The Disposition of Refractory Material at The Bottom of Glass Melting Furnace

The bottom of the glass melting furnace is only eroded by the liquid phase, without the erosion of the glass liquid level and the three phase interface.  Upward drilling occurs only when the glass reaches below the layered refractory brick.  Erosion products on the structure of the furnace bottom tend to remain on the surface of the refractory due to gravity, at least to some extent, so less resistant refractories can be used in this area.  However, as the flow convection pattern changes or the furnace load changes, this part (when using less resistant refractory materials) may also be prone to glass defects.

Bubbling from the bottom of the furnace is a common method.  Local turbulence due to bubbling requires the use of refractory materials with good corrosion resistance in this area.  The general practice is to separate from the customary paving of the furnace floor brick and use thicker fused cast refractory material in those areas. This thicker brick can prevent the interference damage caused by the layered structure in order to balance the life of the furnace.

The glass compound mixed with metal impurity has a serious influence on the structure material of furnace bottom.  The bottom of the furnace is the most easily deposited area of metal entering the furnace.  The metal deposited on the structure of furnace bottom can corrode holes in the refractory in a manner similar to the upward corroding effect of glass liquid on the refractory.  It is generally believed that the lower the melting point of a metal, the greater and more significant the erosion rate compared to iron and iron alloys.  In rare cases, the metal can be reduced directly from the glass due to conditions in the furnace.

The structure of the bottom of the melting furnace for melting glass with high aluminum content is special in terms of the general form of the bottom of the glass industry, because the bottom refractories or the upper refractories have a tendency to drift or float, which is entirely due to the high density of glass.  Therefore, the best furnace bottom structure for melting high lead glass is the whole furnace bottom with single - refractory material.  The most commonly used are fused cast patent silicon refractories.