The Effective use of Electric Boosting in Glassmaking Furnaces

All-electric melting of glass is designed to utilize uniform application of power in order to give a vertical melting process with minimal convective flows. In contrast, fossil fuel-fired melting depends heavily upon the convective flow systems set up by imposed temperature differentials. Successful electric boosting of a fossil fuel-fired furnace requires that the electrode placement and power input maintain or strengthen the temperature differentials and the resulting convective flows. If the electric boost is designed for uniform heat input, an opportunity is lost to optimize the efficiency of a melting operation and it may indeed hamper the process. The paper is supported by FMC periscope films of industrial glass melting operations.