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Eindhoven, March 5th 2002.

Advanced heating techniques for glass melting

Clients :

Prof. Dr. Ir. R.G.C. Beerkens Dr. Ir. J. van der Schaaf

Sven Plum Patrick Graf Mark Beckers Jonathan Boersma Eric van den Dungen Maurice Frijns Frank Verbakel

1. Summary
Glass melting can be carried out using many different heating techniques. In this project we focussed on conventional heating with free flames (by combustion of gas, oil and oxy-fuel) and alternative techniques like radiant tube technology and full electrical heating. All the techniques have been compared with conventional gas combustion. Important criteria in our considerations were energy efficiency, costs, maintenance, material selection, furnace design and equipment, lifetime expectancy, emissions and the future of the heating technique. Using an energy balance over the entire furnace the energy requirements for each heating method have been estimated. Also the heat transport from the burner to the glass melt has been analysed and some process variables have been calculated. These include fuel flow, fuel/air ratio, furnace temperatures, required radiant tube surface area and number of electrodes required for electrical heating. The advantages and disadvantages of the heating techniques have been determined, based on the information we found and the results of the calculations. The glass melt can be heated using conventional heating with oil, gas or oxy-fuel. The main advantages of oxy-fuel are lower NOx-emissions (up to 80% lower than conventional gas fired furnaces) and lower dust emissions (25% lower). Oxy-fuel burners will be used more often in the future because of these lower emissions. Major drawback is the high cost of pure oxygen. The conventional oil combustion is 10% less expensive than conventional gas combustion, but larger amounts of SOx are emitted. Electrical heating is a clean and energy efficient technique (95% of the electricity is converted into heat), but the amount of fuel gas needed to get this amount of electricity is much higher (90% more than a conventional gas fired furnace). This results in a very expensive heating method (7200 Euro instead of 4200 Euro per day in conventional gas fired furnaces). Radiant tube technology is a promising technique but still a lot of research on the tube design has to be done and the endurability of the porous materials has to be improved. Also the mechanical strength of the tube has to be considered. The energy costs are higher (19%) than for a conventional gas fired furnace.

2. Contents
1. Summary 2. Contents 3. Introduction 3.1 History 3.2 Furnaces 3.2.1 Furnace installation 3.2.2 Heat exchangers 3.3 Emissions 3.3.1 NOx-emissions 3.3.2 SOx-emissions 3.3.3 Dust emissions 3.3.4 Chlorides and fluorides 3.3.5 Heavy metals 3.3.6 Emission requirements 3.4 Costs of glass production 4. Conventional combustion 4.1 Conventional gas combustion 4.2 Conventional oil combustion 4.3 Oxy-fuel combustion 4.4 Oxygen enriched combustion 4.5 Energy balance 4.5.1 Results 4.6 Heat transfer 4.6.1 Results 5. Radiant tube technology 5.1 Porous burner technology 5.2 Staged combustion 5.3 Oxy-fuel burners 5.4 Material data 5.5 Calculations 5.6 Selection criteria 6. Electrical heating 6.1 Methods 6.2 Furnace 6.3 Electrodes 6.4 Calculations 6.5 Selection criteria 7. Conclusion and discussion 8. Acknowledgements 9. References Appendix I: Symbols 1 2 3

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37 39 40 41

3. Introduction
3.1 History [1]
Until the mid of the 19th century glass was melted batch wise in discontinuous furnaces. In a discontinuous process it is easily possible to separate the process steps, because they take place successively. In the second half of the 19th century the first continuous furnace was developed, the Siemens-Martin-furnace. Nowadays, this type of furnace is adjusted to specific demands of the glass industry. The raw materials are continuously charged into the furnace and the molten glass is processed to an end product. The melting process, the fining process (i.e. removal of gases and bubbles) and the homogenization all take place in the same melting tank. A typical residence time, for example for container glass furnaces, is 24 hours and a typical production capacity is 250 tons of glass per day.

3.2 Furnaces [1]

3.2.1 Furnace installation A conventional tank furnace installation consists of a melting furnace, a working end, forehearths, a spout and air-flue gas heat exchangers (3.2.2). Melting furnace A melting furnace consists of a melting tank and a superstructure. In the melting tank the glass is molten, homogenized and fined. The length is typically between 8 and 35 m, the width 5-15 m and the depth 0.6-1.5 m. The used material is usually AZS Figure 1: A furnace for the production of (alumina silicate plus 32 or 41% ZrO2). container glass. The construction above the melting tank is called the superstructure. The height is about 1-1.5 m on the sides and 2.0-2.5 m in the middle. The materials used for the superstructure strongly depend on the technique of heating and the type of glass. Working end (refiner) The glass melt flowing from the melting end through the throat into the refiner is still far to hot for the forming process. The glass melt is cooled down 200-300C by heat losses through the walls and by air blowing across the glass. The cooling capacity is designed to achieve sufficient cooling when working at maximum output. When the glass pull is lower, extra heat has to be supplied. The working end is often built with the same kind of materials as the melting tank. Forehearths (feeder) The feeder channel connects the refiner with the spout. The glass is conditioned at the required viscosity and thermal homogeneity in the feeder. This means that temperature differences are kept to a minimum in time and place. Also the cooling capacity of the feeder is designed for maximum output. When necessary, extra heat is 3

delivered by gas burners or electrical heating. The feeder channels are made of refractory materials (AZS or alumina) and are typically 50-120 cm wide. Feeder channels have a glass depth of about 30 cm and they are built with a slope to enable the required flow of molten glass. Spout At the end of the feeder a glass outlet point is located, the spout. The spout consists of a refractory block with an outlet orifice, above which a dosing mechanism is located. Below the spout a large bead of glass is formed, which is cut by water-cooled shears. This gob is guided to the forming machine. 3.2.2 Heat exchangers To provide high enough flame temperatures and to improve energy efficiency, preheating of the combustion air is needed. The combustion air is preheated in large heat exchangers by the use of the flue gas heat contents. There are two types of heat exchangers: regenerators (55-65% heat recovery) and recuperators (25-40%) [1].

Regenerative furnaces Regenerative furnaces usually have two or more regenerators. A regenerator consists of a regenerator chamber wherein a checker work of refractory bricks has been stacked. The bricks form a regular construction with channels for the flue gases or combustion air. First the flue gases are transported through one regenerator heating the checker work. After about 20 minutes the checker work is heated to its optimal temperature. Then the combustion air is led through this regenerator and the flue gases through the other. The combustion air is preheated to 1100-1300C by the heat of the checker work. Again after 20 minutes the checker work is cooled down too much to heat the combustion air and the process is reversed. There are two types of regenerative furnaces: cross-fired and end-fired furnaces.

Figure 2: Cross-fired furnace.

Figure 3: End-fired furnace.

Cross-fired furnace In this type of furnace, the burners (actually gas or fuel oil injecting lances) are situated along the sidewalls of the furnace inside or under the burner ports. A drawback is that the many burner ports in the superstructure may lead to additional heat losses and leakages of cold ambient air into the furnace or hot combustion gases out of the furnace. End-fired furnace In this type of furnace, the burners and the regenerator chambers are situated at the back wall side. Two burner ports are located in this back wall. The

flames or their combustion gases are reversed at the end (against the shadow wall), therefore the name U-flame or horseshoe fired furnace is used. Advantages of this furnace type are that there are only two burner ports and fairly compact regenerators can be built. This is beneficial for the energy consumption (less heat losses). A disadvantage is that it is difficult to adjust the firing and therefore to control the temperature profile over the length of the furnace. Recuperative furnaces Recuperative furnaces are equipped with one or two recuperators. A recuperator is a heat exchanger, in which heat is transferred directly from the flue gases to the combustion air in co-current or counter current flow. This heat exchange is based upon radiation. These exchangers are therefore called radiation recuperators. The combustion air is preheated to 600-800C. Higher temperatures cannot be reached, because the used metallic materials cannot withstand higher temperature levels.

