Wall thickness estimation based on modelling nonstationary heat transfer in a glass furnace

Furnaces in the glass industry suffer from refractory corrosion at specific positions. Knowledge of wall thickness of a furnace at the metal line is necessary information for a proper start of external cooling in order to prevent complete corrosion of refractory. An application of a noninvasive method for residual wall thickness estimation is presented in this paper. Combination of modelling and experimental surface temperature record of a nonstationary heat transfer is necessary in order to calculate the actual wall thickness. Α formula was derived for a temperature dependent effective heat transfer coefficient needed for calculation. Sensitivity analysis proved that the method is robust enough to get reliable results. The approach used was an example of reasonable exploitation of modelling in the glass industry