Patent ID: 8571085

Claim:
A furnace for use with particulate material, the furnace comprising: a particle-feeding mechanism for feeding the particulate material; a free fall heating zone below and in communication with the particle-feeding mechanism; a free fall zone electromagnetic induction member; a first susceptor adjacent the free fall zone and inductively heatable by the induction member whereby the first susceptor is positioned to transfer heat to the particulate material when the particulate material is freely falling in the free fall zone; a thermal reflector bounding the free fall zone for reflecting heat radiated from the first susceptor; a dispersion member having an upper surface above the free fall zone for dispersing the particulate material as it moves along the upper surface prior to entering the free fall zone; a preheating electromagnetic induction member; and a preheating susceptor adjacent the dispersion member and inductively heatable by the preheating induction member whereby the preheating susceptor is positioned to transfer heat to the particulate material as it moves along the upper surface of the dispersion member.