f l glass operation near Magdeburg, Germany, started its new float furnace in July 2009, which is designed to manufacture float glass as well as low iron and very low iron glass for solar application….
f l glass operation near Magdeburg, Germany, started its new float furnace in July 2009, which is designed to manufacture float glass as well as low iron and very low iron glass for solar application. For these applications, f l glass has selected the FlammaTec flex injector from FlammaTec Ltd. of the Czech Republic as the gas injector supplier. The injector has been designed and optimized by extensive mathematical modelling by FlammaTec parent companies, Glass Service Inc., Czech Republic, and STG of Cottbus, Germany. Glass Service Inc. and STG are Joint Venture Partners. The two separate gas inlet controls allow optimal and flexible (still reproducible) flame control even with a constant total gas input per injector. The combination of an exceptional furnace design, using enhanced control system (PCS7) and oxygen sensors from STG Cottbus allows f l glass to achieve excellent data in terms of energy consumption and emissions. Furthermore, the glass is excellent with very low defect levels. Due to low crown temperatures the furnace can be operated at a large flexibility and a long lifetime can be expected. The furnace operates with an energy consumption of less than approx. 5.7 MJ/kg and NOx emissions of approx. 800 mg/m3 (dry, 8% O2) since its start. The energy consumption is about 1 MJ/kg less compared to the average float furnace consumption in West Europe. Note that these excellent results can only be achieved in case all factors are combined and optimal.