glass furnace

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yourfitz76
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Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:46 pm
First Name: Matt
Last Name: Fitzgerald

glass furnace

Post by yourfitz76 »

The Contemporary Studio of Glass Art is a non-profit glass school.
We have a natural gas fired glass furnace that operates constantly.
An exhaust hole located at the top of the furnace blows a 2000 degree
flame 24/7.
What would be the best way to generate the most electricity from this
constant heat source?
stan.hornbaker
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Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 6:01 pm
First Name: William S.
Last Name: Hornbaker

glass furnace

Post by stan.hornbaker »

There are two considerations, the temperature and the amount of waste heat per unit time. The flow rate or consumption of NG in volume per unit time would be required. My guess is that if the furnace is more than a small size there would be a fair amount of gas consumed. A Stirling engine driving a generator would look attractive. A cost analysis would be indicated.
rgmco
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Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:41 am
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Last Name: Meloy

Response to glass furnace

Post by rgmco »

ReGen Power has analyzed a commercial glass furnace and believes its engine will produce alot of power from the exhaust. As was mentioned, one needs to know the actual volume of heat per unit of time. If you can provide me with that, we could give you an answer. (The designer of our engine formerly ran a glass furnace in a similar situation in New York.)
binraking
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:31 am
First Name: David
Last Name: Ward

Response to glass furnace

Post by binraking »

Ok, you have the heat, but can you take the heat?

Lets say that you do have enough BTUs per hour to make a Stirling generator viable. Can you afford to shutdown your glass blowing operations to retrofit?


How about the possible impact of future maintenance on the Stirling on your glass blowing enterprise?


Could an increase in back pressure cause pollutants to back-up into your furnace?


What would be the "bang for your buck"?


I am not advising you to scrap the idea, just to be aware that the design of the power plant is not the only factor to consider.


To reduce some of the development costs, try to enlist the services of your local college engineering students. Something like this would make a great class project and I can guarantee that the metal shop students would also want a piece of the action. Come to think of it, the computer geeks could probably do a fancy simulation for you, and the business degree folks could stir up a cost benefit analysis for you. This gets more doable every minute!


You may have to change your signage to:


"The Contemporary Studio of Glass Art and Power Company"

V/R
Dave
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