Evaluation of the quartz dissolution zone of the segmented thin-film melter

摘要

In this paper an evaluation of the quartz dissolution zone of the segmented thin-film melter is presented. The segmented thin-film melter is a new, theoretical furnace design which has three zones: a batch melting zone to melt the batch, a quartz dissolution zone to dissolve the sand, and a fining zone to fine the glass melt. Different designs are modelled for the quartz dissolution and the fining zones, referring in all cases to available state-of-the-art technology. The results show that two principal improved designs for the segmented thin-film melter are possible. Both designs have a lower height in the fining zone than in the quartz dissolution zone. Thus this seems to be an appropriate solution for the segmented thin-film melter. The first design is a segmented thin-film melter without a throat (i.e. as would be the case in a float glass furnace) with electrodes on the left and right sides of the quartz dissolution zone. The second design has a wall before the throat in the fining zone (i.e. as with a container glass furnace) and it has electrodes in the centre of the quartz dissolution zone.