Comparative study on energy-saving technologies for glass furnaces

Abstract

Different new technologies for increasing the energy efficiency of glass furnaces have been compared. The most important technologies are: - batch and cullet preheating, using a fluidized bed for batch preheating and dust filtration; - thermochemical recuperators using a water/methane reformer; - oxygen burners; - advanced air preheat systems like ceramic recuperators; - twin-bed burners; - new combustion technologies. The energy savings of these different measures for an industrial glass furnace have been calculated by using an energy-balance model. Α soda-lime glass furnace with a production rate of 250 t glass/d has been chosen as an example for making these comparisons. The economics of all these different technologies have not been compared here. Melting of batches with up to 100 % cullet may have additional advantages for the energy consumption because of the possible lower melting temperatures needed to remelt pure cullet without other raw materials. Batch and cullet preheaters are the most important systems for the near future. Besides the improvement of the energy efficiency, the impact of some of the mentioned energy-saving technologies on the reduction of the emissions of air pollutants like dust, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, chlorides and fluorides seems to be promising.