Three Modes DC24V Furnace Control System for Glass Melting Automation and Furnace PLC Control System

A glass furnace never holds still — batch charge, pulling rate, ambient temperature and fuel quality all move daily. Operators who run a furnace on manual knobs accept ±20–30 °C swings that cost yield and shorten refractory life.

JEFFER's furnace PLC/DCS control system is the automation layer that ties the furnace, combustion system, forehearth and batch charger into one supervisory loop. It is shipped as standard on JEFFER furnace deliveries (including the 120 TPD reference) and offered as a stand-alone retrofit for plants in Myanmar, Ethiopia and Uganda where legacy furnaces still rely on manual control panels.

Field instruments — thermocouples, pressure transmitters, oxygen analyzers and flow meters — send 4–20 mA signals to remote I/O cabinets. The PLC scans temperature at each zone, furnace pressure, fuel and air flow, forehearth temperature and reversing-valve position, then computes control outputs to burner valves, pressure dampers and the reversing sequence. Operators watch trends and setpoints on an HMI touchscreen; a DCS layer (optional) adds server-side historical logging, alarm management and VPN remote access for JEFFER engineers.

• Three built-in modes: Automatic runs the loop closed-loop; manual gives operators direct valve control during disturbances; maintenance mode locks outputs for safe instrumentation work.
• Reversing supervision: The system times and logs every regenerator reversal, flags missed reversals and balances port-side wear over years of operation.
• Stable forming end: Tight furnace-pressure and forehearth-temperature control reduces gob-weight variation, which downstream I.S. machines convert directly into higher bottle yield.
• Remote support: An optional VPN link lets JEFFER engineers diagnose alarms without a site visit — a decisive advantage for landlocked plants in East Africa.
• Robust cabinets: Stainless or carbon-steel enclosures rated for dusty furnace-bay conditions, with DC24V instrument supply isolated from 380V mains.

Cabinet filters, cooling fans and thermocouples are the routine wear items, scheduled in the first annual service visit. PLC programs are delivered with full documentation and source code so the customer's own electrical team can make minor modifications. JEFFER recommends a 5-year component refresh plan covering aging power supplies and HMI panels.