pot furnace

A pot furnace is a type of furnace that contains multiple pots or crucibles. These are used in two main ways: for melting small, separate batches of glass, or in metallurgy for containing a charge of material being heated.1

Historically, early glassmaking used natural clay crucibles. The development of pot furnaces, which have remained largely unchanged, was linked to the invention of the blowing iron. Compartmentalized furnaces emerged by the 9th and 10th centuries, where fires in a lower compartment heated a glass-melting pot in an upper compartment. Later designs, like the English glass furnace, used coal and featured underground tunnels for air drafts, allowing for significantly higher temperatures.2

Modern advancements, particularly in the mid-19th century with heat regeneration, drastically reduced fuel consumption in pot furnaces. The development of highly corrosion-resistant refractories further improved their efficiency and longevity.2