Introduction of Glass Furnace
Glass furnace construction is one of the important application domains of refractory materials. Glass furnace is a kind of thermal equipment that is lined with refractory bricks and used for melting various kinds of glass. Glass furnaces can be mainly divided into two types, glass tank furnaces and glass pot furnaces. Glass tank furnaces are most commonly used for industrial applications. They mainly include flame tank furnaces and electric tank furnaces. Glass pot furnaces put the glass mixture into the pot, and then placed in the furnaces together for heating, and poured into glass products until the mixture melted.
High temperature and corrosive gases can cause serious damage to the glass furnace in the process of glass production. The degree and speed of chemical erosion are closely related to furnace temperature, quality of the lining material, and type of melting glass. Therefore, You should select a suitable material selection based on your respective furnace conditions, glass type, glass color, melting method and so on.
Classification of Glass Furnaces
Based on type of fuel, glass furnaces can be classified into different types, such as natural gas, coke oven gas, coal gasification gas, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, heavy oil, coal tar, petroleum coke, and others. Based on furnace type, glass furnaces can be categorized as pot furnaces, unit furnaces, regenerative chamber furnaces, oxygen-fired furnaces, all-electric furnaces, and top-fired electric heating furnaces. Based on different applications, glass furnaces can be divided into architectural glass furnaces, household glass furnaces, and special glass furnaces.
Refractories for Glass Industry
High temperatures and corrosive gases can cause serious damage to the glass furnace in the process of glass production. Therefore, refractory materials are widely used in the manufacturing and maintenance of glass furnaces. In general, there are some parts that are in contact with glass liquid, such as the tank wall and bottom. Fused zirconia corundum blocks are selected for the above-mentioned positions. Clay refractory bricks are selected for the lower layer of the tank bottom.
There are some parts that are not in contact with glass liquid, such as kiln roof, kiln wall, fire spout, charging system, etc. These parts are mainly damaged by high-temperature action, dust erosion, and chemical erosion of various volatile matter. Volatile matter comes mainly from liquid glass, batch materials and combustion products. And its main compositions are alkali metal oxides, boron, fluoride, terbium compounds and sulfur compounds. Therefore, a complete set of refractory materials should be selected for the glass furnace in order to obtain higher heat efficiency and longer furnace life.
| Portion | Detail of Portion | Type | Representative Materials |
| Melting end | Superstructure | Fused cast | AZ33 |
| Melter side wall | Fused cast, ZM-G | AZ33,36 | |
| Melter bottom | Fused cast | AZ33,36 | |
| Corner | Fused cast | AZ41 | |
| Working end, Fore hearth, Feeder | Superstructure | Sintered Refractories | Sintered Fireclay Series |
| Work bottom | Fused cast | AZ33 | |
| Regenerator | Housing | Sintered Magnesia Series | DMZ-97 |
Importance of Glass Furnace Construction Quality
High quality construction work is a key point in ensuring furnace quality and its service life. At present, some furnaces have a short lifespan that are found to have “air leakage and fire leakage” when they put into operation less than a year. There will be numerous problems within 2-3 years and have to stop work to undergo repair, which caused enormous economic losses. As long as the glass furnace is shut down, the fused zirconia corundum bricks will burst because of inconsistent internal and external cooling rate. Other refractory materials will pull the brick body apart because of thermal expansion, which will damage the integrity of furnace body.
Why Choose AGRM Refractory
The maintenance of a glass furnace is not like other machinery and equipment, when a certain part of glass furnace needs to be repaired, the relevant parts must be dismantled and cannot be used anymore. Once the furnace is shut down for maintenance, the economic loss is quite enormous. Therefore, we should pay attention to details throughout the construction process to ensure furnace quality.
AGRM Refractory has been engaged in the production and research and development of refractory materials for many years, we can solve various difficult problems for high-temperature furnace lining, and our refractory materials for furnace are more durable. We can supply much kinds of refractory materials, once you have this demand, feel free to contact with us.
