High Temperature Electric Furnace for a Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

This project enables mechanical engineering students to conduct ultra-high temperature experiments. The equipment purchased includes an electric furnace capable of reaching 1950 K, and a data acquisition system for recording and processing experimental data. The laboratory improves the offering in materials science by permitting the study of the mechanical properties of ceramics. It also allows students in Heat Power Design and Senior Independent Courses to consider potential processes that use high temperature solar energy as a substitute for those that currently consume conventional fossil fuels. Students experimentally investigate chemical reactions adaptable to such processes. The experience with ceramics heightens undergraduate students' awareness of materials other than just conventional steel and nonferrous alloys. It further serves to illustrate chemical reactions that may become a part of pioneering processes while increasing interest in energy and environmental research. The award is being matched by an equal amount from the principal investigator's institution.