Sorg, German provider of products & services for glass melting & conditioning, has recently developed, it says, the solution to the problem of how to measure the remaining length of electrodes during glass melting - the ELM system. The question is important, because electrodes wear during operation & must therefore be advanced from time-to-time to compensate. The use of electrodes that are too short can cause damage to the electrode holder & to the surrounding refractory material. The operator normally has access to a lot of data, & careful analysis will reveal the state of the electrodes. However, the situation is complicated by changes in operating conditions. The ELM system uses a small PLC to collect & analyse operating data to provide a clear indication of the condition of each electrode in the furnace. This allows the operator to plan advancing work.
