Numerical Modeling of Glass Formation Process in an Advanced Glass Melter

In the advanced glass melter glass batch materials are entrained in gas and then rapidly heated to glass formation temperature by combusting the gas. The glass batch separates on a target where glass formation takes place. A numerical model has been developed to simulate this glass formation process, which differs from the conventional glass formation process because the batch materials are mixed at glass formation temperatures and because the calcination of Na₂CO₃, CaCO₃, and MgCO₃ occurs on the surface of the glass layer, not in the bulk material. The numerical model is based on diffusion-controlled dissolution of sand particles in the liquid glass. Preliminary experimental data support the rapid glass formation rates predicted by the numerical model.