3.3 Emissions [1,2]

During the glass melt process unwanted compounds are emitted to the ambient air. These emissions have different origins. The most important emissions are NOx, SOx, dust, chloride and fluoride and heavy metals. 3.3.1 NOx-emissions Nitrogen oxides are especially formed during the combustion process. The oxygen of the air reacts with nitrogen of the air or of natural gas. This reaction can only take place at high temperatures (above 1350C) and in the presence of both oxygen and nitrogen at the same spot. Additional NOx-emissions are obtained when nitrates are used. Nitrate is often used to oxidize the batch or melt. 3.3.2 SOx-emissions Sulphuric oxides are emitted from almost all glass furnaces. The ratio SO2:SO3 is about 10:1. The SOx originates from the fining and fluxing agent (sodium sulphate) and from sulphur contamination of the raw materials and fuel oil. Sulphur exists in the flue gases as dust sulphates (e.g. Na2SO4 and K2SO4), SO2, SO3 and as H2SO4 at temperatures below 200C. 3.3.3 Dust emissions Dust is mainly originating from the condensation of the glass melt vaporization carry-over products or reaction products of these vaporized compounds during the cooling of the flue gases. Primary dust condensates are for instance sodium sulphates, lead oxides, sodium borates, potassium borates and potassium sulphates. In case fuel oil is used also vanadium and nickel oxides may be present. When producing container glass the condensation of sodium compounds accounts for the greater part of the dust emissions. 3.3.4 Chlorides and fluorides Chlorides are mostly present as hydrochloric acid (HCl) in the flue gases. Sources of chlorides are synthetic sodium carbonate and in smaller amounts dolomite or cullet.

Fluorides are primarily present as HF and sometimes as H2SiF6. Mineral raw materials often contain fluorine minerals. Glass pieces from East- and South-Europe also contain fluorine. CaF2 is used as melt enhancer in these areas. 3.3.5 Heavy metals Important emissions are sometimes lead in container glass furnaces, and vanadium and nickel in furnaces fired with fuel oil. Selenium, probably as SeO2, and arsenic compounds are sometimes present in the flue gases. These compounds are gaseous at normal flue gas temperatures. This causes problems when removing these compounds from the flue gases. Most of the other heavy metals can be filtered out by dust filtration. 3.3.6 Emission requirements [1] In the Netherlands the government has adapted emission requirements, the so called NER (Nederlandse Emissie Richtlijnen). These Dutch emission requirements are valid since 1994 for container glass furnaces (Table 1). The emission requirements valid after 2003 are shown in table 2. The standard conditions for flue gas are defined to be at a temperature of 0 C and a pressure of 1013 mbar in a dry state with a maximum of 8 vol.% of oxygen for continuous operating glass furnaces. Table 1: Emission requirements for the glass industry until 2003 [1]. NER - emission requirements soda-lime glass (excluding float glass production) to be effective for gas-fired furnaces until 2003. Component mg/m3 flue gas Kg/ton glass Dust 25 SOx (as SO2) 400 1 NOx Recuperative 900 4 (as NO2) U-flame furnace (reg) 1700 4 Cross-fired furnace (reg) 2500 4 Cl 30 F (gas) 5 Se + Pb 1 Table 2: Emission requirements for the glass industry after 2003 [1]. NER - emission requirements after a large rebuild between 2003 and 2010 valid for soda lime glass (excluding float glass) production in gas-fired furnaces. Components kg/ton glass Dust 0.1 SOx (as SO2) <1 NOx (as NO2) <1

3.4 Costs of glass production

The costs of the production of glass can be divided into six parts. Raw materials Energy Maintenance Forming process Furnace Emission prevention and control Raw materials The first part are the costs of the raw materials. These are strongly depending on the glass to be produced. For container glass the following raw materials are needed: o Silica sand o Soda ash o Limestone o Alumina-silicate o Salt cake

Figure 4: Raw materials required to produce container glass (mass %).

The costs of one batch are about 55 Euro/ton (2002). Energy The energy theoretically required for the glass melting process consists of energy for heating the raw materials to the melting point and the fluxing and fining temperature and of energy for the endothermic melt reactions. Table 3: Theoretical heat requirement for soda lime glass (container glass) from normal raw materials Reaction heat 487 kJ/kg 1760 kJ/kg Tangible heat glass melt (20-1400C) 289 kJ/kg Tangible heat volatile reaction products (20-1500C) Total heat required 2563 kJ/kg The total theoretical heat requirement is typically 2563 kJ/kg glass melt using normal batch (no cullet). Further energy has to be added to compensate for the energy losses in the furnace. These losses contribute for a large part to the total amount of energy used. The variable energy costs depend on the amount of energy that is needed for the production of glass and on the costs of the fuel (oil fuel, natural gas or electricity) used to deliver the needed energy. 7

Maintenance All the equipment needs maintenance in order to keep the installation operational. The costs strongly depend on the furnace and heating technique used. Forming process Energy and equipment are needed to produce items of the molten container glass. These costs do not depend on the heating technique of the furnace, but on the produced items. Furnace Furnace costs depend, among others, on the materials used in the furnace. The residence time of the glass in the furnace determines the specific volume (volume per ton glass production per day) of the furnace. The technique used to heat the glass also has a great influence on the investment costs of the furnace. Emission prevention and control The costs to prevent emissions strongly depend on the used heating technique. If many compounds are emitted, additional cleaning of the flue gases (e.g. scrubbers, filters, DENOX) is required to comply with environmental laws.

4. Conventional combustion
4.1 Conventional gas combustion
Method In this method fuel gas and air are used for the combustion process. To provide the desired flame temperatures and to achieve affordable energy costs, air will almost always have to be preheated. In this section energy balances and heat calculations are made on gas combustion a) without any kind of regeneration; b) with a regenerator; c) with a recuperator; d) with a regenerator and preheating of the feed. The principle of regeneration and recuperation is described in the Figure 5: Underport firing burner [1]. introduction (3.2.2). Burners are used to inject fuel gas into the furnace. The fuel gas enters the furnace through a hollow tube (the burner), and is then mixed with the (preheated) air. Due to the high temperatures and the presence of both fuel gas and oxygen (in air) the mixture will ignite. The energy provided by this reaction is used for the glass forming reaction and the heating of the fuel gas, air, reaction gases and feed. A great part of this energy will leave the furnace with the combustion gases. Using regenerators and recuperators respectively 55-65% and 25-40% [1] of this energy can be recycled. Additionally, a small extra part can be recycled by preheating the feed. Selection criteria Lifetime expectancy The normal lifetime of a conventional glass melting furnace is about 10 years. Its physical end is mostly caused by metal line corrosion or the corrosion of the regenerators. Economically, the energy price can end the life of some outrageous energy spilling furnaces. Also the decreasing glass quality near the end of a furnaces life can end glass production. Emissions (NOx and others) Using a U-turn melting furnace, the flame length needs to be relatively long. Therefore a slow burn out is needed, which can be achieved by adjusting the angular position of the burner. This long flame length reduces the flame temperature (caused by an increased amount of radiation) and the local oxygen concentration and thus the NOx formation. SO2 emissions of the fuel in case of gas-fired furnaces are very low, because the sulfur content of the fuel gas is almost zero. Most of the SO2 emissions are caused by the fining process with NaSO4. Dust emissions are also present, caused by condensation of vaporized feed (evaporation from the glass melt) and reaction

products or carry-over of fine raw material particles. This dust leaves the furnace with the flue gases. Table 4: Flue gas emissions of a regenerative gas-fired furnace, based on dry flue gas with 8% oxygen without filter [1]. Emissions (mg/m30) Dust 70 280 NOx 1600 4000 SO2 400 600 Cl 40 60 F 3 15 Se 05 Pb 0 20 Costs o Capital outlay Glass melting furnaces are very expensive, especially furnaces equipped with regenerators and recuperators. The costs of a regenerator are almost the same as the costs of the furnace itself, but will be relatively lower with bigger furnaces. Due to the high costs, regenerators are mostly used when the melting furnace has a melting capacity of more than 100 tons per day. o Energy An energy balance (4.5) is made to determine the energy needed to melt container glass. 15.4 MW is needed to melt the glass for a production of 250 tons per day (0% recycle cullet, 3% water, n = 1.1 and 60% recycle of energy of flue gases). o Air pollution prevention/control The NOx-emissions cause some problems. End-of-pipe solutions (ripping NOx from the combustion gases with NH3 (SCR, SNCR) or 3R-procde [1]) are very expensive. Companies try to control NOxemissions by reducing the maximum flame temperature, by creating a local low oxygen environment directly at the flame or by using oxygen firing (very low N2-content in the flame).

