TITLE:
Finite Element Modeling of Heat Transfer in Salt Bath Furnaces
AUTHORS:
O.O. Oluwole, P.O. Atanda, B.I. Imasogie
KEYWORDS:
Finite Elements; Modeling; Heat Transfer; Salt-Bath Furnaces
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.8 No.3,
March
20,
2009
ABSTRACT: Heat flow patterns in two salt bath furnaces were studied in this work using finite element(FE)
analysis. The implications of the heat flows on long term stability of furnace performance were
evaluated. One design had a purely silica brick back-up after the embedded heating element
with asbestos and glass-wool fiber insulation just before the outer steel shell. The other had an
additional air-gap insulation formed by cylindrical steel belts with spacers placed after the silica
back-up. It was observed that the design with additional air-gap insulation had tremendous
insulation effect, necessitating a drastic thinning down of the silica brick thickness and glasswool
fiber.