Efficiency Criteria for Thermal Insulation Structures of Glass Furnaces

The optimal operation of high temperature reactors such as glass furnaces requires many factors to be considered. These are, for example, the duration of the campaign, operating costs, heat losses, trouble-free operation of units and many others, presented in the article. The aim of this study is to synthesize an efficiency criterion for optimizing the heat-insulating construction of a glass-melting furnace (HICGF), as well as obtaining the optimal values of the efficiency criterion for HICGF, which for the furnace under study are about 3.8 billion rubles. In the course of the study, the phenomenological heuristic-evolutionary optimization method by G. E. Kanevets (PHEOM.GEK), which has a number of advantages over other evolutionary methods. As the main generalizing criterion, taking into account the most significant production (volume, cost of the produced glass mass) and financial (costs for the construction and operation of the HICGF, the monetary equivalent of heat losses) indicators, the maximum gross income for the furnace campaign was adopted, which differs from prototypes in that it allows to take into account most fully the peculiarities of the work of the insulated side fence of the glass furnace. Using the software complex created on the basis of PHEOM.GEK complex systems for the side fence of a glass-melting furnace, the optimal set (sequence of location and thickness) of thermal insulation materials HICGF was determined, which allow maximizing the furnace campaign with minimal heat losses. The reliability of the data obtained is achieved by the correct use of the theory of heat and mass transfer and PHEOM.GEK. An efficiency criterion is proposed, which, by solving an optimization problem, made it possible to determine the optimal HICGF. The solution of the optimization problem in conjunction with the calculation of the duration of the furnace campaign makes it possible to form recommendations for the development of optimal HICGFs in the construction of new and cold repair of existing glass furnaces by specialized institutes and industrial companies