Glass batch preheater - phase III: hardware development. Annual report Jul 81-Jul 82
The glass industry uses 300,000,000 MMBtu annually; 50 percent of this energy is natural gas consumed in melting furnaces. A batch preheating system could reduce this energy use 20 percent (saving 30,000,000 MMBtu/yr) while simultaneously reducing the air pollution emissions. Results obtained in the first two phases of this program indicated that a glass batch preheating system is feasible and that the resultant energy savings would pay for the additional equipment in less than a year. The major remaining concern was fouling of the distributor plate. Tests have shown that deposits do build up in the heat exchanger. However, the deposits are extremely water soluble and easily cleaned off the plate with a water spray. Thus a system was developed for cleaning the preheater and was demonstrated over eight weeks of continuous operation. Models to design the preheater were developed - in particular, an analytical model to predict the stability of the bed. Additionally, heat losses were incorporated in the temperature-profile model to predict more accurately the heat exchanger performance.
- Research Organization:
- Thermo Electron Corp., Waltham, MA (USA); Naval Civil Engineering Lab., Port Hueneme, CA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5868217
- Report Number(s):
- PB-83-167254
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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