AMETEK Land to Present on Identifying Glass Furnace Regenerator Issues at ICG 2019

Mark Bennett, Glass Sector Lead at AMETEK Land, alongside Neil Simpson, Consultant of Simpson Combustion & Energy, will present “What and Where is the Problem with the Regenerator and What Should We Do Next?” as part of the Symposium III: Glass Technology and Manufacturing; Session 2: Glass Furnace Operation and Design.



The presentation looks at actual thermal data taken from a cross-fired furnace and an end-fired regenerative furnace by a near-infrared thermal imager.

The speakers will cover some interesting findings, including how inspecting the thermal profile of the ports on the cross-fired furnace showed that the higher the temperature at the end of the firing cycle indicates where the higher percentages of furnace gases are flowing.

Conversely, the colder ports indicate where the reduced flow and plugging occur, enabling the appropriate cleaning, replacement or repair to be undertaken.



The end-fired case study identifies which side has the greater problem and looks at the recommended solution.



In both examples, AMETEK Land’s Near Infrared Borescope (NIR-B) Glass was used to identify the problems, which is an award-winning real-time, in-furnace thermal imager.



Bennett comments, “Regenerator problems are becoming more frequent as the life of a glass furnace becomes longer. Over the past couple of years, we have made some exciting observations into the operation of glass furnaces and identified many regenerator problems. It will be a great opportunity to discuss these findings at the ICG Conference.”



NIR-B Glass is renowned for providing accurate thermal profiling of glass furnaces and increasing capacity by optimising temperatures in glass melt tanks. It is an essential part of maintaining high-quality glass production and extending the campaign life of a furnace. 

Data from the NIR-B is used to improve response times as well as troubleshoot furnace operations to improve yield and achieve higher pull while lowering specific energy. For glass producers, this results in an increased asset life and improved furnace optimisation.



Temperature measurement at critical locations in the production process is essential in glass manufacturing and processing. AMETEK Land’s NIR-B Glass has been designed to produce high-definition (656 x 494 pixel) thermal images with over 324,000 accurate temperature measurement points in the field of view.

The camera measures temperatures in the range of 1000° to 1800°C (1832° to 3272°F) and is suitable for float glass, container glass, borosilicate glass and fibre glass melt furnaces.



AMETEK Land will display the NIR-B Glass on stand 9 at ICG 2019, alongside its range of other temperature measurement instruments, specifically designed for the glass industry.