Experimental studies on radiation heat transfer enhancement on a standard muffle furnace

One of the sources of increased industrial energy consumption is the heating equipment, e.g., furnaces. Their domain of use is very wide and due to its abundance of applications it is key equipment in modern civilization. The present experimental investigations are related to reducing energy consumptions and started from the geometry of a classic manufactured furnace. During this experimental study, different cases have been carefully chosen in order to compare and measure the effects of applying different enhancement methods of the radiation heat transfer processes. The main objective work was to evaluate the behavior of a heated enclosure, when different radiant panels were introduced. The experimental investigation showed that their efficiency was influenced by their position inside the heating area. In conclusion, changing the inner geometry by introducing radiant panels inside the heated chamber leads to important time savings in the heating process.