What is the difference between a tube furnace and a resistance furnace?

There are significant differences between tube furnaces and resistance furnaces in multiple aspects. The following is a detailed explanation of these differences:
Structural differences:

Tube furnace: composed of pipes and brackets, with heating elements inside the pipes, usually curved resistance wires or electric heating alloy wires. The bracket is used to support the pipe and serves as insulation and heat dissipation.
Resistance furnace: It is a closed metal container with resistance wires inside and insulation materials wrapped outside. The upper part has an opening for taking out heated items.
Principle difference:
Tube furnace: Using heating elements inside the tube to generate heat and transfer it to the heated object, thus achieving the purpose of heating.
Resistance furnace: Using the electric heating effect of resistance wires to convert electrical energy into thermal energy, and transfer the thermal energy to the heated object.
Differences in scope of use:
Tube furnace: mainly suitable for heating slender items such as pipes, wires, cables, etc. Due to the limitations of the tube structure in a tube furnace, the heated object must be shorter than the tube, otherwise it is difficult to heat uniformly.
Resistance furnace: Without this limitation, it can heat objects of various shapes, such as block, plate, ball, etc.
Differences in heating efficiency:
Due to the structure of placing heating elements inside the tubes of a tube furnace, its heating efficiency is not high.
The heating efficiency of the resistance furnace is high, and the heating speed is fast.
Structural characteristics and operation:
Tube furnace: compact structure, small footprint, easy operation, equipped with advanced temperature control system, capable of achieving precise temperature control.
Resistance furnace: Compared to tube furnace, resistance furnace is usually larger in volume, but in some applications, such as handling large objects, it may be more suitable.
Application field:
Tube furnace: widely used in material processing, chemical synthesis, experimental research and other fields, such as metal smelting, ceramic sintering, glass melting, etc.
Resistance furnace: commonly used in the mechanical industry for heating before metal forging, metal heat treatment heating, brazing, powder metallurgy sintering, glass ceramic baking and annealing, etc.

In summary, there are significant differences between tube furnaces and resistance furnaces in terms of structure, principle, scope of use, heating efficiency, structural characteristics and operation, as well as application fields. When selecting heating equipment, users should choose the type that suits them according to their actual needs.