ABSTRACT
Chamber furnaces are widely used in heat treatment. The correct prediction of the temperature variation and distribution within the chamber is of high significance to ensure good quality of the products being fired and reduce energy consumption. A software by trade name COMSOL was used to model and simulate the temperature distribution in a chamber furnace at different positions using finite element method (FEM) together with adaptive meshing and error control. An experimental chamber furnace was employed with five thermocouples to measure temperature values at different positions. In the chamber furnace, heat was transferred by both conduction and radiation. The results of the modeling were compared with the experimental values and it was found that there were disparities. The result of the simulated temperature at position (-0.125, -0.15,0) after 10mins was 525K whereas the measured temperature at the same position was 353K., Also the results of the simulated temperature at position (0,-0.15,0) after 10mins was 360K whereas the measured temperature at the same position was 358K.The average temperature distribution of the simulated result was 442K whereas the measured temperature was 355.2K. The disparity was due to contamination and degradation of furnace refractory lining which result from the reduction and re-oxidation of silica found in the refractory after lengthen in duration of heating of the chamber furnace.