Future of the technique The environmental requirements will be stricter (3.3.6). This method produces NOx emissions (1600 4000 mg/m30) that have to be reduced to less than 1 kg/ton glass (equal to 225 mg/ m30) in 2010 [1]. Expensive additional emission cleaning systems (e.g. DENOX) are required. Energy prices will increase in the future, therefore operating this kind of furnace will be more expensive than present.

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4.2 Conventional oil combustion

Method The difference between this method and fuel gas combustion is the usage of fuel oil for the combustion process. Occasionally cold air (primary air) is used for injecting the fuel oil into the furnace. The fuel oil must be heated to 120C to reduce its viscosity to the point it is fluid enough for the injection. This preheating of the fuel requires extra energy compared to Figure 6: Oil burner [1]. conventional gas combustion. The advantage of fuel oil above fuel gas is the higher energy amount per volume and the higher carbon/hydrogen ratio. Due to this higher ratio, the flame will be more luminescent (more carbon soot), which causes lower flame temperatures. This results in lower NOx emissions. Also, less combustion gases are produced. Combined oil combustion is about 5% more energy efficient than gas combustion. The disadvantage is the higher amount of polluting compounds (sulfur) and heavy metals (vanadium and nickel) that cause unwanted emissions and corrosion.

Figure 7: Emissivity of flame [1].

Selection criteria Life expectancy The normal life of an oil combustion glass melting furnace is about the same as the life of a gas combustion furnace. Oil combustion causes lower flame temperatures but more corrosive combustion gases (containing V, Ni, SO3) that can shorten the life of the regenerator. Emissions (NOx and others) Without using a flue gas filter, NOx-emissions will be less than using gas combustion. SO2-emissions will be much higher because of the higher sulfur content of the oil. Heavy metal (vanadium and nickel) emissions will also be higher due to the heavy metal content of the oil. Table 5: Flue gas emissions of a regenerative oil-fired furnace based on dry flue gas with 8% oxygen without filter [1] Emissions (mg/m30) Dust 100 250 NOx 1600 3600 SO2 1200 3000 Cl 40 120 F 3 15 Se 05 Pb 0 20

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Costs o Capital outlay Investment costs for oil and gas combustion furnaces are almost the same. These methods require different burners and flue gas cleaning systems (injection of scrubber medium). Fuel oil combustion also needs an oil preheating installation. o Energy An energy balance is made to estimate the energy needed to melt container glass. Energy is also used to preheat the fuel oil. Oil combustion is more energy efficient than gas combustion. 15.3 MW is required for the production of 250 tons of glass per day (0% recycle cullet, 3% water, n = 1.1 and 60% recycle of energy of flue gases). o Maintenance Oil and gas combustion furnaces require about the same amount of maintenance. The difference is that fuel oil burners might require more maintenance due to more fouling of the burner. o Air pollution prevention/control SOx and NOx emissions cause some problems. Additional equipment (scrubber and DENOX-installation) may have to be installed to clean the flue gases.

Future of the technique The environmental emission requirements will be stricter. This method produces SOx emissions (1200 3000 mg/m30) that have to be reduced to less than 1 kg/ton glass (400 mg/m30) in 2010 [1]. Additional emission cleaning systems (e.g. scrubber and DENOX) are needed to meet these requirements.

4.3 Oxy-fuel combustion

Method In this combustion method oxygen is used instead of air for the combustion of gas. Air contains 79% of inert nitrogen. The inert gases are also heated to a temperature of about 1500C. After combustion, these gases leave the furnace at a temperature of about 1450C. The energy losses by these gases are very high, but nowadays it is possible to generate steam with this energy. This steam can be used inside the factory (for example Figure 8: Adiabatic flame in the forming process) or to generate electricity. temperature vs. oxygen use [3]. When there is not any inert nitrogen present, the amount of gases that has to be heated is smaller and the amount of flue gases is limited. The energy losses by these inert gases are limited by the use of pure oxygen instead of air for the combustion. The oxygen cannot easily be preheated like air, because of fire and explosion risks. The flame reaches higher temperatures with oxygen combustion. It is possible to insulate the furnace better, because the furnace is more compact and there are no big burner ports present. This insulation is also needed to prevent the alkali containing fumes from attacking the superstructure at the cold areas (<1450C).

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The burners used for oxy-fuel combustion are for instance pipe in pipe burners. The fuel is injected through the inner pipe, the oxygen through the outer. Electricity is needed for the production of oxygen. Oxygen can be produced by vacuum swing adsorption (VSA), pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and cryogen distillation [4]. The energy use was about 0.425 kWh/mn3 in 1994 and 0.375 kWh/ mn3 in 1996 [2]. With cryogenic distillation (for larger quantities of oxygen) it can be decreased to 0.286 kWh/mn3 (1998) [5]. The residence time of combustion gases in the combustion chamber is longer than 30 seconds. In conventional air fired furnaces this is only 10 seconds or less. The flue gases have more time to reach a thermal equilibrium with its surroundings in case of oxygen firing. This is important because the heat of the flue gases is not re-used, compared to regenerative and recuperative systems. Moreover this better heat transfer means not only less energy consumption, but also less oxygen use. Selection criteria Lifetime expectancy Flue gases are more aggressive, because of higher water vapour contents and higher contents of alkali fumes [2] than conventional gas combustion flue gases. Higher quality refractories (higher quality silica materials or better AZS) are sometimes required to provide the same lifetime expectancy for the furnace. Emissions (NOx and others) By using pure oxygen, no nitrogen (or small amounts from fuel gas) is present in the furnace atmosphere. The NOx-emissions are up to 80% lower compared to conventional combustion [6]. Table 6: Flue gas emissions of an oxy-fuel furnace based on dry flue gas with 8% oxygen without filter [1]. Emissions (mg/m30) Dust 75 190 NOx 0.4 kg/ton glass [2] SO2 400 600 Cl 40 120 F 3 15 Se 05 Pb 0 20 The ratio SO2:SO3 is much higher than the normal ratio of 10:1 when conventional combustion is used. The flue gases are more aggressive due to the formation of sodium bisulphates (NaHSO4) below 300C and the formation of sulphuric acid below 180-200C. Specific dust emissions (kg dust/ton glass production) are 25% smaller in comparison with emissions of glass molten in a regenerative gas fueled furnace [6]. Costs o Capital outlay Either an oxygen generator has to be built or the oxygen must be bought from a supplier. Refractories have to be of higher quality, because of the higher water vapour contents and higher contents of alkali fumes than conventional gas combustion flue gases. These higher quality refractories are more expensive. Recuperators or

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regenerators cannot be used to preheat the oxygen. This lowers the costs of the glass-melting furnace. The use of pure oxygen demands higher quality pipelines (copper or stainless steel) than when using air. o Energy An energy balance is made to estimate the energy and oxygen amount needed to produce container glass with oxy-fuel combustion. 17.4 MW (0.47 m3 fuel gas and 0.29 kWh for oxygen production) is required for the production of 250 tons of glass per day (0% recycle cullet, 3% water, n = 1 and 60% recycle of energy of flue gases). o Maintenance Because the oxygen is not preheated, recuperators or regenerators are not needed. The oxygen generation installation requires additional maintenance. The pipelines also need more attention because they conduct oxygen. o Air pollution prevention/control With modern burners the NOx emissions can be limited to 0.4 kg/ton glass production [2], so no DENOX installation is needed. Other specific emissions are comparable to conventional gas combustion, except the SOx emissions that might be higher. Concentrations are higher due to less flue gases. Future of the technique The theoretical work to separate oxygen from air is 0.05 kWh/kg O2. In 1994 the energy used to produce oxygen was 0.425 kWh/mn3, but in 1996 this was already reduced to 0.375 kWh/mn3. In 1998 it was already possible to separate oxygen at a use of only 0.286 kWh/mn3. The environmental emission requirements will be stricter. This method produces fewer emissions than conventional combustion, so no expensive additional emission cleaning is required. New types of burners are being developed to get slower mixing of oxygen and gas, which results in more luminescent flames and thus less NOx, because of the lower temperatures reached.

