Hotwork has several methods available to assist clients with the fill of their furnace. Hotwork has the ability to blow cullet into the furnace using a cullet gun. This method has the advantage of distributing the cullet deep into the furnace to allow for rapid melting. It avoids placing a large cold mass of cullet in the doghouse which has been known to cause refractory problems. Some clients are concerned about dusting of the furnace superstructure that may occur when blowing dry cullet. This problem is of more concern to some clients due to the specific quality of the cullet that they use, the type of refractories utilized in the furnace, the quality of the glass that they produce and other factors. In order to address this issue, Hotwork has introduced multiple solutions. The first solution is a cullet wetting system which minimizes the dusting condition by wetting the cullet with water before blowing it into the furnace. Hotwork’s second solution is screening the cullet prior to blowing it into the furnace (either on the cullet pad or in-line with the cullet gun). Screening allows for removal of fine particles which become airborne during the blowing process. Each of these solutions allows the benefits of blowing cullet (wide distribution, fast melting rates) while minimizing the dusting condition. For those most concerned about the potential for dust from blowing cullet, Hotwork also has introduced a vibratory cullet feeder. The above solutions can be used in any combination resulting in a furnace fill that best suits our customer’s needs and expectations.
