Mathematical model for fuel-heated glass melting tanks

Abstract

The development of the computer technique opens up the possibility of modelling glass melting tanks by means of mathematical methods. Twenty years ago the first mathematical model was published by Peschke and Trier. The papers published in the last twenty years can be divided into two groups. The first contains the energy balance models, the second the flow models in which the temperature and velocity fields are computed. In this paper a new model is described which presents a combination of an energy balance and a flow model. The energy balance model in this case provides the thermal boundary conditions for the flow model. This combined model has the following three advantages: first, it is possible to examine the energetic and flow behaviour of the furnace simultaneously; second, only this model makes it possible to secure the physically real thermal boundary conditions for the flow model; third, it is possible to investigate the changes of technological parameters in the temperature and velocity fields within the glass melt.