AMETEK Land Set to Present at Annual Meeting of The German Society of Glass Technology

Dr. Peter Drögmöller, AMETEK Land’s Director of Innovation and Technology, alongside Neil Simpson, Consultant of Simpson Combustion & Energy, will present “Criticality of Accuracy and Traceability of Temperature Calibration” within the session on Thermodynamics, Redox, Colour/ Furnace, Energy and Environment.



The presentation covers the development of AMETEK Land’s in-furnace thermal imaging borescope, NIR-B Glass, which has taken the glass industry from manual single temperature measurements at minimum 20-minute intervals to 325,000 continuous automatic temperature measurements. Now the NIR-B Glass is seen as a solution that can help the glass sector achieve industry 4.0.



Temperature measurement at critical locations in the production process is essential in glass manufacturing and processing. AMETEK Land’s NIR-B Glass is a short wavelength, radiometric, infrared borescope imaging camera that is designed to produce high-definition (656 x 494 pixel) thermal images. 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.



The accuracy and traceability of the temperature calibration of the instrument is critical when using thermal imaging output to control the furnace. The presentation will review methods to calibrate the instrument for purposes of control and will discuss a case study on an end-fired furnace where the output of the NIR-B Glass was used to identify issues with the furnace thermal profile and regenerator performance.

Here, the peak flame intensity indicated where the thermal NOx was most likely being generated. The resulting cleaning of the regenerator and burner adjustment, using the NIR-B Glass to monitor it, was able to improve thermal profile, reduce flame intensity and lower NOx.



Drögmöller comments, “The conference will be a great opportunity to demonstrate the innovations we have made in thermal imaging for glass plants over the past couple of years. We have also analysed the close correlation between temperature and NOx production too, with some interesting and useful findings that I will be presenting at the conference.”



NIR-B Glass is renowned for providing accurate 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 and then to identify and troubleshoot furnace operations to improve yield and to achieve higher pull and lower specific energy. For glass producers, this results in increased asset life and improved furnace optimisation.



AMETEK Land will display the NIR-B Glass at the joint annual meeting, alongside its range of other temperature measurement instruments, specifically designed for the glass industry.

About Annual Meeting of the German Society of Glass Technology (DGG)



The 93rd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Glass Technology (DGG) is a binational meeting, this time held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the French Union for Glass Science and Technology (USTV). 140 oral contributions arranged in seven topical sessions and more than 40 posters cover a wide scope of topics reaching from the fundamentals of the glassy state and amorphous materials, atomistic modeling, issues related to the glass surface, to glasses for health care, medical, biological, and optical applications, and finally to energetic and environmental issues and glass production technology.



Learn more about the event here.