High-temperature manufacturing furnaces get "greener"

Using high-temperature microwave furnaces to shape and bond metal or ceramic powders is "greener" than using conventional gas and electric furnaces.

So said Arizona-based Spheric Technologies today, which also noted that its new units' smaller physical and carbon footprints also result in lower production and operation costs.

According to Joseph Hines, chairman of Spheric Technologies, using microwave furnaces to sinter materials "cuts energy use up to 80% and reduces processing time by 90% while creating high-quality end products with finer grain and increased density, strength and corrosion resistance."

Spheric cited several examples of organizations who've benefited from sintering using a microwave furnace. These include:

• Japan's National Institute of Fusion Science, where sintering time dropped 75 percent to 2 hours; the energy consumed was apparently reduced to 63 KWh from 335 KWh and the electricity cost was halved.
• Britain's Loughborough University, where large-part alumina sintering time was reduced to 8 hours from 3 days, resulting in a 90 percent energy consumption reduction, down to 1.2MWh.

Microwave use is growing in Japan, China, India and Europe, the company said.

"Further, significant advances in the production of high-value metal powders like titanium are dramatically lowering their cost, making microwave sintering of these materials an affordable and highly desirable production method."

Spheric recently installed a microwave furnace in its Phoenix, Arizona-process development center. The unit is to allow the company to provide on-site processing of customer materials instead of having them shipped to Spheric's facility in China.

"Using microwave to sinter powdered metals, advanced ceramics and ceramic/metal alloys, we have processed components for use in fuel cells, electronics, aircraft, autos, firearms and more,” said Spheric's executive vice president Michael Kirksey. "The range of industries that can benefit from high-temperature microwave sintering is staggering."

Spheric is the exclusive licensee of microwave sintering patents from the Penn State Research Foundation, Pennsylvania State University’s intellectual property arm.