Electrical modelling and scale-up rules for glass melters

Abstract

A scale-up rule is developed to estimate the resistance for each circuit of a projected glass melter. Given all the internal sizes and contours including shapes of the electrodes as well as the power and power ratios and the resistivity of the molten glass for the proposed melter, this rule permits calculating the voltage and current for each of its circuits. Single-phase circuit-interactions, distributions of equipotential surfaces and lines of current and some safety considerations are discussed and illustrated for a multiplicity of electrodes and single-phase power supplies by using two-dimensional, isothermal, salt water models of electric melters. Phase relations that occur between currents in non-linear fluid conductors when additional transformers are used as currentbalancing means are also explored. This material is useful for understanding and designing electric melters.