Experimental investigation of in-flight melting by hybrid heating of multi-phase alternating current arc with oxygen burner for alkali-free glass raw materials

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 hybrid heating of multi-phase AC arc combined with an oxygen burner. A multi-phase AC arc and hybrid plasma were compared to study the in-flight melting efficiency of the granulated raw materials. The effects of the input energy and the primary size of SiO ₂ in the glass raw materials on the characteristics of the in-flight melted particles were investigated. The reaction rate inside the individual in-flight particles was enhanced with decreasing the primary size of SiO ₂ particles, resulting in the more effective in-flight melting by the hybrid plasma.