Study of Melting Ability of Granulated Glass Batch

Abstract

In the conventional soda-lime glass production, loose raw materials are normally mixed into a glass batch for melting. Dusting and segregation of the loose glass batch are always occurred during the melting process inside the glass furnace. Also, the loose glass batch has low thermal conductivity which limits the glass melting ability and pulling rate of the glass furnace. Granulation and preheating of glass raw materials have been proposed to solve the problems. In this study, the granulated soda-lime glass batch (SiO2 50% Na2CO3 22.5% CaCO3 12% NaAlSi3O8 9.5% BaCO3 2.5% ZnO 1.75% Sb2O3 1% and K2CO3 0.75% by weight) was prepared to study the melting ability in an electric furnace. The granulated batch was also preheated at 500-600°C before melting. The preheating temperature was matched to the temperature of flue gas at the bottom of the stack in the glass furnace. The purpose behind this was aiming to recover the waste heat from the furnace. The experiment exhibited the increased melting ability for the granulated-preheated glass batch