With respect to heat-treating furnaces, there are a number of special-purpose types, including:
  • Continuous slab and billet heating furnaces
  • Electron-beam surface-treatment equipment
  • Induction heating systems
  • Laser heat-treating equipment
  • Quartz tube furnaces
  • Resistance heating systems
  • Rotating finger furnaces
  • Screw conveyor furnaces
The following information summarizes the different processes that can be used in each type of equipment.

Bell furnace –Application uses: Aging, Bluing, Hardening, Nitriding, Solution Heat Treatment, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Box furnace –Application uses: Aging, Annealing, Carburizing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Normalizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Car-bottom furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Carburizing, Hardening, Homogenizing, Malleabilizing, Normalizing, Spheroidizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Cloverleaf furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Normalizing, Tempering

Continuous slab furnace –Application uses: Carburizing, Homogenizing, Solution Heat Treatment

Conveyor furnace –Application uses: Austempering, Annealing, Brazing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Homogenizing, Spheroidizing, Tempering

Electron-beam furnace –Application use: Hardening (surface)

Elevator-hearth furnace –Application uses: Aging, Annealing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Fluidized bed furnace –Application uses: Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Nitriding, Nitrocarburizing, Steam Treating, Tempering

Humpback furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Brazing, Hardening, Stress Relieving, Sintering

Induction furnace –Application uses: Hardening, Tempering

Integral-quench furnace –Application uses: Austenitizing, Annealing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Nitrocarburizing, Normalizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Ion furnace –Application uses: Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Nitriding, Nitrocarburizing

Laser furnace –Application use: Annealing

Monorail furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Hardening, Normalizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Pit furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Bluing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Homogenizing, Nitrocarburizing, Nitriding, Normalizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Steam Treating, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Pusher furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Metallizing, Nitrocarburizing, Normalizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Sintering, Spheroidizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Quartz tube furnace –Application uses: Hardening, Sintering

Resistance heating furnace –Application uses: Aging, Annealing, Carbonitriding, Hardening, Normalizing, Stress Relieving

Roller-hearth furnace –Application uses: Bluing, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Normalizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Spheroidizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Rotating finger furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Hardening, Normalizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Rotary-hearth furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Austempering, Carbon Restoration, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Tempering

Salt bath furnace –Application uses: Austempering, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Martempering, Nitrocarburizing, Normalizing, Tempering

Screw conveyor furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Hardening, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Shaker-hearth furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Hardening, Normalizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Split furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Stress Relieving

Tip-Up furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Hardening, Malleabilizing, Normalizing, Spheroidizing, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Vacuum furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Brazing, Carbon Deposition, Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Degassing, Hardening, Nitrocarburizing, Normalizing, Solution Heat Treatment, Sintering, Stress Relieving, Tempering

Walking-beam furnace –Application uses: Annealing, Hardening, Normalizing, Sintering, Stress Relieving, Tempering