The metal tube rotary tube furnace belongs to the continuous dynamic calcination heat treatment equipment, which uses high-temperature resistant alloy metal furnace tubes and relies on a rotating inclined structure to achieve continuous rolling and conveying of powder materials, solving the pain points of traditional static sintering material accumulation and uneven heating. It is widely used in the calcination, sintering, pyrolysis, and reduction annealing processes of new energy powder, catalyst, ceramic powder, and metal powder, and meets the needs of laboratory pilot testing and small-scale continuous production.

Industrial production type metal tube rotary tube furnace (click on the picture to view product details)

1. What is a metal tube rotary tube furnace?
Metal tube rotary tube furnace, also known as metal tube rotary tube furnace, is different from quartz tube and corundum ceramic tube rotary furnaces. The core uses high-temperature resistant alloy steel, 310S and other metal materials as furnace tubes, matched with variable frequency rotary transmission mechanism, adjustable angle bracket, and can be equipped with automatic feeding and discharging collection devices to achieve continuous dynamic calcination and sintering of powder materials.
Traditional box type furnaces and fixed tube type furnaces belong to static heating, with powder accumulation and static placement, which is prone to surface over burning, internal under burning, material agglomeration and wall sticking, and poor batch consistency. When the metal tube rotary tube furnace works, the furnace tube rotates at a constant speed and maintains a small inclination angle. The powder continuously rolls and lifts inside the tube, slowly pushing forward while being heated, completing the entire process of preheating, high temperature insulation, reaction, and cooling. The finished product is continuously discharged from the discharge end without frequent shutdown, cooling, and unloading, truly achieving continuous operation.
Attention: Due to material limitations, metal furnace tubes are suitable for medium and low temperature processes, with a conventional long-term use temperature of 600-1000 ℃; For high-temperature conditions exceeding 1000 ℃, preference should be given to rotary tube furnaces with corundum or quartz tube versions.

2. Core advantages of metal tube rotary tube furnace
Dynamic calcination results in more uniform heating of the powder
The furnace tube continues to rotate, and the particles constantly flip, eliminating the temperature difference caused by material accumulation. The heating and contact atmosphere conditions of each powder are basically the same, effectively reducing agglomeration and wall sticking phenomena. The stability of the finished product batch is high, reducing the later crushing process.
Metal furnace tubes are impact resistant, not easily broken, and have low maintenance costs
Compared to corundum tubes and quartz tubes, metal alloy furnace tubes do not pose a risk of explosion, have excellent thermal shock resistance, and the heating and cooling rates can be appropriately increased; Not easily broken or scrapped, suitable for long-term continuous operation, easy to replace parts, suitable for mass production conditions.
Continuous feeding and discharging, high production efficiency
Optional spiral feeding mechanism and discharge collection tank, continuous feeding of raw materials and continuous discharge of finished products. The furnace body can operate at a constant temperature for a long time, eliminating the energy consumption loss caused by repeated heating and cooling of intermittent furnaces, reducing the workload of manual loading and unloading, and adapting to the docking of production lines.
Flexible atmosphere control and adaptability to various heat treatment processes
The equipment is equipped with a dynamic sealing structure that can be filled with gases such as air, nitrogen, argon, etc., supporting oxidizing, inert, and weakly reducing atmospheres; It can meet various process requirements such as powder dehydration, decarbonization, calcination, sintering, annealing, pyrolysis activation, etc.
Intelligent program control, process can be retained and reused
The PLC touch screen control system supports multi-stage program heating, and the speed, tilt angle, and gas flow can be independently adjusted. The process curve can be stored and exported for easy process reproduction, reducing errors caused by human operation.

3. Mainly applicable to materials and industry applications
The metal tube rotary tube furnace is more suitable for granular and flowable powder materials, and is widely used in new materials, new energy, chemical catalysis, powder metallurgy, and pilot production in universities and research institutes
New energy materials: lithium batteries, sodium battery negative electrode powders, hard carbon materials, low-temperature calcination of precursors; Not suitable for high-temperature sintering of high lithium volatile positive electrodes (lithium salts can corrode metal furnace tubes, and high-temperature positive electrodes prefer corundum tubes).
Chemical catalysis industry: molecular sieve, catalyst carrier calcination activation, activated carbon regeneration, powder modification.
Powder metallurgy: annealing, reduction, and oxidation treatment of metal powders.
Inorganic non-metallic powders: low-temperature calcination of ceramic powders such as alumina and zirconia, and thermal decomposition of mineral powders.
Research pilot: small-scale testing of new material formula and continuous process validation on a small scale.
Selection reminder: For positive electrode materials with high lithium content and temperatures exceeding 850 ℃, it is not recommended to use metal furnace tubes as lithium vapor can corrode the alloy tube wall. High purity corundum rotating tubes are preferred.

4. Key configuration selection points
Furnace tube material selection: 310S stainless steel is selected for 650-800 ℃; Choose high-temperature alloys for 800-1050 ℃; If the temperature is higher, replace the corundum ceramic furnace tube.
Rotation and tilt angle: The speed can be infinitely adjusted from 0.5 to 10 rpm, and the tilt angle can be adjusted from 0 to 15 °, directly determining the sintering time of the material in the furnace.
Sealing structure: It is recommended to use magnetic fluid or dynamic sealing for continuous calcination to ensure the sealing of the atmosphere and reduce air infiltration.
Feeding and discharging: In small-scale experiments, manual intermittent feeding can be used; It is recommended to configure a spiral automatic feeding and discharging cooling collection device for mass production.
Temperature control system: Multiple temperature zones are independently controlled, and the length of the constant temperature zone is confirmed based on the material processing capacity. The temperature control accuracy is ± 1 ℃.

5. How to choose between intermittent and continuous metal tube rotary tube furnaces?
Intermittent model: No automatic feeding and discharging, single loading sintering, suitable for laboratory research and development, formula debugging, small batch sampling, low equipment investment.
Continuous model: equipped with feeding and discharging components, continuous material conveying, suitable for stable mass production after process shaping, high efficiency, lower energy consumption, larger overall equipment size, and higher procurement costs.

Customized metal tube rotary tube furnace with preheating (click on the image to view product details)

6. Summary
As a continuous dynamic calcination equipment, the metal tube rotary tube furnace has become an important equipment for powder heat treatment pilot and small-scale production due to its impact resistance, non fragility, dynamic rolling and uniform sintering, and continuous production characteristics. By avoiding unsuitable working conditions such as high temperature and strong corrosion of lithium salts, and selecting alloy furnace tube materials reasonably, industry pain points such as powder sintering agglomeration, uneven heating, and batch instability can be effectively solved. When purchasing equipment, it is necessary to combine the actual working temperature, material chemical characteristics, and production capacity requirements to confirm the furnace tube material, rotation angle and speed, atmosphere sealing, and feeding and discharging methods, and match their own processes.Click to learn more rotary tube furnaces! Or click on online customer service to learn more about product information!