Mathematical Modeling of Pottery Production in Different Industrial Furnaces

摘要

The traditional process for pottery production was analyzed in this work by developing a fundamental mathematical model that simulates the operation of rustic pottery furnaces as employed by natives of villages in Michoacan, Mexico. The model describes radiative heat transfer and fluid flow promoted by natural convection, phenomena that determine the operation of these furnaces. An advanced radiation model called the "Discrete Ordinates Model" was implemented within a commercial computational fluid dynamics software. Process analysis was performed to determine the effect of the design variables on the quality of the pottery pieces and on energy efficiency. The variables explored were: (a) Geometric aspect ratio between diameter and height of the furnace (D/H) and (b) Refractory thickness (L). The model was validated using experimental temperature measurements from furnaces located in Santa Fe and Capula, Mexico. Good agreement was obtained between experimental and numerically calculated thermal histories. It was found that furnaces with high aspect ratio D/H and with thick refractory bricks promote thermal uniformity and energy savings. In general, any parameter that increases the conductive thermal resistance of the wall furnace isolates better, and helps energy savings. Operating conditions that provide the smallest thermal gradients and lowest energy consumption are given.