Investigation of in-flight melting behaviour of granulated glass raw material by multi-phase ac arc plasma and hybrid plasma

An innovative in-flight glass melting technology was developed for a purpose of energy saving and environmental protection. Granulated glass raw materials with small diameter were treated by twelve-phase AC arc and that combined with an oxygen burner. The particle measurement was carried out to investigate the in-flight melting behavior of glass raw materials during the in-flight melting by twelve-phase AC arc. Obtained results show the mean particle velocity was about 9 m s^-1 and mean temperature was about 2600 K. The high vitrification degree achieved within several milliseconds reveals that the new in-flight melting technology of hybrid plasma treating can reduce energy consumption and shorten the glass production cycle.