Projects
DSTO 1600°C Tube Furnace
Brief
Design a 1600°C tube furnace with a 260mm internal diameter tube, 3 zone heating to control a pressurised tube at 1600°C with ±5°C control uniformity throughout the tube with a length of 400mm at 1300°C.
Additional
It must have 3 zoned heating and allowed multi-staged controls to work in a slave master sequence to run a 29 step profile temperature sequence and control nitrogen flow through sealed end caps into the tube.
Problems to overcome
To have a ceramic tube which could hold a stable temperature at 1600°C without cracking due to thermal shock and support the weight of a 300kg tube inside and heat the inside of the tube to 1600°C with a wall thickness of the ceramic alumina tube 30mm thick.