A model for radiative cooling of a semitransparent molten glass jet

Abstract

Transfer of molten glass from location to location typically involves a pouring process, during which a stream of glass is driven by gravity and cooled by combined convective and radiative heat transfer. This study of the thermal and fluid mechanics aspects of glass pouring is motivated by the glass casting of vitrified, surplus weapons-grade plutonium. Here, a mathematical model for the radiative cooling of a semitransparent molten glass jet with temperature-dependent viscosity has been developed and is implemented numerically. The axial velocity and jet diameter variations along the length of the jet, the axial bulk mean temperature distributions, and the centerline-to-surface glass temperature distributions are determined for different processing conditions. Comparisons are also made between the semitransparent predictions, which are based on a spectral discrete ordinates model, and predictions for an opaque medium.