Glass Melting Technology: A Technical and Economic ... - OSTI

The modular design of the device makes for easy access to condensates for cleaning, but caused
problems during operation. The Zippe indirect preheating device is in operation on furnaces in
Europe, particularly in glass container furnaces in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
(Barton, 1993) (Zippe B-H, Glass, 67[5] (1990)
IV.8.6. Electrified Cullet Bed (Edmeston, Sweden, 1990)
The Electrified Granulate Bed (EGB), a hybrid filter system, uses the cullet bed as a filter for
waste gases. The system combines an electrostatic precipitator that removes dust with a direct
cullet preheater. The hot waste gas enters the top of the system and passes through an ionizing
stage, imparting an electrical charge to the dust particles. The gas then passes into a bed of
granular cullet, which is polarized by a high-voltage electrode immersed in the cullet bed. The
charged dust particles are attracted to the cullet, where they are deposited. The cullet is
constantly being added at the top of a shaft from which it is removed at the bottom. The
preheated cullet (up to 752 ˚ F [400 ˚ C]) and the attached particulates are charged into the
furnace.
In 1994, the Irish Glass Bottle Co., along with the British Glass Manufacturers Confederation
and Edmeston GmbH, received a Thermie grant from the European Commission to develop this
innovative cullet preheating process. The system developed by this group incorporated an
electrostatic principle to collect furnace particulate onto the cullet that was fed to the furnace.
Like the Zippe system, this device requires a separate cullet bin. Since the exhaust gases must be
passed through a bed of cullet about 12 to 18 in. thick, the cullet must be of a reasonable size to
minimize the pressure drop through the bed. Cullet preheat temperatures above 1292 ˚F (700 ˚C)
have been realized, and particulate is recaptured with the system. A second unit installed on a
new oxy-fuel furnace at Leone Industries in the United States has met New Source Performance
Standards (NSPS) standards for particulate control. (McGrath, J.M., “Preheating cullet while
using the cullet ed as a filter for waste gases in the Edmeston heat transfer/emission control
system,” Glass Technology, 37[5], 146-150 (1996))
IV.9. Non-conventional melting systems
Methods of combining melting and refining in non-conventional melting systems have been
explored extensively both in the United States and Europe. Attempts to design innovative glass
melting processes for melting and refining have generally segmented the melting process into
distinct steps that incorporate driven systems to increase dissolution of sand particles and initial
gaseous evolution from raw materials.
Combined melting-refining systems explored over the past 25 years include the Rapid Melting
and Refining (RAMAR) by Owens Illinois; Fusion et Affinage Rapide (FAR) system by Saint-
Gobain; Fusion et Affinage Rapide Electrique (FARE) system by Saint-Gobain; and the PPG P-
10 system. (See details of these technologies below.)
Since traditional glass melters rely on natural convection for internal melt movement, the melters
are very “fragile.” Critical convection patterns are strongly affected by minor changes in inputs,
largely changing product quality. More robust melters are needed to allow a stirred chemical
reactor in which convection is controlled directly. Controlled stirring forces can counteract the
forces created by thermal and compositional gradients and by release of gases. Owens-Illinois
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