Historically, a muffle furnace was designed to ensure any material being heat treated was isolated from the combustion fuel to combat contamination by ash, gas fumes or soot. Once electrical heating elements were introduced, those by-products were eliminated and today the terms “muffle“ and “chamber” are interchangeable.
Our comprehensive high-quality muffle furnace range is manufactured to exacting standards ensuring long-term durability. These bench-mounted or larger floor-standing muffle chamber furnaces can reach temperatures of up to 1800°C [3272°F] and have been developed over the last 80 years by the highly qualified engineering team at Carbolite Gero.
Our long history of manufacturing furnaces for customers around the globe has ensured that the Carbolite Gero name is synonymous with ‘Leading Heat Technology’, and that a significant proportion of our muffle furnace product line manufactured almost 30 years ago is still in use thanks to regular preventative maintenance and servicing.
Whatever your available budget, we have a quality solution that will exceed your expectations; delivering rapid ramp times, outstanding temperature uniformity, intuitive touch-screen control and numerous optional extras, including integral balances [for thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and loss on ignition (LOI) applications], and afterburners for removing excessive smoke and noxious fumes during the heat treatment process.
Our extensive portfolio virtually guarantees there is an appropriate standard solution that will meet your needs, but for more unique applications, our bespoke design service allows us to meet almost any customer requirement.
A muffle furnace is a heating device that meets the precise temperature control and temperature uniformity requirements of laboratory work. It is a standard piece of equipment in many labs, used for a wide range of applications such as ashing or heat treatment of materials. Muffle furnaces are also known as chamber furnaces or box furnaces.
Muffle furnaces are available with a range of maximum temperatures. The maximum temperature is dependent on the type of heating elements used in the construction. The most common have metallic wire heating elements with a maximum temperature in the range of 1000°C to 1200°C. Muffle furnaces with silicon carbide heating elements can achieve 1600°C and with molybdenum disilicide heating elements can achieve 1800°C.
Muffle furnaces can be used for a wide range of applications that include ashing, heat treatment of materials, annealing, calcination, loss on ignition analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, quenching, and sintering.
The time required for a muffle furnace to reach maximum temperature is dependent on a number of factors including the size of the furnace, the maximum power available, and the material used in the construction of the furnace. A small laboratory scale furnace with low thermal mass insulation can reach maximum temperature in as little as 20 minutes, whereas a larger scale furnace using dense refractory materials may take several hours to reach maximum temperature.
