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

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6512271

Wexler, J

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

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320303* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Equipment & Processes
ANNEALING
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
CURTAINS
DATA ACQUISITION
ENERGY BALANCE
ENERGY CONSERVATION
FURNACES
GLASS INDUSTRY
HEAT TREATMENTS
INDUSTRY
MASS BALANCE