Numerical study of cullet glass subjected to microwave heating and SiC susceptor effects. Part II: Exergy transfer analysis

• Exergy transfer analysis is proposed for the analysis of microwave glass heating.
• Distribution of exergy transferred, accumulated and destroyed is quantified.
• The method is applied to the comparison of different susceptor positions.

The mathematical model of exergy transfer in cullet glass heated by microwave inside of a cubical cavity with the aid of a susceptor is presented. Part I of this paper presented a numerical combined electromagnetic and heat transfer model by applying both transient Maxwell’s equations and heat transfer equations. Then, the electromagnetic and temperature fields were used to obtain the exergy transfer analysis in the oven. Exergy transfer analysis informs us about the efficiency of energy transformations taking place during the heating process, since it explains how the quality of the energy behaves along the heating process. The rate of internal exergy, exergy flowing and destroyed exergy were obtained and presented for this transient process. Part I showed that the susceptor location could change the temperature fields of cullet glass. So, an exergy analysis is important to understand the irreversibilities produced by a susceptor during preheating (microwaves activation) and heating process of the cullet glass, and how they could be minimized. Exergy transfer analysis shows how both, electromagnetic and heat transfer, are responsible of the irreversibilities generated in the heating process.