Figure 9: NOx formation rate versus temperature and excess of oxygen [7].

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4.4 Oxygen enriched combustion

Methods [3] The conventional combustion uses no additional oxygen, while oxy-fuel combustion uses pure oxygen. Three intermediate forms are available: oxygen boosting, oxygen lancing and oxygen enrichment. Oxygen boosting The boosting concept uses oxy-fuel burners positioned within the air-fuel mixture to increase production, quality, efficiency and furnace stability. Oxy-fuel boosting is used to increase the glass pull rate on a furnace. Extra fuel is combusted with oxygen to get higher temperatures. This technique uses conventional combustion as main combustion technique. Oxygen lancing Historically oxygen lancing is the most common way to use oxygen as a supplement to combustion to raise the production capacity. The injection of oxygen beside, beneath or through air-fuel flames causes glass melting furnaces to reach a higher pull rate, fuel efficiency and glass quality. The oxygen can be injected where it is mostly needed. Oxygen enrichment Oxygen is injected into the main combustion air header well ahead of the point where the burner enters the furnace. This pre-mix of oxygen is most common on melting furnaces, when it is desirable to use the oxygen to enhance the entire combustion process in a consistent manner.

Figure 10: Oxygen boosting.

Figure 11: Oxygen lancing.

Figure 12: Oxygen enrichment.

Selection criteria Lifetime expectancy The addition of oxygen gives locally higher temperatures in the furnace. These higher temperatures may reduce the lifetime expectancy of the furnace. Additional to the higher temperatures the flue gases become some more aggressive (4.3). This may also decrease the lifetime expectancy (higher temperature, almost the same gas velocities and water concentration). The production capacity is raised by adding oxygen. Also the quality of the glass can be better when using these methods. Emissions By increasing the oxygen concentration in the fuel gas mixture (and because of the higher temperatures) the NOx formation is increased. Only when all air is substituted by oxygen the formation of nitrogen oxides is decreased per unit production of glass.

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Costs o Capital outlay The oxygen needed has to be produced or bought. When much oxygen is required, producing the oxygen in your own cryogenic installation or by other techniques (PSA, VSA, VPSA) is preferable. The use of oxygen requires pipelines of better quality (4.3). o Maintenance Additional maintenance is required for the oxygen generation and/or transport. o Air pollution prevention/control The NOx-emissions are higher than when conventional combustion is used (because of higher flame temperatures, figure 8 and 9). This may require additional cleaning of the flue gases (e.g. DENOX).

Future of the technique The production capacity is usually enlarged when these techniques are used. These techniques are however not recommended when building new glass furnaces (because of higher NOx emissions and lack of energy savings compared with conventional gas combustion).

4.5 Energy balance [1]

To calculate the energy required in the furnace an energy balance can be prepared. In the balance all the energy flows into, out of and inside the furnace are shown. In the balance we have the following components: 1. Q1 is the energy added by the combustion of fuel gas (lower limit). 2. In Q2 all structural heat losses in the furnace are combined: heat transfer through the walls and emission through leaks and slits. 3. Q3 is the energy needed to warm up the reactants and to enable the melting of the reactants. 4. Q4 is the energy lost by the flue gas flow. 5. Q5 is the fraction of Q4 that is recycled in a regenerator or recuperator and is brought back into the furnace. Q1+Q5 = Q2+Q3+Q4 (1)

Figure 13: Schematic energy flows in furnace. 16

In detail the expressions are composed of the following terms (an explanation of the symbols can be found in Appendix I): Q1 = Fgas H comb Q2 = [( Ai / Rti ) (Twi T0 )] + Ak . . .Ts4 Q3 = Gin H glass Q4 = (Ta T0 ) ( f i C pi ) Q5 = recycle Q4 recycle = Rti = Fair C p ,air (Tair ,out T0 )

F f ( ( f i C pi )) (Ta T f ,out )
0.25 2

ai T

d 1 + i 4 i + 4 2 Tavg

The recycle term shows the quotient of the energy used to heat the incoming air flow and the total heat losses of the flue gas flow. Rti is the total heat resistance: from inside the glass tank to the inner wall surface, through the furnace wall itself and from the outside of the walls to the surroundings of the furnace. To reach a total production capacity of 250 tons of glass per day, a product flow of 2.9 kg/s is required. Because of water in the feed, dust emissions and the fact that not all the feed is converted into glass, we choose a feed of 3.4 kg/s. As the base situation (to compare costs and energy consumption) we choose a recycling fraction of 0.6, a feed temperature of 20C, no recycling glass and 3% water in the feed. For the air/gas and air/oil ratio we choose 1.1 and for the oxygen/gas ratio 1. For the air/gas and oil situations we only take the fuel costs into account. For the oxygen situation we add the energy required for the oxygen production, that is 0.35 kWh/m3 O2, which corresponds to 3.15 MJ/m3. The costs for 1 kWh are 0.026 Euro, for 1 m3 fuel gas 0.1 Euro and for 1 kg oil 0.12 Euro. We then obtain costs of 4200 Euro per day for the gas/air situation, 3800 Euro for the oil situation and 4700 Euro for the gas/oxygen situation. The total energy required in the furnace for the three situations is 15.4 MW (gas/air), 15.3 MW (oil) and 17.2 MW (gas/oxygen). The value for gas/oxygen seems to be the lowest, but in the other cases the energy of the flue gases used in the regenerator is also involved. The heat transfer to the glass melt is 8.16 MW (Q3) in all conventional situations and the heat loss via radiation or conduction or cooling through the furnace walls is 3.58 MW (Q2).

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4.5.1 Results First we investigated the influence of the flow ratio on the energy required for gas, oil and oxy-fuel combustion. To compare the results of oil and gas we calculated the energy needed instead of the gas or oil flow. The exact results are shown in figure 14:

Influence of flow ratio on energy required

31 29 27

Energy (MW)

25 23 21 19 17 0,98 gas oil oxy

1,02

1,04

1,06

1,08

1,1

1,12

1,14

1,16

Flow ratio n

Figure 14: Influence of flow ratio on energy required. Conditions: recycling glass: water content: heat recycling: feed temperature: 0% 3% 0% 20C

As expected a higher flow ratio results in a higher amount of energy needed in case of gas/air and oil combustion. In the gas/oxy situation we obtain almost no increase in energy with increasing oxygen/fuel gas flow ratio.

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Increasing the amount of recycling glass is another possibility of decreasing the amount of energy required. By adding more recycling glass in the feed the Hglass decreases, because the recycling glass only needs energy for melting and not for endothermic reactions and heating of the gases. In figure 15 the results of the calculations are shown:

Influence of recycling glass on energy required

16 15,5 15 14,5 14 13,5 13 12,5 12 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Energy (MW)

Recycling glass (%)

Figure 15: Influence of recycling glass on energy required. Conditions: water content: heat recycling: feed temperature: gas/air ratio (n):

3% 60% 20C 1.1

We only considered gas combustion, because oil combustion gives the same results.

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We also investigated the influence of the use of a recuperator (heat recycling 2540%) or a regenerator (55-65%). Of course, by using the energy of the flue gas, the required amount of fuel gas or oil can be reduced dramatically. Using gas or oil at high energy recycling percentages (above 50%) consumes less energy than an oxygen/gas furnace. The results are shown in figure 16:
Influence of regenerator/recuperator on energy required
22 21 20

Energy (MW)

gas oxy

oil

19 18 17 16 15 14 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

65

70

Heat recycling (%)

Figure 16: Influence of regenerator/recuperator on energy required. Conditions: recycling glass water content: feed temperature oxygen/gas ratio (n) gas/air ratio (n) oil/air ratio (n) 0% 3% 20C 1.0 1.1 1.1

We can conclude that at high recycling values gas/air and oil are more efficient than gas/oxygen combustion.

