Modelling of Combustion, NOx Emissions and Radiation of a Natural Gas Fired Glass Furnace

Paper presented at AFRC 2014 Industrial Combustion Symposium

This work performs numerical simulations of a natural gas fired glass furnace. The purpose of this work is to provide useful insights in the design of glass furnaces and the appropriate modelling strategy for such types of simulations. The results are compared to the available experimental data and the importance of the recirculating region for the effective heat transfer at the glass wall is highlighted. The formation of NOx is a crucial parameter in the design of glass furnaces. Therefore, additional calculations for NOx are performed. The simulations, which are in agreement with the available experimental data, indicate the approximate intensity and location of NOx formation. Finally, the importance of radiation effects is highlighted by performing a simulation without radiation. The results indicating that radiation is an important physical phenomenon in glass furnaces and certainly cannot be ignored.