, detects the conversion efficiency of catalyst for nitrogen oxides (NOx), and optimizes denitrification process.
Biomass pyrolysis:
Inert gas is introduced into the tube furnace for rapid pyrolysis, while the box furnace collects biochar and analyzes its pore structure to improve energy utilization efficiency.