Energy distribution and melting efficiency in glass melting channel: Effect of heat losses, average melting temperature and melting kinetics

The impact of the heat losses, average melting temperature and kinetics of sand dissolution and bubble removal on the character of the melt flow and melting performance was investigated by the mathematical modelling of a glass melting channel. Quantity space utilization was used to evaluate the melt flow competence with respect to the melting process. The relations of the energetic model were applied to elucidate the results of the modelling and to predict the optimum melt flow conditions. The increase of heat losses influenced favourably the character of the longitudinal melt circulations, increased the space utilization and, consequently, the melting performance. The specific heat losses remained almost the same. No obvious tendency to the development of an efficient helical melt flow, supported by an increase of heat losses, was observed. The increasing average melting temperature and increasing rate of both melting phenomena slightly decreased the space utilization in the currently applied interval of the melting conditions. •The melting module was mathematically modelled under conditions of controlled flow.•Reduction of insulation in defined region of module increased melting performance.•The expected helical flow did not develop under condition of reduced insulation.•Higher temperature and faster melting kinetics slightly decreased space utilization.