According to this article, today's glass furnaces have a typical life-span of between 7-12 years. This progress is remarkable in that some 20 years ago the life expectancy was only 3 years. This improvement is accompanied by improvements in refractories and trends in refractory usage to keep pace with increased pull rate and furnace temperature. Although the refractories are made of the same components, the properties of refractory materials are greatly improved by adopting purer raw materials and improved production technology. In this paper the authors discuss current refractory practices and problems thereof, keeping in view the changing fuel systems and future trends in refractories to withstand the pyro-chemical stresses generated due to changed fuel systems.
