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A Furnace is a device used for heating. The heat energy to fuel a furnace may be supplied directly by fuel combustion, by electricity such as the electric arc furnace, or through induction heating in induction furnaces.
A Household Furnace is a major appliance that is permanently installed to provide heat to an interior space through intermediary fluid movement, which may be air, steam, or hot water. The most common fuel source for modern furnaces is natural gas; other common fuel sources include liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oil, coal or wood. In some cases electrical resistance heating is used as the source of heat, especially where the cost of electricity is low.
Modern household furnaces are classified as condensing or non-condensing based on their efficiency in extracting heat from the exhaust gases. Furnaces with efficiencies greater than approximately 89% extract so much heat from the exhaust that water vapor in the exhaust condenses; they are referred to as condensing furnaces. Such furnaces must be designed to avoid the corrosion that this highly acidic condense might cause and may need to include a condense pump to remove the accumulated water. Condensing furnaces can typically deliver heating savings of 20%-35% assuming the old furnace was in the 60% Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) range.
An Industrial Furnace or direct fired heater, is an equipment used to provide heat for a process or can serve as reactor which provides heats of reaction. Furnace designs vary as to its function, heating duty, type of fuel and method of introducing combustion air. However, most process furnaces have some common features.
Fuel flows into the burner and is burnt with air provided from an air blower. There can be more than one burner in a particular furnace which can be arranged in cells which heat a particular set of tubes. Burners can also be floor mounted, wall mounted or roof mounted depending on design. The flames heat up the tubes, which in turn heat the fluid inside in the first part of the furnace known as the radiant section or firebox. In this chamber where combustion takes place, the heat is transferred mainly by radiation to tubes around the fire in the chamber. The heating fluid passes through the tubes and is thus heated to the desired temperature. The gases from the combustion are known as flue gas. After the flue gas leaves the firebox, most furnace designs include a convection section where more heat is recovered before venting to the atmosphere through the flue gas stack.
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