How to choose right refractory materials for different parts of glass furnace

Refractory materials in glass furnace can decide its quality, fuel consumption ratio, service life and production cost. Refractory materials will affect the overall efficacy and efficiency of glass furnace, therefore the selection of refractory materials needs extra consideration.

General requirement for refractory materials in glass furnace are as follows:

A. qualified performance in high-temperature resistance, anti-erosion, thermal shock resistance, volume stability, mechanical strength and minimum pollution to the glass;

B. long service life, and no reaction triggered when mixing with other refractory materials;

C. appropriate size and model with minimum heat loss;

D. Superior material in fragile parts and general materials in others.

To improve the performance of glass furnace, it’s significant to select the right refractory materials.

How to Select the right refractory materials for your glass furnace?

1. Refractory material in calcining/fusing parts that will make direct contact with glass

Infiltration by glass against refractory materials occurs in the form of liquid. The temperature for soda-lime glass to become liquid is about 1,500 Degree Celsius (2,732 Fahrenheit). For others, the temperature might be higher or lower, which depends on the viscosity property and their composition. For the furnace parts that make direct contact with glass, it is crucial that the refractory material can bear glass’s erosion. As to properties of refractory materials, the stability of its surface and its disposition to produce stone will affect the glass purity a great deal. The major parts that will make direct contact with glass include:

1. Side wall; 2. Filling-side wall; 3. throat; 4. bridge wall; 5. the furnace bottom.

For the upper of calcining/ sinter parts, it includes the entire melting tank as well as the necks of small furnaces. The surface temperature of this part is about 66~93 Degree Celsius ( 150.8-199.4 Fahrenheit) higher than the rest. In soda-lime glass furnace, the temperature can reach 1649 Degree Celsius (3000.2 Fahrenheit), and the temperature goes even higher in Borosilicate glass furnace.

The upper parts include:

1. The top roof; 2. filling-side wall; 3.breast wall; 4. the top roof, neck and bottom of the small furnace; 5. arch front wall; 6. bridge wall cover.

Sidewall and bottom of sinter/calcining	Bottom of sinter/calcining	Tin bath	Front wall, breast wall, sinter crown	Upper checker	the insulation layer of checker chamber	checker in low temperature area (below 800°C)
AZS block	sintered zirconia mullite brick	sillimanite brick	silica brick	direct-bonded magnesia chrome brick	light weight magnesia forsterite brick	sillimanite brick

As a ceramic refractory manufacturer, Gotray Refractory offers a comprehensive catalog of refractory ceramic finished products from plates, discs, rings, bars, rods, tubes, crucibles, saggers and customized shapes and parts. Materials are produced at our state-of-the-art facilities using injection and low-pressure injection molding, dry pressing, isostatic pressing, extrusion, slip casting, and sintering. Processing and machining capabilities include polishing, grinding, drilling, and precision milling via ball mills, bead mills, vertical spray dryers and horizontal spray dryers. Total process control allows us to manufacture materials in different temperature grades from 560 °C to 1800 °C and customize grain size, dimensional tolerance, porosity, and surface roughness with the highest dimensional accuracy of 0.0005 mm and surface roughness up to a mirror-polished effect.