COMBUSTION TESTS ON AN INDUSTRIAL GLASS-MELTING FURNACE

Local gas temperatures, local concentrations of major gas species and incident wall heat fluxes were measured in a large end-port, fuel-fired regenerative furnace for manufacture of glass containers, with a nominal output of 90 t d-1 of soda-lime glass and a specific energy consumption of 5.9 GJ t-1. Two different operating conditions were studied to investigate the effect of furnace throughout and air:fuel ratio on the heat transfer characteristics of the furnace. The measurements were performed through inspection ports in the furnace and quantified its cyclic operation as well as the three-dimensional nature of the heat transfer processes. The local wall heat fluxes were in the range 250-300 kW m-2, with maximum variations along each wall of 20%. The maximum temperatures in the flame and in the exhaust gases were 1660 and 1540-degrees-C respectively, the latter associated with 2% excess O2. The maximum measured concentrations of carbon monoxide varied between 5 vol.% in the flame and 0.5 vol.% at the exit of the combustion chamber. The nitrogen oxide levels were approximately 4000 ppmv. The results provide the necessary detail to allow the validation of numerical procedures to interpolate and extrapolate the experimental information.