Method for high temperature cleaning

A method of cleaning glassware and metal parts in a high temperature oven, comprising the steps of:

• purging said oven with an inert gas from a primary gas source to remove air,
• circulating the existing atmosphere within the oven after purging with the inert gas,
• heating the atmosphere within the oven to a pyrolyzing temperature with heaters connected to a heater controller,
• pyrolyzing organic contaminants on articles to be cleaned for a preset pyrolyzing time,
• purging the existing atmosphere within the oven with an air-inert gas mixture at the finish of the preset pyrolyzing time,
• oxidizing residues by heating the existing atmosphere purged with an air-inert gas mixture to the oxidizing temperature of organic contaminants in the atmosphere for a preset time,
• sensing flow of inert gas into the oven from the primary gas source by providing a pressure sensing device located between said oven and said primary gas source for deenergizing the heaters, sounding an alarm, and purging the oven with inert gas from an auxiliary inert gas source in response to detection of a failure of the primary gas source,
• sensing the existing atmosphere within said oven to detect a combustible mixture during the pyrolyzing of organic contaminants by providing a combustible gas detector probe within said oven for terminating air flow, deenergizing the heaters and sounding an alarm in response to detection of a combustible atmosphere within the oven,
• sensing the existing temperature in said oven during the pyrolyzing of organic contaminants and the oxidizing of residue by providing a temperature probe within said oven for deenergizing the heaters in response to overheating or rapid temperature changes in the oven.