Industrial furnaces provide heat for processes in steel, glass, and chemical industries. Fuel is burned in a burner, heating a radiant section with metal pipes containing heat transfer fluid (HTF). The convective section recovers additional heat, and a chimney expels exhaust gases while regulating heat loss.
An industrial furnace refers to equipment used to provide heat for a particular process or reaction. Industrial furnaces are indispensable devices for melting metals and other processes in the steel industry, for example. They are also used in glass making and chemical production. There are numerous models of industrial ovens, but most have some features and purposes in common.
In a typical industrial furnace, the fuel flows into a burner and is burnt with the help of an air blower driven through it. The burner flames rise to heat the radiant section of the hearth. This section is also known as the hearth. Along the walls of the radiant section there are metal pipes containing a fluid called heat transfer fluid (HTF). Industries commonly use their furnaces to heat this secondary fluid which is then transported around the plant wherever the heat is needed as part of production.
The use of HTF is particularly useful when the material to be heated is volatile or particularly sensitive to high temperatures. In addition to the pipes carrying HTF, the insulation covers the walls of a typical industrial oven, in order to avoid excessive heat loss. Above the radiant section is the convective section. It also has HTF pipes and is there to recover additional heat.
This part of an industrial furnace serves much the same purpose as the radiant section. The difference is in the lower temperature of the convective section and in the fact that heat is transferred by convection rather than radiation from the burning fuel. At the top of the convection section is a small hole called a sight glass. The light allows personnel to monitor the inside of the oven. An industrial oven must be monitored from time to time to ensure safe operation.
A common problem that can be detected through a sight glass is flame impingement. This occurs when the burner flames are too close to or touching the metal tube. With the impact of the flame, isolated points of very high temperature can occur, which can be dangerous if not remedied.
At the top of an industrial furnace is the chimney, a cylindrical structure that expels the exhaust gases from the furnace. The stack is needed to keep hazardous gases away from personnel, but it also serves another purpose. Inside the chimney is what is called a damper blade, a valve that regulates the amount of heat lost through the chimney. It also keeps the pressure inside the oven within a safe range for those working around it.
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