Three-dimensional mathematical modeling of a float glass melting furnace

Float glass melting furnaces are characterized by their large sizes (60 m in length, 10 m in width, 1 m in depth). The physical and chemical processes taking place in the glass bath and the combustion chamber are complex. With the rapid progress in computer technology, it has become possible to numerically simulate the performance of large size melting furnaces. A comprehensive transient and steady state, three-dimensional physical-mathematical model and computer program have been developed to predict the circulations and heat transfer in float glass melting furnaces. The submodels of the system model include combustion chamber, batch melting, glass circulation and heat transfer in the glass bath, waist cooler, electric boosting, air cooling in the working end and bottom steps. The governing conservation equations (PDEs) are solved numerically using the SIMPLER algorithm with properly specified boundary conditions. The irregularity of the geometry is handled. The combustion space, batch, and glass melting tank submodels are coupled through an iterative procedure. Numerical simulations have been carried out for various combinations of geometry and physical processes occurring in the furnace. The numerical results for the flow and temperature fields, glass quality related parameters, and particle trajectories have been computed and discussed. The effects of geometry, waist cooling, electric boosting, and stepped bottom of the tank have been examined and their effects on the thermal performance of the furnace are reported