23 Mar 2011   Spinel Refractories for Oxy-Fuel and Solar Glass Melters

Following recent installations of DSF Frimax 7 Spinel in oxy – fuel and conventional glass melting furnaces Our Technical Manager Chris Windle is presenting a paper entitled “Spinel Refractories for Oxy-Fuel and Solar Glass Melters” at the Annual Meeting of the International Commission on Glass (ICG) in Shenzhen China.

The ICG 2011 Annual Meeting and 1st High-tech International Forum on Glass is being held at the Wuzhou Guest House from 30th March to 2nd April 2011.

The abstract of the paper is shown below:

Conversion to oxy-fuel firing technology and increased interest in solar glass production has resulted in significant attention to new refractories that can withstand harsh environments at increasingly elevated melting temperatures for longer campaigns. Magnesia alumina spinel offers alkali and boron resistance, excellent thermo-mechanical stability and the ability to withstand high temperatures up to 2000.C. These properties mean that spinel can be utilised in melter superstructure and crown applications for a wide range of glass compositions including float, solar, E, C and lighting. Campaigns of spinel melter superstructure have now reached 12 years with no visible wear and oxy-fuel melter crowns have been installed with great success culminating in float melter spans. Reasons for the adoption of this material include ease of installation and it is available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes allowing a traditional bricked construction. Complex shapes which are not appropriate to press are cast using techniques which do not compromise either chemical durability or temperature resistance. In addition to products designed for new installations, products with high thermal shock resistance specifically designed for hot insertion have been developed for emergency repair. Spinel products can make conversion to oxy-fuel melting economically viable which in turn improves productivity, reduces NOx emissions and has a positive impact on glass quality.