UDC 666.1.662.613.11 COMPLEX FOR PRODUCTION OF SILICATE MELT FROM ASH WASTES M. A. Sheremet, 1 A. A. Nikiforov, 1 and O. G. Volokitin 1 Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 9, pp. 23 – 26, September, 2007. A new complex is proposed for obtaining silicate melt from ash wastes. A mathematical model that describes melting of the batch in a furnace using combined sources of thermal energy — electric and gas — is formu- lated. The important amount of ash and slag wastes that accu- mulate in the dumps at power plants worsens the environ- ment in the regions where they are located. They harm all living things, reduce soil fertility, and increase the radiation pollution and dustiness of the regions. The basic content of these wastes is incombustible mineral residue, which is good glass-forming feedstock. However, the treatment tempera- ture (primarily melting) of this technogenic material is much higher than the melting point of natural feedstock. Increasing the manufacturing process temperature in traditional melting units involves a nonproportional increase in power consump- tion. The existing melting methods [1, 2] do not allow ob- taining a melt from ash due to the low temperatures inside the furnace. We analyzed an important new complex based on use of a combined source of thermal energy for production of a sili- cate melt from ash wastes. Experimental setup. The thermal conditions for obtain- ing the required viscosity of the ash melt can be created by converting electrical energy into thermal energy (electric fur- naces) or simultaneously by burning fuel and converting electrical energy into thermal energy (gas-electric furnaces). Two types of convective flows caused by burning gaseous fuel and additional electric heating are a special feature of gas-electric furnaces. In these furnaces, the molten mass of bulk material is used as resistance. Additional electric heat- ing increases the output and efficiency, and usually signifi- cantly improves the quality of the melt. The job of the additional electric heating is to release the required amount of heat into the melting tank. Additional heat is consumed for heating the entire melt in the melting tank by heat exchange and partially to compensate for heat losses through the walls of the furnace. The experimental setup whose diagram is shown in Fig. 1 was developed to study obtaining a melt from thermal electric generating station ash by combined heating of the ash (gas and electric arc) and practically test the working ca- pacity of the equipment. Direct current power source 3 with gradual current regu- lation is used for powering electrodes 1, 2. The arbitrary working voltage of the power source is 250 V. The required power at the nominal current (400 A) is a maximum of Glass and Ceramics Vol. 64, Nos. 9 – 10, 2007 322 0361-7610/07/0910-0322 © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1 Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia; Tomsk State Architec- tural and Construction University, Tomsk, Russia. 13 12 14 15 8 9 4 16 11 5 2 1 4 3 7 6 10 M Fig. 1. Diagram of the experimental setup.