Sand baths for students

Four Techne fluidised sand baths are providing the materials laboratory at Cambridge University's Department of Engineering with precisely controlled heating facilities for a variety of heat treatment processes to 600°C with temperature accuracy within ±1°C.

The SBL-2 sand baths are mainly used by students for tempering, annealing, stressrelieving and other procedures on steel, aluminium, brass and copper in a wide range of grades.

Air is blown through the sand to create a boiling effect similar to a liquid bath but without the fumes associated with oil baths and the solidification that occurs with salt baths.

As the sand is heated, the heat is distributed throughout the bath and transferred quickly and evenly to the samples in it. Temperature control is provided by Techne TC-8D wall-mounted instruments via type K thermocouples that fit into a pocket in each bath wall.