Model of a glass melting furnace by Li/sub 2/O tracing

By adding a tracer element not normally utilized in the batch, the residence time and mixing dynamics of a furnace can be determined. The furnace considered is a predominantly electric fired furnace with a blanket batch charger. Spodumene containing lithia (Li/sub 2/O) is used as the tracer and is added into the batch at a constant amount for a period of seven days. The mixing dynamics are modeled through a system of differential equations of mass balance that utilize two parameters to define the batch mixing before entering the tank and three parameters to predict the tank mixing. This results in a model that is easily solvable and that will return the optimal parameter settings when nonlinear least squares are used to assay results from the tracer study. Using this method, complex measurements of temperature distributions, heat conductivity factors, and convection factors are not necessary. Sample results are shown and discussed.<>