Tube Furnaces
The LECO Cornerstone TF Tube Furnaces are versatile, energy-efficient resistance furnaces designed for baking crucibles to reduce contaminants that would interfere with analytical results.
Features
- Long-life molybdenum disilicide heating elements have an operating temperature range of 800°C to 1350°C
- Integrated digital furnace controller displays set point or actual temperature and provides overtemperature protection
- TF4 Quad Tube Furnace system has six heating elements
- Allows operator to burn off crucibles in four combustion tubes for demanding, high-volume installations supplying two to four units
- TF2 Dual Tube Design has four heating elements
- Efficiently supplies lower volume installations of one to two systems
The table below illustrates the impact of preheating 528-018 Crucibles on carbon and sulfur results of a high purity iron reference material certified at 5 ppm carbon and 2 ppm sulfur (1250°C for 15 min).
| Analysis # | Baked | Not Baked, Not Touched | Baked, but Touched | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C ppm | S ppm | C ppm | S ppm | C ppm | S ppm | |
| 1 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 3.1 | 40.1 | 3.9 |
| 2 | 4.6 | 2.0 | 12.3 | 3.8 | 24.4 | 3.7 |
| 3 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 11.5 | 3.2 | 24.6 | 3.5 |
| 4 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 12.5 | 3.2 | 22.9 | 3.8 |
| 5 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 12.8 | 3.8 | 34.4 | 3.3 |
| 6 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 12.6 | 3.8 | 22.8 | 4.4 |
| 7 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 11.6 | 4.1 | 41.5 | 3.8 |
| 8 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 18.5 | 2.3 | 21.6 | 3.7 |
| 9 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | 3.9 | 32.5 | 4.2 |
| 10 | 6.0 | 1.6 | 16.0 | 4.2 | 31.4 | 4.3 |
| Average (ppm) | 5.0 | 2.0 | 13.3 | 3.5 | 29.6 | 3.9 |
| Standard Dev. | 0.75 | 0.45 | 2.20 | 0.59 | 7.40 | 0.34 |
The new furnace design and increased crucible capacity use 60% less energy than the previous models for significant savings in operating costs. The chart below exhibits the differences in operating costs while operating the various systems at 1350°C, considering continuous operation with a full load of crucibles.
