Zedtech has recently completed the installation of its 100th UK forehearth at Knottingley-based glass manufacturer Gregg & Company. Designed to pull up to 45 tonnes of soda lime glass/day, the 26in wide x 16ft long forehearth makes use of three zones to maximise the homogeneity of the glass delivered at the spout bowl. At the rear, the working end feeds glass into a rapid cool section which extracts a high proportion of the excess heat from the glass in a controlled way. The rapid cool system forces cooling air into a central longitudinal duct inside the superstructure and into the combustion space via a multiplicity of slots. This cooling air is heated on passing through the central superstructure, which is itself cooled in consequence. This part of the superstructure then becomes a heat sink into which excess glass is removed by radiation.
