The authors examine the arguments for and against the use of water-wetting of glass batch. The argument "against" is the added energy cost (and carbon cost) to evaporate that water from the batch. The arguments "for" include cost-avoidance from raw material segregation during transport, loss of material as dust during transport, shortened furnace life from batch dusting and carryover, and reduced efficiency and glass quality from diminished batch circulation and melting in the furnace. Unless steps have been taken to minimize these problems, going to dry batch would be, in total, a costly change. This would be especially true for a float glass operation, where very high quality is demanded. Use of wet sand use is encouraged where practical to save the cost of drying.
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