Industry
Research & Development – Laboratory Furnaces and Climatic Chambers for R&D
Research and development needs thermal systems that scale with the experimental scope — from the first sample in a tube reactor to the pilot batch in a chamber furnace. NTH Therm provides the complete spectrum with the flexibility R&D requires.
Thermal Systems for Research and Development
Research and development needs thermal equipment that thinks along with the project. In early development phases, small batches, maximum flexibility and easy accessibility matter most. As scale-up progresses, reproducibility, process transferability and documentation move to the foreground.
NTH Therm offers thermal systems for every development phase — from the first sample in a tube furnace to the pilot batch in a chamber furnace — combined with climatic test chambers for characterising materials and components under environmental influence.
IBF Table-Top Furnaces – Compact, Precise, Versatile
IBF laboratory furnaces are the universal tools of the R&D laboratory. Compact construction for bench or under-bench operation, fast heat-up times, good accessibility via the front door, intuitive touch HMI.
Typical R&D applications:
- Materials characterisation at defined temperatures
- Heat treatment of small samples (metallography, hardness measurement)
- Ceramic sintering (laboratory scale, sample pellets, small components)
- Burnout and calcination of precursors
- Drying and bake-out of samples before analysis
- Short-duration annealing trials for process optimisation
Available temperature ranges: depending on configuration up to 1100 °C or up to 1300 °C. Forced-air option for uniformity even in low-temperature processes.
TH1 Tube Furnaces – Atmosphere Control in the Reactor Tube
The TH1 tube furnace is the workhorse of the synthesis laboratory. The heatable reactor tube (quartz, corundum, special materials) enables the precise atmosphere control that many material synthesis reactions require.
Applications:
- Reduction annealing under H2/N2 or pure H2 (metal powders, catalysts)
- Oxidation annealing under defined O2 partial pressure
- Inert gas treatment under Ar or N2 (oxidation-sensitive materials)
- Atmosphere synthesis: solid-state reactions under precisely set gas environments
- Carbonisation (carbon materials, under N2 to 1300 °C)
- CVD-like processes with controlled precursor gas streams
- Wet-chemically prepared layers on supports (catalysts, electrodes)
Gas management: inlet and outlet with flange, combination of multiple gases via mass flow controllers (MFC), downstream exhaust aftertreatment.
Climatic Chambers for Materials Characterisation
Materials and components are characterised in the R&D phase under environmental conditions corresponding to the later application. ACS climatic chambers enable:
Accelerated Ageing Tests Instead of waiting months for a material to age under normal climate, temperature, humidity and cycles are combined in climatic chambers so that years of ageing effects are induced in a few weeks — for polymers, adhesives, coatings, battery cells.
Temperature Cycling Tests Solder joints, potting compounds, hybrid modules and coated substrates are tested for their resistance to thermomechanical stresses through rapid temperature changes.
Corrosion Behaviour Combination of elevated humidity and temperature simulates corrosion conditions for new materials and surface protection coatings.
Material Development for E-Mobility and Energy Storage New cathode and anode materials, electrolytes and separators are electrochemically characterised under controlled temperature conditions.
Scale-Up from Laboratory to Pilot Production
The step from laboratory to pilot production is critical: processes that work perfectly in a tube reactor can yield different results in a chamber furnace. NTH Therm supports this transfer:
Phase 1 (Laboratory / tube furnace): Determine process parameters (temperature, time, atmosphere, heating rate)
Phase 2 (Small chamber furnace ICF / multi-door furnace IRF): Batch scale-up, influence of furnace atmosphere and uniformity
Phase 3 (Production furnace): Full process validation, reproducibility, economic calculation
NTH Therm advises on selecting appropriate systems for each phase and supplies all systems from one source — for coherent, traceable process development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What distinguishes laboratory furnaces for R&D from production furnaces?
R&D laboratory furnaces are designed for small batches, high flexibility and maximum reproducibility. Important features: precise temperature control with fine resolution, good accessibility for samples and thermocouples, atmosphere capability (gas connections, gas management) and compact construction for laboratory use. IBF laboratory furnaces and TH1 tube furnaces meet these requirements.
How is a defined gas atmosphere realised in a tube furnace?
TH1 tube furnaces are equipped with a ceramic or quartz tube with flanges and connection pieces for gas inlet and outlet on both sides. Oxygen content, gas mixtures (H2/N2, CO/CO2, Ar+H2) and pressurisation can thereby be set precisely. For high-purity atmospheres, additional gas scrubbers and oxygen sensors are used.
Can NTH Therm supply furnaces with data logging for scientific documentation?
Yes. All NTH Therm furnaces can be supplied with PLC-based recording of all process parameters (temperature, time, atmosphere). For higher requirements: process visualisation with historical data recording, export functions for scientific evaluation and FDA 21 CFR Part 11-compatible recording on request.
From what batch size does it make sense to transition from laboratory to production furnaces?
The boundary is fluid. IBF laboratory furnaces are suitable up to approximately 5–10 kg charge mass; TH1 tube furnaces for samples up to approximately 2 kg. From pilot batches of 10–50 kg, small chamber furnaces (ICO, ICF small sizes) or the multi-door furnace IRF are the next step. NTH Therm supports this scale-up process.