Transient Numerical Simulation of Regenerative Systems with Waste Gas Recirculation Strategies in Glass Production Plant

The glass production industry has one of the highest energy consumption rates and environmental emission impacts with respect to the existing industrial sectors. Glass furnaces nowadays are conceived with regenerative systems to take advantage of the residual heat from the combustion exhausts in order to increase the thermal efficiency of the system. The exhaust gases are also used in innovative systems to reduce the NOx emissions in specifically designed gas recirculation systems tailored to the glass furnace. In this paper, a numerical model for the simulation of the regenerative chambers in both steady and unsteady conditions is presented. The option of gas recirculation is also included. Special attention has been focused on the radiative heat transfer from the recirculated gases using a gas emissivity model previously developed by the authors.