Table 3: Description of the three sintering furnaces.
| Mesh belt furnace | Walking beam furnace | Roller furnace | |
| Protective atmosphere | Nitrogen - hydrogen Endothermic atmosphere | Nitrogen - hydrogen | Nitrogen - hydrogen |
| Rapid cooling | Nitrogen - hydrogen Endothermic atmosphere | difficult | possible |
| Sintering temperature | 1120 ℃ | 1120 - 1250 ℃ | 1120 - 1200 ℃ |
| Transport system | Mesh belt | Walking beam | Roller system |
| Length (mm) | 2000 - 2500 | 2000 - 3000 | 1800 - 2400 |