Infrared heating
An infrared heater or heat lamp is a body with a higher temperature which transfers energy to a body with a lower temperature through electromagnetic radiation. Depending on the temperature of the emitting body, the wavelength of the peak of the infrared radiation ranges from 780 nm to 1 mm. No contact or medium between the two bodies is needed for the energy transfer. Infrared heaters can be operated in vacuum or atmosphere.
One classification of infrared heaters is by the wavelength bands of infrared emission.
German-British astronomer Sir William Herschel is credited with the discovery of infrared in 1800. He made an instrument called a spectrometer to measure the magnitude of radiant power at different wavelengths. This instrument was made from three pieces. The first was a prism to catch the sunlight and direct and disperse the colors down onto a table, the second was a small panel of cardboard with a slit wide enough for only a single color to pass through it and finally, three mercury-in-glass thermometers. Through his experiment Herschel found that red light had the highest degree of temperature change in the light spectrum, however, infrared heating was not commonly used until World War II. During World War II infrared heating became more widely used and recognized. The main applications were in the metal finishing fields, particularly in the curing and drying of paints and lacquers on military equipment. Banks of lamp bulbs were used very successfully but by today's standards, the power intensities were very low. The technique offered much faster drying times than the fuel convection ovens of the time. Production bottlenecks were mitigated and military supplies to the armed forces were maintained. After World War II the adoption of infrared heating techniques continued but on a much slower basis. In the mid 1950s the motor vehicle industry began to show interest in the capabilities of infrared for paint curing and a number of production line infrared tunnels came into use.
The most common filament material used for electrical infrared heaters is tungsten wire, which is coiled to provide more surface area. Low temperature alternatives for tungsten are carbon, or alloys of iron, chromium, and aluminum (trademark and brand name Kanthal). While carbon filaments are more fickle to produce, they heat up much more quickly than a comparable medium-wave heater based on a FeCrAl filament.
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