System and method for heating materials

A method for heating one or more materials, the method comprising:

• placing the one or more materials inside a chamber of a furnace, the chamber for receiving the one or more materials, and the furnace comprising an insulating outer section, a chamber wall electrically and thermally conductive for resistively heating the chamber in the presence of an electric current flowing through the chamber wall, and two electrodes electrically and thermally connected to the chamber wall, and
• supplying an the electric current from a constant current power supply electrically coupled to the two electrodes, the constant current power supply configured to produce a current of a constant magnitude over a range of voltage, and having a short circuit current, and for which the short circuit current is limited to avoid damage to the power supply, and further configured to provide power to achieve an operating temperature up to 3422° C. inside the chamber,
• wherein each of the chamber wall and the two electrodes each are comprised of graphite having a uniform anisotropic structure, the chamber wall is lined with tungsten on an inner surface of the chamber wall, the chamber wall and two electrodes are adapted to sustain microplasma discharges internally to a material of the chamber wall and two electrodes in the presence of the electric current flowing through the electrodes and the graphite chamber wall supplied by the constant current power supply.