Phoenix BLACK
A microwave muffle furnace for ashing, loss on ignition, and sulfated ashing — the same result as a conventional furnace, up to 10× faster, with no requirement to leave a furnace running hot all day.
Microwave energy couples with the sample and with microwave-absorbing furnace materials, heating much faster than resistive heating. Crucially, it is "instant on / instant off" — the furnace does not sit hot all day. The laboratory saves time, energy, and the working environment stays cooler.
Any standard crucible type: metal, porcelain, graphite, glass, quartz fibre, platinum.
Auto-start/auto-shutdown; up to 20 stored methods.
Enabling synthesis applications such as zeolite synthesis.
The associated quartz crucible allows weighing within a minute of removal.
Safely neutralises and removes SO₂/HNO₃ fumes at source.
Sulfated ash for pharmaceutical QC. Sulfated ash (residue on ignition) requires treating samples with sulfuric acid before ignition. The Phoenix BLACK's sulfated ashing option meets USP <281> and <733> and supports ISO 14000 environmental obligations — a routine pharmacopoeial quality control determination.
Mineral/ash content for nutritional labelling; Codex and AOAC methods.
Residue on ignition (USP <281>), loss on ignition (USP <733>), sulfated ash.
Filler content (ASTM D5630); carbon black content (ASTM D1506).
Loss on ignition as a key geochemical parameter; moisture-corrected ash.
Pigment-to-binder ratio in approximately 10 minutes; pigment content in cured coatings.
Loss on ignition on raw materials and clinker.
Volatile solids for process control; high-temperature synthesis to 1200 °C.
The methods this system is designed to satisfy.
Sulfated ashing to USP <281> also supports ISO 14000 environmental obligations by neutralising and removing SO₂/HNO₃ fumes at source.
Where Phoenix BLACK is put to work.
The case for Phoenix BLACK is time and energy, not a technical leap.
Conventional resistive muffle furnaces from suppliers such as Carbolite Gero, Nabertherm and Thermo remain the industry standard, and Phoenix BLACK's argument against them is speed and energy consumption rather than a claim of superior chemistry. Milestone's PYRO is the direct microwave-ashing competitor. Thermogravimetric analysers (TGA) provide simultaneous moisture and ash determination but are capital-intensive and process samples sequentially rather than in a batch.
Sequential digestion — pairs with Phoenix BLACK as a pre-ashing step for mixed-matrix laboratories.
Moisture and solids analysis — often paired with ashing.
See Phoenix BLACK ash a sample in minutes
Where the Phoenix BLACK is put to work.
Questions we are asked about the Phoenix BLACK.
Ashing times are reduced by up to 97% — up to 10× faster than a conventional muffle furnace. Ash determinations are possible in as little as 5 minutes, with ash/LOI in approximately 10 minutes, versus the 12–18 hours a conventional overnight workflow occupies the furnace.
No. Microwave energy is "instant on / instant off," so the Phoenix BLACK does not need to sit hot all day the way a conventional resistive muffle furnace does — saving time, energy, and keeping the working environment cooler.
Yes. The sulfated ashing option safely neutralises and removes sulfur dioxide and nitric acid fumes generated when samples are treated with sulfuric acid before ignition, meeting USP <281> and <733> and supporting ISO 14000 environmental obligations.
Any standard crucible type: metal, porcelain, graphite, glass, quartz fibre or platinum. The associated quartz crucible allows samples to be weighed within a minute of removal.
Up to 15 samples simultaneously. The Phoenix BLACK is programmable with auto-start/auto-shutdown and can store up to 20 methods, with temperatures reaching 1200 °C for synthesis applications such as zeolite synthesis.
The workflow around the Phoenix BLACK.
MARS 6
The batch, multimode, closed-vessel microwave digestion system that converts up to 40 solid samples simultaneously into clear acid solutions for elemental analysis.
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CEM's automated sequential microwave digestion system — described by CEM as the world's fastest. Each sample digested individually, under its own method, at approximately 5 minutes per sample.
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A bench or at-line microwave moisture and solids analyser — results in minutes by microwave drying and continuous weighing, versus hours by oven drying.
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