Electric Melt Furnaces

Our electric melt furnaces are highly efficient and environmentally friendly. The cold-top electric melt furnace, operating on the Joule principle, is an ideal glass melting process; both energy usage and emissions are the lowest available. The melting takes place vertically. Efficiency is enhanced by the insulating “batch blanket” or “crust”. The temperature drops from roughly 1400°C (2550°F) at the batch/glass interface to 50°C (122°F) at the blanket surface. As a result, a cold-top furnace operates in the 75% efficiency range, about twice that of its fossil-fuel counterpart.

The batch blanket also reduces emissions by condensing volatiles within the blanket and returning them to the melting interface. Only carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) are released to the atmosphere.

Designed to optimise performance and maximise efficiency, our cold top melters and boosting systems feature bottom rod (vertical) electrodes to help minimise current density and maximise electrode life. Sidewall electrodes and higher current density are used where needed, such as adding electric boost during a campaign. To avoid unbalanced electric loading, we use symmetrical two or three phase circuits with balanced loads. In addition, the systems are engineered to apply electrical energy where it will most improve the melting process.