20

Finally we calculated if preheating of the feed with the energy of the flue gases in combination with a regenerator would result in a further reduction of the fuel gas flow.
Influence of preheating of the feed on energy consumption
15,5

15

14,5

Energy (MW)

14

13,5

13

12,5 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Feed temperature (C)

Figure 17: Influence of preheating of the feed on energy consumption.

Conditions
recycling glass: water content: heat recycling: gas/air ratio (n): 0% 3% 60% 1.1

The results are shown in figure 17 (for comparison the situation without preheating (20C) is also added). If the feed is preheated above 100C the water in the feed evaporates before entering the furnace. This explains the sudden change in the slope of the figure 17. We only considered gas combustion, because oil combustion gives the same results.

21

4.6 Heat transfer

Figure 18: Representation of heat exchange in the furnace [1]. We are also interested in calculating the heat transfer from the flame to the glass melt. Figure 18 shows a simplified representation of the heat exchange within the combustion chamber. The flame radiates heat directly to the glass bath and indirectly via absorption and reflection to the crown. The radiation exchange is described by the following (simplified) relations: [1] From the glass bath: To the glass bath: From the crown: To the crown: Mu = g . . Tg4 + (1 - g) . Mi Mi = v . . Tv4 + (1 - v) . Mu Mu = k . . Tk4 + (1 - k) . Mi Mi = v . . Tv4 + (1 - v) . Mu

Combining these terms leads to formula 2, the net heat flux from the flame to the glass bath:

M net = M i M u =

A (Tv4 Tg4 ) + B (Tk4 Tg4 ) C

(2)

A = g . v .(2 v k + k . v ) B = g . k (1 v ) C = 1 (1 v ) 2 .(1 k ).(1 g ) The -values are the emission coefficients of the surface of glass melt (g = 0.8 [1]), the flame (v) and the crown (k = 0.5 [1]), while the temperatures of the same components are shown by the T with the same subscript. The term on the right side of the formula shows the total heat transfer from flame to glass melt. For Tg we take 1773 K [1] and for Tk we assume 1823 K.

22

4.6.1 Results Gas flame with air For the gas flame we assume a flame temperature of 2023 K and v of 0.25 [1]. This results in a heat transfer of 162.7 kW/m2. We need to transfer 8.16 MW to the glass, so a flame area of 50 m2 is needed. Oil flame In this case we use a flame temperature of 1973 K and v of 0.5 [1]. Then the heat transfer is 180.6 kW/m2. For the required heat flux of 8.16 MW to the glass melt, we obtain a flame area of 45 m2. Gas flame with oxygen The flame temperature for a gas/oxygen flame is higher than a gas/air flame. Therefore we assume a value of 2123 K for the flame temperature. An oxygen/gas flame should have a lower emission coefficient than an air/gas flame because of less formation of soot. We assume that this effect is compensated by the higher CO2 and H2O concentrations. So we take the same v of 0.25 in both situations. Calculations for the heat transfer then result in 252.4 kW/m2. For the flame area we get 32 m2 (of course we need the same amount of heat transfer to the glass melt, 8.16 MW). So the lowest flame area and the highest heat flux can be obtained in the situation of a gas flame with oxygen.

23

5. Radiant tube technology

The basic idea of a radiant tube burner is to fire the fuel inside a tube. The released energy is first transferred through a porous material to the tube wall and then transported to the glass melt by radiation from this wall. The tube can be placed above or inside the glass melt. Placing the tube inside the melt results in a major problem. The tube can dissolve in the melt and will be severely damaged. Dissolving of the tube in the glass melt will lead to lower glass quality. A possible solution for this problem is to use tubes with an outer wall made of a material that is more resistant against the glass melt. An example of such a material is molybdenum. In this report only positioning the tube above the glass melt is investigated.

5.1 Porous burner technology

Unlike conventional combustion processes, the porous burner technology does not operate with free flames. Rather, the combustion takes place in the cavities of a porous inert medium, resulting in a totally different appearance of the heat source itself [8]. Figure 19: Porous radiant burner in operation.

Compared to conventional combustion processes with free flames, radiant tube technology leads to advantages like high power density and low emissions, which mostly result from the very intense heat transport within the porous structure. The most important criterion for combustion is the critical pore size inside the porous structure. Experiments resulted in the following modified Pclet number for flame propagation in porous media [9]: Pe = S L dmc p 65 (3)

If the modified Pclet number is higher than 65, convective heat transport to the surroundings dominates over conductive and radiative heat transport to the porous material. In that case the combustion heat is transported out of the tube and radiation from the tube to the surroundings is possible. If the modified Pclet number is lower than 65, conductive and radiative heat transport to the porous material dominates over convective heat transport to the surroundings. There is not enough combustion heat that can be transported to the surroundings.

24

If the pore size is smaller than the critical dimension (i.e. when the modified Pclet number becomes lower than 65), flame propagation is prohibited and the flame is quenched. On the other hand, if the pore size exceeds this critical dimension, flame propagation inside the porous structure is possible.

Figure 20 [9]: Schematic setup of a porous burner. In the porous burner the combustion process is stabilized with a sudden change of the pore size, corresponding to a change of the Pclet number inside the combustion reactor.

5.2 Staged combustion [10]

Staged combustion in porous medium burners has a younger history, and the main reason for applying this complex technology is environmental concerns. Staged combustion, compared with unstaged operation, can reduce NOx-emissions by more than 50%. Two different stages can be distinguished. In the primary zone a lean combustion takes place and in the second stage methane is added. Figure 21 [8]: Schematic diagram of a staged air-fuel burner.

Furthermore, staged combustion works with new ceramic materials made of aluminium oxide fibres or silicon carbide foams.

25

Figure 22 [8]: Example of a radiation burner with multi-staged combustion.

5.3 Oxy-fuel burners [8]

Oxy-fuel radiant porous burners must have a very small dimension perpendicular to the flow direction. Otherwise, the heat produced inside of the porous body cannot be transported fast enough to the surface and would result in an overheating of the combustion chamber inside the burner. The very small dimensions of the combustion chamber, resulting from the above considerations, would lead to extremely small and fragile burners that probably cannot stand the thermal and mechanical stresses in glass melting furnaces. In order to realize a radiant burner, a solution is needed that combines the necessary small burning chamber dimensions with a high enough surface area and a sufficient mechanical strength. A possible solution is a cooling inside the tube (figure 23). For a radiant burner operating with premixed gas and pure oxygen, the necessary length of the combustion region is very small. If according to the previous paragraph small burner dimensions perpendicular to the flow are applied, the burner surface is reaching the furnace temperature within some millimeters. Even if the combustion is only partially premixed and the methane is fed into the burner in multiple stages, the reaction zone is not enlarged essentially. Therefore, it was inevitable to find a method allowing the continuous dosing of methane across the entire burner. In doing so, the heat release is stretched over the complete combustion chamber. The surface area that contributes to the radiative heat transport is almost the complete burning chamber surface. Figure 23 [8]: Schematic diagram of the oxy-fuel radiant burner design.

26

Figure 24 [8]: Radiant burner attached to the surface wall.

The considerations of the previous paragraphs led to the design of an annular gap shaped combustion chamber (figure 23 and 24). Only a very lean methane-air mixture enters the actual combustion chamber in the tangential direction. The rest of the methane is pressed through the permeable inner tube (made of sintered SiC), thus leading to a continuously staged combustion process. The annular gap is primarily fed with a lean methane/oxygen mixture (excess oxygen ratio of about 5). With better materials in the future, the necessary overall surface area can be reduced to one third due to a much higher amount of heat transferable per unit area. Other materials, like Al2O3 or ZrO2, have a high maximum use temperature in air (1950oC and 1850oC). This results in a greater temperature difference between the radiant tube and the glass melt and thus a greater net heat flux to the glass melt.

