CONTINUOUS PUSHER FURNACE HAVING TRAVELING GAS BARRIER

摘要

A continuous pusher furnace (10) includes a product carrier (36) assembly forming a traveling gas barrier. The product carrier (36) assembly comprises a pusher plate (38) disposed to receive product thereon and a gas barrier (46) extending upwardly from the pusher plate. The perimeter of the gas barrier i s sized and configured to fit within a vestibule (22) between heating chambers in the furnace with a clearance gap (54) with the vestibule selected to increase a gas flow velocity through the vestibule (22) sufficient to overco me a gas diffusion velocity through the vestibule in a direction opposite to th e gas flow. In this manner, gas is unable to diffuse into an upstream heating chamber. In an alternative embodiment, an exhaust outlet (60) may also be provided in the vestibule or chamber to exhaust gas from upstream and downstream heating chambers from the furnace.