Application of High-Performance Carbon Fiber Insulation Materials in Industrial Furnaces
High-performance carbon fiber insulation materials offer significant advantages over traditional materials, as demonstrated below:
Characteristics | Traditional materials (ceramic fiber, refractory bricks, etc.) | High-performance carbon fiber composite materials | Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
Thermal insulation performance | Good, but prone to compression and settlement, leading to performance degradation | Excellent and stable, no powdering even after long-term use | More significant and longer-lasting energy-saving effects |
Mechanical Properties | Fragile, lacks structural strength, requires metal reinforcement | High strength-to-weight ratio and high modulus, suitable for structural components | Simplifies furnace design and achieves lightweight construction |
Thermal stability | Moderate thermal shock resistance; prone to cracking under rapid cooling or heating | Excellent thermal shock resistance, withstands rapid cooling and heating | Extended service life, suitable for intermittent furnaces |
Design flexibility | Isotropic, single-function | Anisotropic (e.g., in-plane thermal insulation, axial reinforcement) | Precise control of thermal field distribution |
Installation and maintenance | Heavy, difficult to replace, generates dust | Lightweight, modular design, easy to replace, dust-free | Reduce downtime and improve working conditions |
Intermittent high-temperature heat treatment furnace
Intermittent high-temperature treatment furnaces include aluminum alloy solution treatment furnaces for aerospace applications, titanium alloy forming furnaces, and high-alloy steel quenching furnaces. These furnaces require frequent door opening and closing, and the workpieces and racks inside the furnace are heavy, placing high demands on the load-bearing capacity and impact resistance of the furnace chamber bottom and side walls.
Traditional materials | Carbon fiber composite insulation materials |
|---|---|
The furnace chamber is typically constructed using heavy-duty refractory bricks or ceramic fiber modules combined with internal heavy-duty heat-resistant steel armor to protect the fiber and support the load. The entire system is extremely bulky, has high thermal inertia, heats up slowly, consumes a lot of energy, and the heat-resistant steel armor itself absorbs heat, leading to additional energy consumption. | 1. Use carbon fiber composite materials to manufacture large furnace bottom plates and lower furnace wall linings. These can directly withstand the weight of workpieces and material racks (thanks to their high strength) while providing top-tier insulation (thanks to their low thermal conductivity). 2. Directly manufacture high-temperature material trays and racks using the material. Its lightweight properties significantly reduce the absorption of "useless heat," accelerate heating rates, and reduce energy consumption during lifting and transportation. |
Value provided by carbon fiber composite insulation materials:
Significant energy savings: reduced thermal inertia, faster heating rates, and energy consumption reduced by 20-40%.
Improved production efficiency: Faster heating and cooling rates shorten process cycles.
Increased effective working space: Thinner yet stronger furnace walls increase the effective volume of the furnace chamber.
Extended service life: Excellent thermal shock resistance perfectly adapts to frequent hot-cold cycles.
Atmosphere-Protected Sintering Furnaces
Atmosphere-controlled sintering furnaces are used in applications such as polysilicon ingot furnaces for the photovoltaic industry, lithium-ion battery cathode material sintering furnaces, and high-end magnetic material sintering furnaces. These furnaces typically operate in inert gases or specific atmospheres, with stringent requirements for temperature uniformity (±3–5°C) and atmosphere purity.
Traditional materials | Carbon fiber composite insulation materials |
|---|---|
Multi-layer molybdenum, tungsten, or stainless steel radiation screens combined with graphite soft felt/hard felt. Metal radiation screens are heavy, expensive, difficult to install, and their high thermal conductivity can sometimes hinder the formation of an ideal temperature gradient. | 1. Designed with an extremely low thermal conductivity (perfect insulation) in the direction facing the heat source, while maintaining a certain thermal conductivity along the furnace axis. This allows precise guidance of heat flow, enabling the creation of specific temperature curves required by the process, and ensuring extreme uniformity within the heat zone. 2. Replace part of the metal support framework. Its lightweight and low thermal capacity characteristics eliminate heat absorption by metal components and the "thermal short-circuit" effect. |
Value delivered by carbon fiber composite insulation materials:
Atmosphere-controlled sintering furnaces are used in applications such as polysilicon ingot furnaces for the photovoltaic industry, lithium-ion battery cathode material sintering furnaces, and high-end magnetic material sintering furnaces. These furnaces typically operate in inert gases or specific atmospheres, with stringent requirements for temperature uniformity (±3–5°C) and atmosphere purity.
Improved product consistency: Unparalleled temperature uniformity directly enhances the quality and yield of sintered products.
Protects atmosphere purity: The material itself has low volatility and is non-contaminating, unlike some insulation materials that release impurities and contaminate the furnace atmosphere and products.
Precise control: Provides process engineers with a powerful tool to actively design the thermal field rather than passively adapt to it.
Vacuum high-temperature furnaces
Vacuum high-temperature furnaces include silicon carbide sintering furnaces (>2000°C), sapphire crystal growth furnaces, and ultra-high vacuum brazing furnaces. In a vacuum environment, heat cannot be dissipated through convection and is primarily transferred by radiation, imposing extremely stringent requirements on the stability and low volatility of insulation materials.
Traditional materials | Carbon fiber composite insulation materials |
|---|---|
These materials rely entirely on graphite hard felt/soft felt or carbon felt. After multiple high-temperature vacuum cycles, these materials undergo slow sublimation (mass loss), resulting in gradual thickness reduction, changes in density, and degradation of insulation performance. Regular monitoring and replacement are required. | 1. The entire insulation inner liner (insulation cylinder, top cover, and bottom plate) is made from high-performance carbon fiber composite materials. The specially treated fibers and interfaces significantly suppress mass loss rates at high temperatures, ensuring long-term stability of performance and dimensions. 2. Clips, bolts, and other fasteners used to secure the graphite heating elements feature high strength and a thermal expansion coefficient matched to graphite, ensuring reliable connections and preventing loosening due to thermal stress, which could cause arcing. |
Value provided by carbon fiber composite insulation materials:
Vacuum high-temperature furnaces include silicon carbide sintering furnaces (>2000°C), sapphire crystal growth furnaces, and ultra-high vacuum brazing furnaces. In a vacuum environment, heat cannot be dissipated through convection and is primarily transferred by radiation, imposing extremely stringent requirements on the stability and low volatility of insulation materials.
Extended service life: Extends the replacement cycle of thermal field components from months to years, significantly reducing maintenance costs and downtime.
Excellent process stability: Thermal field performance does not degrade, ensuring extremely high process repeatability between furnace cycles.
Safety and reliability: Eliminates the risk of short circuits caused by insulation layer powdering or collapse.