Personal projects / Materials & heat
Quartz-tube induction furnace
A quartz chamber and graphite supports explored as a compact induction-heating setup.
Open the numbered review →Chamber and heating experiments
Photos 72–80
A quartz tube held in the center of the induction coil, with a graphite platform on a firebrick support inside. The platform could slide in and out for loading samples, and the graphite was the material heated by induction. The tube eventually cracked. I considered the assembly too fragile and abandoned this design.
Another view of the quartz-tube experiment, showing more of the surrounding equipment. I recall sealing the tube at both ends and operating it under vacuum. After the quartz cracked, I decided the design was too fragile for the work I wanted to do.
Polycrystalline silicon chunks loaded for an exploratory heating trial. I wanted to see whether this setup could remelt them, but I did not establish a successful melt and suspected the furnace could not reach the temperature needed.
A graphite mold on a firebrick support during an induction-heating experiment. The graphite glowed orange, showing how readily this arrangement heated it. I used the hot graphite as a container and heat source for small melting trials.
A similar induction-heating trial with a smaller graphite crucible. I placed a second crucible upside down over it as a cover, hoping to reduce heat lost through moving air. The stacked shape reminded me of a little beehive.
Another view of the small covered-crucible experiment. The upper crucible acted as a lid while I explored ways to retain more heat around the sample during induction heating.