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Title: Use of furnace curtains to reduce energy consumption in glass annealing furnaces

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6512271

An experimental study on energy and mass balance and the associated effects of installing curtains in a typical annealing furnace used in the glass industry is reported. Only lehrs operated on natural gas were considered. Review of the annealing process, the lehr selection process and its structural details are given. Instrumentation and data collecting procedures are discussed. Results are given for eight monitored items spanning weight and height ranges from 0.328 to 2.17 pounds, and 3.09 to 9.50 inches, respectively. Base line data were established by continuous data-logging, and results were compared to data collected after curtains installation. Construction details of the curtains are given. Comparison of results showed a savings of 7.7% in natural gas consumption in the pre-heating and annealing zone for tall items. Greater savings are expected with short-item runs. Energy utilization factors of lehr and belt heaters under current operating conditions are given.

Research Organization:
Anchor Hocking Corp., Lancaster, OH (USA)
OSTI ID:
6512271
Report Number(s):
NP-4901794; ON: TI84901794
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English