What is an industrial oven? An industrial oven is an oven that helps us achieve desirable mechanical properties of the material at a very high temperature. The process is called the heat treatment, and some of the most common types are baking, annealing and drying. Depending on an industrial oven, they can run using electricity, steam, gas, hot water or fuel. How successful will the heat treatment be, depends on the loading of the products and airflow patterns. As industrial ovens manufacturers, we at Procesni Inženiring d.o.o. offer various types of industrial ovens for all purposes.

What is an industrial oven classification? The industrial oven classification is determined by various standards such as chamber design, heat utilisation, heat source, technical purpose, how the oven is loaded or heat transfer. The description and type of the oven tell us how the oven is used. Industrial ovens manufacturers are coming out with new ovens to improve and simplify the heat treatments and make them faster.

Based on their use, we know various sorts of industrial ovens that use different methods to achieve a similar goal. That is to get the desirable mechanical properties of the product.

• Electric Ovens

Electric ovens use electricity for heat treatments. That gives them precise temperature control, quick heat-up time and low costs.

• Conveyor Ovens

Continuous or conveyor ovens can work at variable speed and were design for mass production. They are used for drying, annealing, curing, tempering, preheating, forming, bonding and stress relieving. Continuous ovens have multiple heat zones, cooling zones and an exhaust hood.

• Curing Ovens

Curing ovens can harden the mechanical properties of the materials. Made of steel, they come with various applications and can be powered by UV, oil, steam, natural gas or electricity.

• Drying Ovens

Drying ovens are used for the heat treatment of the metals, to remove moisture from the materials and for sterilising medical equipment.

• Direct Gas Ovens

Direct gas ovens heat up quickly and maintain temperature longer than electric ovens. They are expensive, but more efficient and have a lower operating cost.

• Batch Ovens

Batch ovens come in various sizes and shapes. They are used to expose large quantities of products to heat treatment. Batch ovens are heated by direct/indirect burners or by electrical elements.

• Tunnel Ovens

Tunnel ovens are known for open-ended chambers that connect a metal belt with a baking platform. There are two different sorts of tunnel ovens, direct gas and indirect gas, which run on a constant cycle with little turnaround time between batches.

• Baking ovens

Baking ovens release volatile compounds, trapped gases or moisture from coatings on finished products. They are thermal processing units that combine drying and curing. The curing is done by removing moisture from the air, which speeds up the process and leaves an even, flawless finish.

• Infrared Ovens

Infrared ovens minimise energy usage and maximise production. The industrial oven is brought to full power with electromagnetic radiation, which allows for precision and consistent heating.

• Vacuum ovens

Vacuum ovens remove contaminants and provide maximum control during the treatment processes. That is done by controlling the atmospheric pressure in the heating chamber. Process in which they remove oxygen prevents control surface reactions and oxidation.

When determining how an industrial oven works, we have to consider what type of fuel is used to heat the oven and the airflow pattern. The airflow has to move at a constant rate and with minimal interferences. The airflow in the industrial oven can be vertical (bottom-up or top-down), vertical/horizontal (it comes from the ceiling and exits through the ducts), horizontal (used for products loaded on a cart) or horizontal/vertical (the air is returned through ceiling ducts).

To determine the use of industrial ovens, we classify them based on various standards, and one of them is where they get their power. What are the different types of ovens:

• Ultraviolet ovens

Ultraviolet ovens use UV light to dry the materials. They use fluorescent and light-emitting diode (LED) lamps combined with mercury vapour.

• Electric ovens

Electric industrial ovens are powered by the flow of electrical currents that control the temperature in the oven. The electric industrial ovens do not produce emissions or pollutants, have a long life and heat up quicker.

• Gas ovens

Gas ovens can transfer heat indirectly or directly. Indirect industrial ovens use stainless steel heat exchanger through which the air is circulated to radiation tubes that heat the product. Direct heat is distributed through a fan from a gas burner. This type of industrial oven distributes the heat quickly.

• Steam ovens

Industrial ovens that use steam heat the water to a boiling point. Then they release the steam to heat the oven.

• Hot water ovens

Hot water ovens are run similarly to steam ovens, one difference being a low-temperature range and time-consuming process. Hot water is going through the radiator coils and heats the circulating air, which is then discharged to the work area.