Important Information Regarding The Furnace
A device commonly used for heating is called a furnace. The word comes from the Latin word fornax, which means oven. These structures have been around for centuries. What is thought to have been the earliest form of this structure was excavated in Pakistan. At its prime, the device was probably used to manufacture ceramics. American and Canadian English use the word furnace to describe a household-heating device. In British English, this type of device is termed a boiler or heater and the term furnace is assigned to describe an industrial furnace.
There are different types. These devices vary in shape, size, purpose and fuel supply. The primary types: household, metallurgical, industrial process and outdoor wood-fired boilers.
A household furnace is a type of major appliance. Generally they are permanently installed in a home. Within the United States, natural gas is used to fuel these devices. Other fuel sources include liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oil, wood and coal. There are three primary components: controls and safety devices; blower and air movement; and burners, heat exchanger, venting and draft inducer. Modern structures can be classified as condensing or non-condensing, depending upon their ability to extract heat from exhaust gases.
These household structures provide heat through the intermediary movement of hot water, steam or air. When the heat is distributed through a system that uses hot water or steam, it is often called a boiler. An advantage of this type of system is that it elements the need for a separate water heater because it can provide the hot water necessary for a household. A disadvantage is that when the structure breaks down, no heating and domestic hot water will be available. Devices that use air convection can circulate air around the house and pull back cold hair to be reheated. The air is circulated through ductwork. An advantage of this system is that a central air conditioner can be easily installed by adding a cooling coil.
In metallurgy, several specialized structures are used. Some are used for smelting. An example is the blast furnace, which can reduce iron ore to pig iron. There are also steelmaking furnaces such as puddling, basic oxygen and electric induction. Metallurgical devices are often used in foundries to remelt metal. Some can heat treat metal for slitting and rolling mills. Vacuum furnaces can heat metal materials for brazing, sintering and other processes.
An industrial furnace may provide heat for a specific process. It can also be a reactor. These structures will vary in appearance. This is because they have variable functions, heating duties, fuel types and the methods of adding combustion air.