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Glass
Making
Glass furnace modeling
Computer modeling has been applied to the design of Saint-Gobain
glass furnaces, to provide assistance in the diagnosis and analytical
process, to conduct industrial testing, and to provide assistance
for technological innovation. It is also used to improve quality,
to check pollution emissions, and to reduce costs. Saint-Gobain
Recherche staff have applied computer modeling to both the glass
bath and the combustion chamber. It is used to determine the convection
currents in the glass, the heat flows, wall temperatures and to
study bubbles present in glass or the development of the volatile
components in the combustion chamber.
Refractory materials and glass
Glass-making requires the use of refractory materials. The
development of these materials has gone hand in hand with the need
to melt glass at increasingly higher temperatures (from 1200 to
1600°C), and then, once this target has been reached, to reduce
their corrosiveness. Corrosion is directly related to the solubility
of the refractory constituents in the glass. This corrosion is triggered
by different types of convection currents inside the melting furnace.
Studies of corrosive interfaces have revealed two lines of investigation
for restricting furnace aging to an acceptable level. These involve
either adapting the furnace working conditions or the materials.
The refractory product is improved through chemical and mineralogical
compositions, as well as by ensuring that the best possible performances
are achieved during the fabrication process. Progress is the result
of close collaboration between the glass-maker, the furnace operator,
and last but not least, the furnace designers, as furnace construction
technology impacts the corrosive behavior of the refractory materials.
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