Recent design and material advances have resulted in most segments of the industry obtaining, by necessity, longer furnace lives. Float glass companies are increasingly looking towards 15 years and container furnace operations regularly achieve 10. Even manufacturers of difficult higher temperature glasses - borosilicate, TV panel, fibre and other specialized glasses are able to increasingly extend campaign lives towards 5, 6 and 7 years. The decisions, therefore, in planning the design of a new furnace have to take a much longer term view than perhaps was necessary in the past, including a much more accurate assessment of future output requirements, as well as trends in energy costs. This paper, by furnace maker FIC, looks at recent design improvements to boost the life of the furnace.
