Testing Oxy-Fuel Furnace Crown Materials

The use of oxy-fuel firing has led the glass industry to search for refractories with increased resistance to corrosion, for use in the construction of melting furnace crowns. This report presents results from a testing programme which compared the performance of materials in both air-fuel and oxy-fuel atmospheres. An important conclusion from the study is that accelerated tests in atmospheres simulating those produced in melting furnaces can result in errors in material selection. However, results overall show that dense fused-cast alumina can be considered the preferred material for most glass melting environments.