Float Glass Kiln Structure (2)

Part Two Melting End

Melting end in float glass furnace is where batch mixture melted, glass liquid clarification and homogenization. Melting end front part is melting zone and back part is clarification part. While in vertical view, the upper part is flame space, and below flame space is kiln tank. Front wall, glass liquid surface, kiln crown and breast wall together circle into a flame space. The kiln tank contains tank bottom and tank wall.

Melting zone’s function is making batch mixture melting into glass liquid under high temperature after physical and chemical reactions. Clarification zone can expelled the bubble out quickly from glass liquid and finally achieve the glass liquid quality required.

1-kiln roof (crowm); 2-crown feet (springer); 3-upper making-up brick;  4-breast wall; 5-tuck stone; 6-lower making-up brick; 7-tank wall; 8-tank botom; 9-stay 10-stand colum;11-springer angle ircon; 12-upper iron; 13-joining beam; 14-breast wall plate; 15-lower iron; 16-tank wall aginst iron; 17-tank wall against weir; 18-column base angle iron; 19-column base bolt; 20-flat steel; 21-sub beam; 22-main girder; 23-kiln colum

 1-vertical wal area; 2-under nose area 3-suspender; 4-steel shell; 5-heat exchange door (cooling water)

1. Flame space

Flame space is full filed with super hot flame gas which can melt batch mixture and the same time spread its heat to glass liquid, kiln wall and kiln roof. Flame space should have the fuel complete combustion to supply enough heat energy for glass melting, clarification and homogenizing, and minimize heat dissipation.

2. Kiln tank

 Kiln tank is where batch mixture melted into liquid glass, clarified and homogenized. It should be able to supply sufficient amount of completely melted liquid glass. In order to reach a certain service life, tank wall’s thickness is general 250 ~300 mm. Tank bottom thickness depends on the insulation state. Without insulation layer, tank bottom thickness is around 300 mm.

（1）Front wall structure

Front wall is used to block the heat gas(contains flame) escape and thermal radiation, located across over feeding tank, flame space front wall in melting end. Since front wall easy broken under flame burning, powder erosion, and easy out of shape when hot blast air heating up furnace, most float glass furnace company in China choosing L shape front wall, see drawing 1-4

L type crown has the characteristics of long service life of the front wall, enhancing the energy saving effect, improving the kiln environment, protecting the feeder, improving the melting speed, reducing dust flying and longer checker chamber’s service life, etc.

When design front wall, we should choose the suitable distance between front wall to 1# port’s center line, if the distance too short, it will accelerate front wall’s broken speed, lower batch mixture’s preheating effect, and increase burning loss and block of port 1# and 2#. while if the distance too long, feeding pool’s temperature will be too low, there will appear material difficult melt, liquid not easy forward and other defects.

At present, the distance between front wall and port 1#’s center line is 3.2 m~4.3 m based on quantity and fuel types.

To be continue