What is the difference between a muffle furnace and an atmosphere furnace？

Both muffle furnaces and atmosphere furnaces are commonly used heating equipment in laboratories and industrial production, but they have some structural differences. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two heat treatment equipment!

A commonly used atmosphere furnace (click on the image to view product details)

Working principle:
A muffle furnace is a closed furnace body with a hot zone inside for placing samples, which is called a muffle. A muffle furnace usually uses resistance heating or radiation heating, with heating elements located around the hot zone outside the furnace to evenly transfer heat to the sample inside the furnace.
An atmosphere furnace is a heating treatment equipment specifically designed to control the atmosphere environment, typically used for purposes such as atmosphere regulation, protection, and modification. An atmosphere furnace can be heated in different atmospheres such as nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen to achieve specific process requirements. Compared to the muffle furnace, gas path and vacuum system technology have been added, and some components have been added.

Application scenario:
The muffle furnace is mainly used for high-temperature heating treatment of samples, such as annealing, sintering, heat treatment, etc. It is usually suitable for laboratories, research institutions, and some industrial production scenarios.
The atmosphere furnace is mainly used for heating treatment in specific atmosphere environments, such as heat treatment, sintering, synthesis and other processes in nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and other atmospheres. It is suitable for metal processing, material preparation, electronic device manufacturing and other fields.

Functional features:
The muffle furnace mainly provides high-temperature heating function, and the sample is placed in the hot zone inside the muffle for heating treatment. It is usually suitable for heating treatment processes that do not require special atmosphere environments.
In addition to providing high-temperature heating function, the atmosphere furnace can also achieve functions such as protecting, modifying, and synthesizing samples by adjusting the atmosphere environment. It is suitable for heating treatment processes that require specific atmosphere environments.

The commonly used muffle furnace has fewer sealing systems and vacuum atmosphere systems compared to atmosphere furnaces
(click on the image to view product details)

So, there are certain differences in the working principle, application scenarios, and functional characteristics between muffle furnaces and atmosphere furnaces. The selection of appropriate heating equipment should be based on specific processing requirements and process requirements.Click to learn more Atmosphere Furnace! Or click on online customer service to learn more about product information!