27

5.4 Material data [11]

Ceramic foams are utilized in several applications, including the recently developed porous medium burner technology. These materials show outstanding characteristics with regard to thermal shock resistance, mechanical strength and conductive heat transport. Figure 25 [12]: Different ceramic porous materials: (a) Al2O3 fibre structure (b) C/SiC structure (c) Static mixer made of zirconia foam (d) Fe-Cr-Al-alloy wire mesh

The overall performance of the porous material is always a combination of the material itself and the actual porous structure. Therefore, for both the suitable materials and for the shapes of porous structures the basic properties are given below. Aluminum oxide structures (figure 25a) can be used if the maximum process temperatures do not exceed 1950C, although the technical temperature limit of these structures is nowadays at about 1700C. Besides, Al2O3-based materials show an intermediate heat conductivity ranging from 5 W/(m.K) at 1000C to about 30 W/(m K) at 20C. Also, aluminum oxide shows an intermediate thermal expansion, an intermediate resistance to thermal shock, and an emissivity of about 0.28 at 2000 K. High quality silicon carbide materials (figure 25b) may be characterized by a maximum usage temperature of about 1600C, a high heat conductivity in the range of 20 W/(m.K) at 1000C and 150 W/(m.K) at 20C, a very low thermal expansion and a very good resistance to thermal shock. The overall emissivity of SiC is about 0.8 to 0.9 at 2000 K. Zirconium oxide (figure 25c) has a temperature resistance up to 1850C. The heat conductivity of solid zirconia is hardly temperature dependent and in the range of 2-5 W/(m.K). The emissivity is about 0.31 at 2000 K. Solid zirconia has an extremely good resistance to thermal shock, due to the high inner porosity of ZrO2. As a result of the geometrical shape, such structures also show excellent radiation heat transport properties. Table 7: Material data of Al2O3, SiC, and ZrO2 [11].
Material data Density Thermal conductivity (at 20oC) Thermal conductivity (at 1000oC) Specific heat capacity Emissivity at 2000 K Maximum use temperature in air Dimensions g/cm3 W/m K W/m K J/g K o C Al2O3 3.75 20 30 56 0.9 1 0.28 1950 SiC 3.2 80 150 20 50 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 1600 ZrO2 5.56 25 24 0.5 0.6 0.31 1850

28

5.5 Calculations
The total energy needed to melt 250 tons of glass per day is about 11.1 MW (7.7 MW for the melting and 3.4 MW for the heat losses). This is calculated from the energy balance (formula 1) and assuming a feed flow of 3.2 kg/s. For the calculation of the required tube area, only the energy needed for melting has to be taken into account. When an efficiency () of 0.8 for the combustion and heat transfer to the walls is 7.7 taken into account, is can be calculated that about = 9.625 MW has to be supplied 0.8 by the radiant tube. Due to the destructive atmosphere in the furnace (NaOH, KOH, NaCl from glass melt) and the temperature of the glass melt (1773 K), maximum use temperatures in air do not apply. We assumed a temperature of 1800 K for SiC and 2000 K for both Al2O3 and ZrO2. In assuming these values we have taken into account that temperatures are not uniform over the whole tube. Locally temperatures, higher than the maximum use temperature, can occur and this can result in material defects. SiC The net heat flux is about 42 kW/m2 tube. This value is obtained from formula 2 by assuming a value of 0.8 for the emission coefficient () and a tube temperature of 1800 K. The total tube area required to provide this energy is: Atot = total energy needed [W] Qtot 9.625 10 6 = = = 229 m 2 M net heat flux [W/m 2 ] 42 10 3 (4)

The total length of the tubes becomes (a tube radius of 0.05m is assumed): ltot = Atot 229 = = 729 m 2 r 2 0.05 (5)

Al2O3 The net heat flux is about 170 kW/m2 tube. This value is obtained from formula 2 by assuming a value of 0.28 for the emission coefficient () and a tube temperature of 2000 K. The total tube area required to provide this energy is: Atot = total energy needed [W] Qtot 9.625 10 6 = = = 56.6 m 2 M net heat flux [W/m 2 ] 170 10 3 (4)

The total length of the tubes becomes (a tube radius of 0.05m is assumed): ltot = Atot 56.6 = = 180 m 2 r 2 0.05 (5)

29

 ZrO2 The net heat flux is about 185 kW/m2 tube. This value is obtained from formula 2 by assuming a value of 0.31 for the emission coefficient () and a tube temperature of 2000 K. The total tube area required to provide this energy is: Atot = total energy needed [W] Qtot 9.625 10 6 = = = 52.0 m 2 M net heat flux [W/m 2 ] 185 10 3 (4)

The total length of the tubes becomes (a tube radius of 0.05m is assumed): ltot = Atot 52.0 = = 166 m 2 r 2 0.05 (5)

5.6 Selection criteria

Energy-efficiency + Good heat transport in furnace because of outstanding material properties (Table 7) + Higher net heat flux (200 kW/m2) on the glass bath means fewer burners + Staged combustion optimises stoichiometric combustion Costs + Not much exhaust gases in furnace (figure 24), so only cleaning equipment (e.g. scrubbers) required for emissions from glass melt - Required materials are expensive - Many tubes needed due to small burner length Materials (5.4) + Al2O3 and ZrO2 can be used at higher temperatures (1950 oC and 1850 oC), but have a lower emissivity than SiC (0.28 and 0.31). + SiC has a high emissivity of 0.85 and high thermal conductivity - Maximum use temperature in air of SiC is 1600 oC. Due to the destructive atmosphere in the furnace (NaOH, KOH, NaCl from glass melt) and the temperature of the glass melt (1500 oC), it is only possible to use SiC in radiant burners with another tube wall material. This seriously reduces the emissivity of the burner. Stability + Lower furnace temperatures than with free flames + Less damage to furnace wall, only emissions from glass melt - Lifetime of tubes made of SiC, Al2O3 or ZrO2 is less than 3 years - Oxy-fuel burners leads to high temperatures inside the tube, so cooling is required (figure 23)

30

CCO < 7 mg/(kWh) CNOx < 25 mg/(kWh) + exhaust gases not in the furnace (figure 24) + stoichiometric combustion means less pollution [10]

Emissions + very low emissions [12]:

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6. Electrical heating
6.1 Methods [1,13]
The melting of container glass is carried out in a continuous process. This can be achieved by electrical heating, using electrodes. There are two options regarding the placement of the electrodes. The first option is direct heating, where the electrodes are placed in the furnace in the glass melt. The second option is the placement of the electrodes outside the glass tank, which is called indirect heating. When electrical heating is used it is possible to heat the furnace: electrically in combination with another heating method pure electrically. The first alternative, partially electrical heating, involves the heating of the glass melt with electrodes as well as with for example conventional burners or radiant tube burners. This way of heating the glass melt is called electrical boosting (used for coloured glass). Using the second alternative, pure electrical heating, the glass is only heated by electrodes. The melting of container glass in an all-electrically-heated furnace is not used in the Netherlands because it is too expensive at this moment. The price of electricity is 0.0257 Euro/kWh [14]. The glass melt is an ionic conductor. The electrical conduction is mainly provided by the most mobile ions, the alkali metal ions (e.g. Na+-ions). A very strong current is conducted through the glass melt, using typically 12-18 electrodes [15]. The resistance of the glass melt causes a Joules heat dissipation and thus heat is generated in the melt. The voltage applied is an alternating current (AC) voltage. If a direct current is applied, an accumulation of charge around the electrodes will be developed. The electrical charge may also lead to oxidation or reduction of the electrodes and an accelerated attack of the electrode material [1]. When a glass melt is heated electrically, many different aspects can be considered. The design of the furnace, the type of electrodes (e.g. plates or rods), the position of the electrodes (inside or outside the furnace), the materials used and the number of electrodes can be taken under consideration.

