Seeking Solutions To Glass Defects From Refractory Corrosion

Developing methods to reduce corrosion of glass furnace refractories has challenged refractories science and glass technology. Corrosion is an integrated result of the whole system - operational conditions, furnace or regenerator design, refractory chemistry and porosity, glass chemistry, etc. While the process has been slowed down, it has not been eliminated. Refractory failure becomes more severe in two areas: the throat region of the furnace where molten glass has its most dynamic conditions; and the regenerator, due to sudden thermal fluctuations and gas reactions. Corrosion of superstructure and crown refractories has also come to be severe in most soda-lime glass furnaces.