Numerical and Experimental Investigation on the In-Flight Melting Behaviour of Granulated Powders in Induction Thermal Plasmas

摘要

An innovative in-flight glass melting technology with thermal plasmas was developedfor the purpose of energy conservation and environment protection.In this study,modelling andexperiments of argon-oxygen induction thermal plasmas were conducted to investigate the meltingbehaviour of granulated soda-lime glass powders injected into the plasma.A two-dimensional localthermodynamic equilibrium(LTE)model was performed to simulate the heat and momentumtransfer between plasma and particle.Results showed that the particle temperature was stronglyaffected by the flow rate of carrier gas and the particle size of raw material.A higher flow rate ofcarrier gas led to lower particle temperature and less energy transferred to particles which resultedin lower vitrification.The incomplete melting of large particles was attributed to the lower centraltemperature of the particle caused by a larger heat capacity.The numerical analysis explained wellthe experimental results,which can provide valuable practical guidelines for the process controlin the melting process for the glass industry.