6.2 Furnace [1]

In the case of an all-electrically-heated furnace, there is only a slight difference in comparison with the conventional method. Instead of a crown on top of the furnace with the heaters, a cold and flat top is created by covering the glass melt with cold feed. Because there is no combustion process, there are no heat losses from flue gases in the furnace. Furthermore, the heat losses from the holes wherein the electrodes are placed, have to be taken under consideration. During the melting process the holes are insulated but the electrodes are cooled with water. The heat losses due to this watercooling of the electrodes depend on the thickness of the electrodes.

32

6.3 Electrodes [16]

The type of electrodes used in an all-electrically-heated furnace is of great importance. Besides the high costs of electricity, one of the problems with direct heating may be the discolouration of the glass melt by the electrodes. This discolouration may be caused by the attack of the electrodes by the glass (formation of oxides with colouring power) and by the formation of bubbles. The bubbles are formed during several transformations that take place during heating and melting. A large amount of gases are formed, for example CO2 and SO2. The amount of oxides (originating from the electrodes) in the glass melt depends on the following factors: Temperature The attack of glass on the electrodes increases with increasing temperature. A possible solution could be the cooling of the electrodes. Area of contact surface The amount of dissolved oxides is proportional to the contact area of the electrodes. Current density The current density should be low at the place where the electric current goes from the electrodes into the glass melt. At this place electrolytic action is concentrated and the attack is less when the current density is lower. Chemical composition of the glass [15] The chemical composition of the glass determines the oxidation number of the glass melt. This oxidation number determines the oxidation rate of the glass and thus influences the amount of attack on the electrodes and the discolouration of the glass. These factors are contradicting because when a small electrode is used, there is a small surface contact area and this results in a high current density. Joules law ( P = I 2 R ) shows that the heat development is proportional to the square of the current strength and therefore the electrode will also have a high temperature. In what way the discolouration will take place, also depends on the contact time between the electrode and the glass melt. Shorter time of contact between the melt and the electrodes means less attack and less solution of oxides and thus less colouring effect. To achieve a shorter contact time, thorough mixing is needed. This results in the dilution of the colouring oxides. The colouring oxides are then distributed in a larger volume of the glass melt. When mixing is involved, the convection current becomes important. It starts at the hotspot near the electrode, raises the speed of flow and thus decreases the contact time of the glass melt and the electrode. The shape of the convection current strongly depends on the arrangement of the rod-shaped electrodes in the electrical melting tank [16].

33

Figure 26: Horizontally placed electrode through the side wall [16]

Figure 27: Vertically placed electrode through the bottom [16]

When the electrodes are placed horizontally (figure 26), the electrodes cause a certain convection pattern that sets up a thermal dam. This dam retards the forward stream of the glass along the tank. Much more favourable is the situation where the electrodes are placed vertically through the bottom of the tank (figure 27), because in this case the hot glass melt can rise free and unhindered to the surface. This improves the convection current, which results in better mixing, homogenising and good decolourising. Because of the vertical placement of the electrodes, the upward movement of the intensely heated glass near the electrodes is accelerated and the danger of overheating the glass near the electrodes is also limited. The type of materials used for the electrodes is important. For direct heating usually electrodes of molybdenum are used. The heating part of the electrodes is fully placed in the glass melt to prevent the electrodes from oxidation by air. When the furnace is heated electrically in an indirect way other materials have to be used such as Kanthal super elements [13]. Kanthal super elements comprise of molybdenum disilicide and a component that forms a dense protective layer of quartz glass around it at the working temperature. This electrical heating element can be used at high surface loadings and can be arranged in groups to give wall loadings higher than 100 kW/m2 [13].

6.4 Calculations [1,13]

The amount of glass produced is 250 tons of glass per day. If all the emissions, including dust and fining emissions, are taken into account 3.2 kg/s of feed is needed. To heat this amount of glass 7.7 MW is needed (formula 1). When the heat losses (through the walls and due to water-cooling) are taken under consideration about 11.1 MW is needed to melt the glass in an all-electrically-heated furnace. This amount of energy is supplied by the electrodes in the glass melt. The power supplied by the electrodes depends on the number of electrodes used, the resistance of the glass melt and the applied voltage. The power per electrode is calculated using formulas 6-8:

Pelectrode = I melt Rmelt

(6)

34

V = I melt Rmelt Rmelt = glass l A

(7) (8)

The number of electrodes determines the required distance between the electrodes. The surface area, where through the current is transported, is determined by the depth of the electrode in the glass melt and the diameter of the electrode. The specific electrical resistance of the glass melt is 105 times higher than that of the electrode used. Therefore the specific electrical resistance of the electrode can be neglected. When a voltage of 220 V is used, 200 electrodes are needed to supply enough power to melt all the glass. When the voltage is increased to 1100 V (with a transformer), only 15 electrodes are needed. The transfer of thermal energy from the electric current into the glass melt can be considered as being about 95% efficient [13]. Thus when 11.1 MW of heat is needed to melt the glass, 11.7 MW of electricity must be supplied, corresponding to 2.80.105 kWh per day. The current electricity price is 0.0257 Euro per kWh. The costs for one day of production are therefore 7200 Euro. 1 kWh of electricity supplied by a power plant equals 9 MJ of energy. To get an equal comparison with conventional combustion the amount of energy is converted to the amount of m3 fuel gas. Hcomb (31.65 MJ) corresponds to 1 m3 gas, thus one day of glass production corresponds to about 8.104 m3 of fuel gas.

6.5 Selection criteria

The electrical heating is compared to the conventional method using the following selection criteria: Lifetime expectancy + The Kanthal super elements that are placed outside the furnace have a lifetime of 3 to 6 years or even longer, depending on the circumstances of the glass production. Emissions (NOx and others) + There are no emissions from the combustion but there are emissions from the glass melt (e.g. SO2). Costs - For all electrical heating elements it holds that the method is more expensive (about 71%) than heating with burners, because electricity is more expensive than fuel. - Molybdenum and Molybdenum disilicide are expensive materials for the electrodes, 12 to 18 electrodes are needed + There are less emissions (no combustion), so only cleaning installations (e.g. scrubbers) are needed. Stability [13] + The Kanthal super elements do not age, i.e. they retain their electrical characteristics. + It is possible to connect existing elements in series without any problems. There is no need to match resistances or adjust voltages.

35

+ The heating elements can ensure a uniform wall temperature and are easy to replace. + The technique has already been used for several years and is therefore well developed. + The elements can be used under several possible atmospheres, although the maximum element temperature is dependent on what atmosphere is used.

36

7. Conclusion and discussion

In this report different heating techniques for a 250 tons glass production have been investigated. The following heating methods have been considered: Conventional gas combustion Conventional oil combustion Oxy-fuel combustion Radiant tube heating Electrical heating The costs, emissions and the fuel gas equivalent of each technique are compared to the reference situation (conventional gas combustion). Costs After making an energy balance (4.5), the energy needed for each heating method and the costs have been estimated. These values can be found in table 8. Table 8: Comparison of conventional with other heating techniques. Power needed Equivalent m3 fuel Costs (Euro) * (MW) gas per second 4200 15.4 0.49 Conventional Gas 3800 15.3 0.48 Oil 4700 17.4 0.55 Oxy-fuel 5000** 11.1 Radiant Tube 7200 29.2*** 0.93 Electrically * Costs of heating per day (without costs of materials used). ** Assumption based on conventional oxy-fuel combustion. *** 11.7 MW of electricity. The variable costs (energy costs) of electrical heating are about 70% more expensive than of conventional gas combustion (table 8). The energy costs of electrical heating are high because expensive electricity is needed. The electricity has to be obtained from a power plant, that has an efficiency of 40%. Electrical heating is also expensive, because of the material used for electrodes (inside the glass melt Mo, outside the glass melt MoSi2). The capital outlay of radiant tube burners is high, because of the materials (SiC-foam, Al2O3 and ZrO2) that have to be used. Using oxy-fuel combustion and oxy-fuel radiant tube burners, energy is required to produce oxygen. The production of this oxygen requires expensive electricity. Emissions If oxygen is used (oxy-fuel combustion and oxy-fuel radiant tube burners) instead of air, the NOx-emissions are lower than for conventional gas combustion. When using air for the combustion, expensive DENOX installations are needed. The dust-emissions are lower when oxygen is used instead of air, because of lower gas flow in the conventional oxy-fuel furnaces. If oil is combusted instead of fuel gas, the SO2-emissions are higher due to the higher sulphur concentration of the fuel oil (gas fired 400-600 mg/m3, oil fired 1200-3000 mg/m3).

