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Energy Management The future of combustion energy in glass melting Manufacturers’ Monthly talks to Air Liquide’s international oxygen combustion expert about how its heat recovery packaged solution decreases the environmental impact of glass melting – and the potential upside of hydrogen as an efficient route to decarbonisation for melting technologies of the future.
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USTRALIA consumes about 1.36 million tonnes of glass packaging per year: wine and beer bottles, glass jars and containers. In Western Europe, the average person consumes 18 kilograms every year. The manufacturing processes of products like glass contributes to more greenhouse gas emissions than the chemical and metal industries. Front of mind for forward-thinking companies is reducing this impact – and industry has started taking steps to revolutionise the future of glass melting. Chikashi Kimura, NEAPac international expert (combustion) for Air Liquide, said industrial gases can reduce the carbon footprint of industrial processes, but there is no one future-proof solution. “Several options might emerge, alone or combined, with the electrical melter: co-firing with Biogas or Hydrogen, heat recovery and ultimately Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS),” he said. “All these energies can be combined with
Oxycombustion that uses pure oxygen instead of air reduces fuel consumption. manmonthly.com.au
oxy-combustion technology for better effectiveness.” Having been with Air Liquide for more than 15 years, Kimura noted customers are prioritising low carbon materials in order to be selected for major contracts.
Heat Oxy-Combustion Air Liquide’s Heat Oxy-Combustion technology has become renowned in the glass industry, and its effectiveness has only improved since it was recognised with the innovation award at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. Leveraging off the experience of a brain like Kimura, the company continues to make strides in the research space for glass melting. “The main principle of heat oxycombustion is to recover a substantial portion of the heat lost through flue gases by indirectly preheating fuel and oxygen,” he said. “That heat extracted from the combustion fumes is used to heat oxygen and fuel, thereby improving oxy-combustion performance by at last 10 per cent and even more with new upcoming
developments. Compared to air combustion, this technology provides up to 50 per cent energy savings and up to 50 per cent CO2 emission reduction (excluding emissions generated for oxygen production).” To develop this patented technology, safe and reliable equipment with specific material is designed and fully integrated with glass-melting furnaces. The equipment is made of special materials suited for very hot reactants. Melting-Heat oxy-combustion consists of: • Oxygen supply: Liquid Oxygen storage (LOx) or low pressure gaseous state (FLOXALTMFloxal Oxygen). This is a competitive on-site production offer which provides the required quantity of oxygen according to all your needs. • Glass melting patented technologies Heat exchangers A unique and patented combination of HEAT RECUPERATOR and HEATERS: • the HEAT RECUPERATOR recovers heat from hot fumes to air; • the HEATERS transfer heat from air to fuel and oxygen. Patented burners All burners are made of specific materials to comply with high temperature: • GLASS MELTING BURNER-FCHEATOX is a patented nonwater-cooled oxy-fuel burner for technical and containers glasstype applications. • GLASS MELTING BURNER-SUNHEATOX is a patented non-watercooled oxy-fuel burner for large furnaces, such as those that use float glass-type production.
Chikashi Kimura is an international expert, leading Air Liquide’s Oxy combustion team in Japan for the NEAPac cluster.
Real-world applications In a project funded by the European Commission to help industry reduce its environmental footprint, Air Liquide’s Heat Oxy-Combustion is being used at a factory in Bulgaria for the Şişecam group. In just one example of the innovation’s real-world capability, a pilot-scale industrial furnace was set up for tableware glass that uses only hot oxygen and natural gas to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emission for standard industry furnaces. The project focused on validating the technology on tableware glass ahead of its potential transfer to small and medium sized furnaces regardless of the sector. Under the system, natural gas and oxygen consumption is reduced by preheating the reactants (natural gas and oxygen) up to 550°C with waste heat from furnaces. This system entailed installing a heat-ox burner that is dedicated to work with preheated reactants. The operation was then optimised, improving efficiency by 10 per cent compared to air furnaces. The technology was Manufacturers’ Monthly APRIL 2022 23
