Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:53:39.643Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

BATCH PROCESSING IN A GLASS FURNACE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2015

NEVILLE D. FOWKES*
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia email neville.fowkes@uwa.edu.au
ANDREW P. BASSOM
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia email neville.fowkes@uwa.edu.au School of Mathematics & Physics, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 37, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia email andrew.bassom@utas.edu.au
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In a glass furnace solid batches of material are fed into a chamber and radiation heating applied. An individual batch is melted over the course of several minutes to form molten glass. A travelling front within the batch designates the progress of the melting, a process characterized by multiple radiation reflections. This results in an effective conductivity within the melting zone that is significantly larger than that in the unmelted batch. Approximations based on these disparate conductivities enable accurate explicit expressions for the almost constant melting front speed and the associated temperature profile to be derived. Our results compare favourably with existing numerical simulations of the process, with the advantage of being both analytic and relatively simple. These predictions may be useful in suggesting how a furnace might be most effectively controlled under varying batch conditions, as well as ensuring the quality of the glass sheets produced.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2015 Australian Mathematical Society 

References

Auchet, O., Riedinger, P., Malasse, O. and Iung, C., “First-principles simplified modelling of glass furnaces combustion chambers”, Control Engineering Practice 16 (2008) 14431456 doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2008.04.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carslaw, H. S. and Jaeger, J. C., Conduction of heat in solids (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1959).Google Scholar
Howell, P. D., “Extensional thin layer flows”, Ph.D. Thesis, St Catherines College Oxford, 1994, http://eprints.maths.ox.ac.uk/25/1/howell.pdf.Google Scholar
Le Bourhis, E., Glass: mechanics and technology (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2008).Google Scholar
Proceedings of South African Maths in Industry Study Group, 2013,http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/21966/outcomes.html.Google Scholar
Rosseland, S., Theoretical astrophysics (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1936).Google Scholar
Schick, V., Remy, B., Degiovanni, A. and Demeurie, F., “Measurement of thermal conductivity of liquids at high temperature”, J. Phys: Conf. Ser. 395 (2012) Article 012078; doi:10.1088/1742-6596/395/1/012078. 6th European Thermal Sciences Conference (Eurotherm 2012).Google Scholar
Shibata, H., Suzuki, A. and Ohta, H., “Measurement of thermal transport properties for molten silicate glasses at high temperatures by means of a novel laser flash technique”, Mater. Trans. 46 (2005) 18771881 doi:10.2320/matertrans.46.1877.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, R. and Howell, J. R., Thermal radiation heat transfer, 4th edn (Taylor & Francis, London, 2002).Google Scholar
Tooley, F. V., The handbook of glass manufacture, books for industry (Ashlee Publishing, New York, 1974).Google Scholar
Wu, X. and Viskanta, R., “Modelling of heat transfer in the melting of a glass batch”, J. Non-Crystaline Solids 80 (1986) 613622 doi:10.1016/0022-3093(86)90454-0.Google Scholar