37

Heat transfer

Table 9: Comparison of required surface area. Heat transfer Required surface (kW/m2) area (m2) 163 50 Conventional Gas 181 45 Oil 252 32 Oxy-fuel 42 230 Radiant SiC Tube 170 57 Al2O3 185 52 ZrO2 15* Electrically *Number of electrodes The emissivity of the oil flame is higher than of the gas flame. The flame temperature is therefore lower. The oxy-fuel flame produces less soot, but the emissivity of the oxy-fuel flame is compensated by the higher water and CO2 concentrations. Radiant tube technology is a promising technique. The required surface area of the radiant tube results in high tube lengths of above 100 m. Still much research has to be done on the endurability of the tube material. Also the mechanical strength of the tube has to be improved. Table 10: Comparison of investigated heating techniques (reference situation is a conventional gas fired furnace). Capital Variable Maintenance Lifetime outlay costs expectancy = -10% = Conv. Oil =* +12% =** = Oxy-fuel +19% Radiant tube +71% = Electrically + better, = comparable, - worse

Emissions +*** + -****

* No regenerator, but an oxygen plant has to be built ** No regenerator maintenance, but extra maintenance of the power plant *** Dust emissions 25% lower, NOx emissions up to 80% lower **** The emissions of the power plant are included

38

8. Acknowledgements
First of all we would like to thank our tutor Robin Willemse for his support and his valuable input in our discussions. Also we would like to thank prof. Beerkens and dr. Van der Schaaf for their evaluations and discussions. Further we like to thank Jetse Reijenga for the co-ordination of the project. Finally we acknowledge Maud Mathijssen for her assistance with our teambuilding process.

39

9. References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. H. de Waal, R.G.C. Beerkens, NCNG Handboek voor de Glasfabricage 2nd edition, september 1997 Dr.Ir. R.G.C. Beerkens, Energy efficient and environmentally sound industrial glass melting, TNO-rapport HAM-RPT-95-050, 1995 Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Oxy-Fuel Techniques, http://www.airproducts.co.uk Cirmac Oxygen, Packaged Oxygen Systems, http://www.cirmac.com World Energy Network, 1998 Annual Summary of Results, http://www.enaa.or.jp/WE-NET EREN-Clean Energy Partnership, Oxy-fuel fired glass Allied Environmental Technologies Inc., http://www.alentecinc.com

A.Kesting, O.Pickencker, D.Trimis, F.Durst, Development of a radiation burner for methane and pure oxygen using the porous burner technology, 1999 9. O.Pickencker, A.Kesting, D.Trimis, Novel low NOx burner designs for boilers and furnaces by using staged combustion in inert porous media 10. H.L.Pan, O.Pickencker, K.Pickencker, D.Trimis, S.Mssbauer, K.Wawrzinek, T.Weber, Experimental determination of effective heat conductivities of highly porous media 11. D.Trimis, F.Durst, O.Pickencker, K.Pickencker, Porous medium combustor versus combustion systems with free flames 12. S.Mossbauer, O.Pickencker, K.Pickencker, D.Trimis, Application of the porous burner technology in energy- and heat-engineering, 1999 13. I.M.M.M.C. Naus, The rapid glass melter, a new design of an industrial glass melting furnace, Eindhoven University of Technology, july 1999 14. Essent, http://www.essent.nl 15. J. Stanek, Glass science and technology 1, Electric melting of glass, 1977 16. A. G. Pincus, G. M. Diken, Electric Melting in the glass industry, 1976

40

Appendix I
Symbols conventional combustion
Fgas Hcomb Ai Rti Twi T0 Ak Ts Gin Hglass Ta fi Cpi recycle Fair Cp,air Tair,out Ff Tf,out ai T2 2 Tavg (di/i) Mu Mi Mu M i Mnet g v k Tg Tv Tk = gas/oil flow (m3/s) = heat of combustion (lower limit) of gas/oil (J/m3) = area of wall i (m2) = heat resistance of wall i (m2.K) = temperature of wall i (K) = temperature outside the furnace (K) = area of leaks and slits in the furnace walls (m2) = emission coefficient of radiation space (-) = constant of Boltzmann ( = 5.67.10-8 W/m2.K4) = temperature of radiation space (K) = flow of feed (kg/s) = heat of formation of glass (kJ/kg) = flow of flue gas (m3/s) = temperature of flue gas (K) = volume fraction of gas i (-) = heat capacity of component i (J/m3.K) = fraction of flue gas energy used (-) = air flow (inlet) (m3/s) = heat capacity of air (J/m3.K) = temperature outlet air flow (K) = flow of flue gases (m3/s) = temperature outlet flue gases (K) = constant: 2.25 for crown, 1.94 for sidewalls, 1.26 for bottom (W/m2.K1.25) = temperature difference between outside of furnace wall and surroundings (K) = emission coefficient of furnace wall (-) = average temperature furnace wall outside and surroundings (K) = insulation parameter (m2.K/W) = radiation flux from the glass bath (W/m2) = radiation flux to the glass bath (W/m2) = radiation flux from the crown (W/m2) = radiation flux to the crown (W/m2) = net radiation flux from the flame to the glass bath (W/m2) = emission coefficient of the glass bath (-) = emission coefficient of the flame (-) = emission coefficient of the crown (-) = constant of Boltzmann ( = 5.67.10-8 W/m2.K4) = glass bath temperature (K) = flame temperature (K) = crown temperature (K)

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Hcomb Aw(crown) Aw(sidewalls) Aw(bottom) Tin T0 Ak Ts Ta Cp N2 Cp O2 Cp Ar Cp CO2 Cp CH4 Cp H2O Gin Hglass (di/i) a(crown) a(sidewalls) a(bottom) T 2 Tavg Twall,outside Pe SL dm cp Atot Qtot M ltot r

Values conventional combustion

= 3.17.107 J/m3 = 106 m2 = 70 m2 = 98 m2 = 1773 K = 293 K = 5.48 m2 = 0.35 = 5.67.10-8 W/( m2.K4) = 1800 K = 1673 K = 1440 J/m3.K = 1500 J/ m3.K = 1000 J/ m3.K = 2300 J/ m3.K = 1500 J/ m3.K = 1750 J/ m3.K = 3.4 kg/s = 2536000 J/kg (no cullet) = 0.85 m2.K/W = 2.25 W/( m2.K1.25) = 1.94 W/( m2.K1.25) = 1.26 W/( m2.K1.25) = 80 K = 0.5 = 333 K = 573 K

Symbols radiant tube technology

= modified Pclet number (-) = laminar flame velocity (m/s) = equivalent porous cavity space diameter (m) = specific heat capacity of the gas mixture (J/kg.K) = density of the gas mixture (kg/m3) = thermal conductivity of the gas mixture (W/m.K) = efficiency of the combustion and heat transfer to the walls (-) = emission coefficient (-) = total tube area required (m2) = total energy needed (W) = net heat flux (W/m2) = total length of tubes required (m) = radius of radiant tube (m)

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Symbols electrical heating

Pelectrode= power supplied by the electrode (W) V = voltage applied on the electrodes (V) Imelt = current through the glass melt (A) Rmelt = resistance of the glass melt () glass = specific electrical resistance of glass (m) l = distance between electrodes (m) A = projection area of an electrode (m2) lelectrode = length of the electrode (m) delectrode = diameter of the electrode (m)

Values electrical heating

V = 1100 V glass = 3.10 m (at about 1500oC) [1] l = 2.6 m (when using 15 electrodes [15]) A = 0.05 m2 lelectrode = 1.0 m delectrode = 0.05 m [15]

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