Steam Generation From Flue Gases

On average, about 30% of the energy input to a glass furnace is lost by the sensible heat of the exhausted flue gas. In spite of this massive energy savings potential, waste heat recovery systems are rarely applied in the glass industry. The main reasons are fouling of heat exchangers, the lack of users of steam in the vicinity of the glass plant and some operational problems, plus the relatively high investment costs involved in these systems. A steam-driven cullet preheating concept is described in this paper by Niels Rozendaal et al. Potentially, the technology is also ideal for drying pelletised batch.