The Howe Furnace

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The Howe Furnace

• The Howe furnace, on semi-permanent loan from
  Leicester University, is a vanadium foil vacuum
  furnace capable of 1100C. It has been modified
  with a vanadium sample well separating the sample
  and furnace vacuum spaces. Samples are typically
  held in an open vanadium can suspended on the end
  of a sheathed thermocouple.

vanadium heat shields
vanadium sample well
vanadium element
pedestal and thermocouple
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The Howe Furnace Modified for Atmospheres

• To accommodate a user requiring a flow of
  reactive gas through the sample, the Howe furnace
  was modified with a fused silica tube outfitted
  with a coarse quartz frit to hold the powder
  sample. The gas, along with sheathed
  thermometry, are attached to the fused silica
  tube with stainless Swagelok fittings.

A professional scientific glassblower installed
the quartz frit into the fused silica tubes while
the rest of the modifications were done by IPNS
staff.
type K thermocouple
fused silica wool
stainless steel Swagelok feedthroughs
sample
coarse quartz frit
type K thermocouple
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The Howe Furnace Modified for Atmospheres
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The Howe Furnace Data