
627Thermal Oxidation
ber material. Oxygen enrichment increased the fur-
nace melt rate by 45%, reduced coke consumption by
41%, and increased the production of the ber product.
26.5 Economics
The cost is a key consideration in determining whether
to use O
2
in any given combustion application. The
cost to use air for combustion is very low. It consists
basically of the cost of the blower and the electricity
to operate it. Some ltration or cleaning may also be
required. Therefore, the benets of using O
2
, instead
of air, must offset the added cost of the O
2
. This sec-
tion has been broken into operating and capital costs,
although the actual c