Investigation of Spectral Radiation Heat Transfer and NO_x Emission in a Glass Furnace

A comprehensive radiation heat transfer model and a reduced NO_x kinetics model were coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and then used to investigate the radiation heat transfer, pollutant formation and flow characteristics in a glass furnace. The radiation model solves the spectral radiative transport equation in the combustion space of emitting and absorbing media, i.e., CO₂, H₂O, and soot and emission/reflection from the furnace crown. The advanced numerical scheme for calculating the radiation heat transfer is extremely effective in conserving energy between radiation emission and absorption. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the impact of operating conditions on the furnace performance with emphasis on the investigation into the formation of NO_x.