Experimental analysis of the performance of cold crucible induction glass melter

An engineering scale cold crucible induction glass melter was developed employing a transistor-based induction heating power supply with an operating frequency of 200 kHz. Experimental investigations were carried out to study its electrical and thermal performances during various stages of operations such as start-up heating, batch melting and idling. Sodium borosilicate glass with an electrical conductivity of 1.9 Ω cm and viscosity of 9.4 Poise at 1000 °C was used for the present study. Calorimetric measurements were carried out to determine the electrical and thermal efficiencies of various subsystems involved. An electrical efficiency of 80.4%, a melter efficiency of 20.83% and an over all efficiency of 16.74% were experimentally obtained for batch melting of sodium borosilicate glass in an engineering scale cold crucible induction glass melting system.