Yao Yaochun

Numerical and Experimental Investigation on the In-Flight Melting Behaviour of Granulated Powders in Induction Thermal Plasmas

An innovative in-flight glass melting technology with thermal plasmas was developed for the purpose of energy conservation and environment protection. In this study, modelling and experiments of argon-oxygen induction thermal plasmas were conducted to investigate the melting behaviour of granulated soda-lime glass powders injected into the plasma. A two-dimensional local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model was performed to simulate the heat and momentum transfer between plasma and particle. Results showed that the particle temperature was strongly affected by the flow rate of carrier gas and the particle size of raw material. A higher flow rate of carrier gas led to lower particle temperature and less energy transferred to particles which resulted in lower vitrification. The incomplete melting of large particles was attributed to the lower central temperature of the particle caused by a larger heat capacity. The numerical analysis explained well the experimental results, which can provide valuable practical guidelines for the process control in the melting process for the glass industry.

Application of In-Flight Melting Technology by RF Induction Thermal Plasmas to Glass Production

An innovative in-flight glass melting technology with induced thermal plasmas was developed for the purpose of energy conservation and environmental protection. Two-dimensional modeling was used to simulate the thermofluid fields in the plasma torch. The in-flight melting behavior of glass raw material was investigated by various analysis methods. Results showed that the plasma temperature was up to 10000 K with a maximum velocity over 30 m/s, which made it possible to melt the granulated glass raw material within milliseconds. The carbonates in the raw material decomposed completely and the compounds in the raw material attainted 100% vitrification during the in-flight time from the nozzle exit to substrate. The particle melting process is similar to the unreacted-core shrinking model.

Effect of Injection Position on In-Flight Melting Behavior of Granular Alkali-Free Glass Raw Material in 12-Phase AC Arc Plasma

An innovative in-flight glass melting technology with a multi-phase AC arc plasma was developed to save energy and reduce emissions for the glass industry. The effect of the injection position on the in-flight melting behavior of granulated powders was investigated. Results show that the injection position has a strong effect on the melting behavior of alkali-free glass raw material. With the increase in injection distance, the vitrification, decomposition, and particle shrinkage of initial powders are improved. Longer injection distance causes much energy to transfer to particles due to a longer residence time of powder in the high temperature zone. The high vitrification and decomposition degrees indicate that the new in-flight melting technology with 12-phase AC arc can substantially reduce the melting and refining time for glass production.