Wire Annealing Furnace

This furnace has been specifically designed for annealing wire. The furnace has twelve open ended tubes to feed wires and features an inert gas system ( flammable gas system available as well) that is designed and adjusted to use pressure differentials to prevent air from entering the furnace tubes and chamber. A unique temperature gradient is created on either side of the high uniformity hot zone, capable of maintaining operating temperatures of 2000C. The top and bottom flanges adapt to a wire feed system (wire feed & pick-up).

Major parts: Chamber and hot zone Gas system Power supply & controls Water system Utilities

Wire annealing furnace chamber

Chamber and hot zone

The chamber is designed to accommodate twelve feeding wires. The twelve wires will pass first through a stainless steel guide tube located at the top. After exiting this zone the wire will move into the higher (2000^oC) temperature furnace. Once the wire has passed through this uniform temperature zone, the wire will enter the cooling zone at the bottom with a new temperature gradient.

The furnace chamber is double walled, rectangular, and is fabricated with stainless steel. The furnace chamber is welded and polished.

The Hot Zone is a round design using a Tungsten Mesh Heating Element and Tungsten & Molybdenum Refractory Shielding (other materials available). The usable, uniform, +/-5^oC hot zone is 2.75" ID X 20.0" long and is designed to easily reach a temperature of 2000^oC. This heat zone arrangement allows for fast heat up and cool down, allowing daily shut-down with minimal down-time due to heat-up or cool-down periods.

Water-cooled power feed throughs are supplied to bring power to the heating element.

Hot zone temperature is measured by a Type "C" thermocouple. An optional pyrometer can be used as well using the sight window as the sight path.

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Power supply and controls

To provide power to the hot zone an SCR Power Controlled is supplied. This power supply and hot zone is designed to accommodate a high ramp rate to operating temperature in Hydrogen or Inert Gas to minimize startup times.

All instruments, contactors, transformers and controllers are mounted in a single space saving enclosure. The main stepdown transformer to supply power to the heating elements has extra power and is provided with two voltage taps to match the element resistance as it ages. A set of water cooled power cables supplies the power to the heating elements from the main step down transformer. A set of Amp and Volt meters allows monitoring of the power usage.

The furnace temperature is controlled by a Eurotherm digital and programmable temperature controller using a Type "C" thermocouple to measure temperature.. Multiple temperature profiles can be stored to simplify running different processes. The temperature controller will use a two color pyrometer as the temperature measurement.

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Process gas system

The furnace system displayed here was designed to operate in an Inert Gas environment, but can also be outfitted for operation with flammable gasses. The standard positive pressure in this furnace is 1/2-1 P.S.I.G. A relief valve and a compound gauge are located on the top of the furnace body.

The gas system is designed and adjusted so a pressure differential keeps air from flowing into the wire feeding tubes and chamber. Gas flow rates are controlled using the flow meters on the control panel. An oxygen monitor with audible alarm is used to monitor the amount of oxygen present in the chamber. Once the gas purge is complete and oxygen content is low enough, heat can be applied. If during any time the oxygen level inside the chamber exceeds a preset level, an alarm will sound and the hot zone power will be shut off. An emergency gas system also is supplied in the event the regular gas supply fails.

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Water cooling manifold

The water manifold provided with this system is designed to adequately cool the furnace and power cables. To insure proper flow, a water flow switch will be installed with a light for visual indication. In the event water flow is disrupted for more than 5 seconds when the furnace is operating, power will be disconnected from the heating elements. The water manifold has several circuits supplying water to the various parts of the furnace. Each one of these can be manually adjusted to allow each circuit just the proper amount of flow to save water and allow a drain temperature of approximately 100F.

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Utilities

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