CFD Modeling of a Fiberglass Furnace

Abstract In the fiberglass production process, glass is produced from various batch ingredients in a glass furnace. The molten glass is then delivered, through a delivery system that is often called the front-end system, to the various downstream forming operations. Multiple complex processes take place in the glass furnace, which include the turbulent reacting flow in the combustion space; laminar flow dominated by natural convection in the molten glass; fusion of raw batch materials to form molten glass; radiation and convective heat transfer between the combustion space and the molten glass; bubbling flows in the glass; and Joule heating within the molten glass, etc. The main task of the glass furnace is to convert raw batch materials into glass and thermally and chemically condition the glass before being delivered to the front-end system. One of the major tasks of a front-end system is to insure that the glass is conditioned to the specifications required by the forming operations while maintaining the highest glass quality. Improperly designed and/or operated furnace and front end delivery system can cause a number of problems to the forming operations, ranging from poor glass quality with defects to shortened furnace service life. CFD has become an increasingly important tool for glass manufacturers to guide and optimize such system designs and operations. The current work is part of an effort to leverage CFD resources in the decision-making processes in engineering, operations, and businesses. The furnace modeling was performed using the recently implemented batch melting model jointly developed by Owens Corning and Fluent, Inc., which features three-dimensional simulation of an entire glass furnace including combustion, bubbling, and electrical boosting. The thermal coupling procedure between the combustion space, batch, and the melting tank along with the associated convergence issues are discussed. The modeling results are presented along with comparison with field measurements.