Impact of melt flow on the process of glass melting

ABSTRACT The glass melting process was mathematically modeled in the designed space to establish the controlled melt flow and study its effect on the process character and melting performance. The conversion region of the space with combined heating was intended for batch conversion, and the homogenization region heated by the longitudinal energy barrier guaranteed bubble removal and sand dissolution. The theoretical background was formulated to define the melt flow conditions in a space with batch blanket. High batch conversion rates were acquired under conditions of structured heating, and the values increased almost linearly with the growing fraction of combustion heat delivered in the space conversion region. The increased fraction of total heat in the conversion region and cooling effect of the flue gases adjusted the effective helical flow in the space homogenization region, increased the space utilization and, consequently, the melting performance. The effects of energy distribution and position of the batch borderline on the sand dissolution and bubble removal kinetics were clarified, and the competence of modeling results for advanced melting was discussed.