Systems and methods for glass manufacturing

• US 10,472,268 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2017
• Issued: 11/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Johns Manville Corporation (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Johns Manville Corporation (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Inventors: Charbonneau, Mark William, Huber, Aaron Morgan, Shock, Jeffrey M, Borders, Harley Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Szewczyk, Cynthia
• Application Number:
  US15/399,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20170113958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/20 Bridges, shoes, throats, or other devices for withholding dirt, foam, or batch
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/202 Devices for blowing onto the melt surface, e.g. high momentum burners
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/2257 by thin-layer fining
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/235 Heating the glass C03B5/02, C03B5/18, C03B5/225 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/2353 by combustion with pure oxygen or oxygen-enriched air, e.g. using oxy-fuel burners or oxygen lances
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/2356 Submerged heating, e.g. by using heat pipes, hot gas or submerged combustion burners bubblers C03B5/193
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 7/06 Means for thermal conditioning or controlling the temperature of the glass
• CPC Class Codes: F23C 5/08 Disposition of burners
• CPC Class Codes: F23D 14/22 with separate air and gas feed ducts, e.g. with ducts running parallel or crossing each other
• CPC Class Codes: F23D 14/32 using a mixture of gaseous fuel and pure oxygen or oxygen-enriched air F23D14/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F27B 14/14 Arrangements of heating devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 20/34 Indirect CO2mitigation, i.e. by acting on non CO2directly related matters of the process, e.g. pre-heating or heat recovery
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 40/50 Glass production, e.g. reusing waste heat during processing or shaping

Abstract

Submerged combustion systems and methods of use to produce glass. One system includes a submerged combustion melter having a roof, a floor, a wall structure connecting the roof and floor, and an outlet, the melter producing an initial foamy molten glass. One or more non-submerged auxiliary burners are positioned in the roof and/or wall structure and configured to deliver combustion products to impact at least a portion of the bubbles with sufficient force and/or heat to burst at least some of the bubbles and form a reduced foam molten glass.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a submerged combustion melter comprising a floor, a roof, and a wall structure connecting the floor and roof, the wall structure comprising a feed end wall, a discharge end wall opposite the feed end wall, and opposed, substantially parallel first and second side walls connecting the feed end wall and the discharge end wall, the melter comprising one or more submerged combustion burners, at least one of the one or more submerged combustion burners configured to emit combustion products into the melt at an angle to the floor, the melter having a molten glass outlet;

one or more roof-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the roof and configured to deliver their combustion products downward at an angle to vertical;

two or more wall-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the first side wall to discharge combustion products substantially horizontally and substantially perpendicularly toward the opposing second side wall, with no wall-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the opposing second side wall; and

the one or more roof-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned offset horizontally between the opposing second side wall and a vertical line through a centerline of the one or more submerged combustion burners that is positioned furthest from the first side wall.

2. The system of claim 1 comprising a downstream component fluidly connected to the melter, the downstream component comprising a flow channel, a downstream component roof, and a downstream component wall structure connecting the flow channel and downstream component roof, the downstream component comprising one or more non-submerged downstream component auxiliary burners positioned in the downstream component roof and/or the downstream component wall structure.

3. A system comprising:

a submerged combustion melter comprising a floor, a roof, and a wall structure connecting the floor and roof, the wall structure comprising a feed end wall, a discharge end wall opposite the feed end wall, and opposed, substantially parallel first and second side walls connecting the feed end wall and the discharge end wall, the melter comprising one or more submerged combustion burners, one or more of the one or more submerged combustion burners configured to emit combustion products into the melt at an angle to the floor, the melter having a molten glass outlet;

one or more roof-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the roof and configured to deliver their combustion products downward at an angle to vertical;

two or more wall-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the first side wall to discharge combustion products substantially horizontally and substantially perpendicularly toward the opposing second side wall, with no wall-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned in the opposing second side wall;

the one or more roof-mounted non-submerged auxiliary burners positioned offset horizontally between the opposing second side wall and a vertical line through a centerline of the one or more submerged combustion burners that is positioned furthest from the first side wall; and

a downstream component fluidly connected to the melter, the downstream component comprising a flow channel, a downstream component roof, and a downstream component wall structure connecting the downstream component flow channel and downstream component roof, the downstream component comprising one or more non-submerged downstream component auxiliary burners positioned in the downstream component roof and/or downstream component wall structure.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein one or more of the non-submerged downstream component auxiliary burners are liquid-cooled pipe-in-pipe burners.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the pipe-in-pipe burner comprises a first conduit and a second conduit concentric with and outside of the first conduit, the first conduit fluidly connected at one end to a source of fuel, and the second conduit fluidly connected to a source of oxidant.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein one or more of the non-submerged downstream component auxiliary burners comprise a fuel inlet conduit having an exit nozzle, the conduit and nozzle inserted into a cavity of a ceramic burner block, the ceramic burner block in turn inserted into either the downstream component roof or the downstream component wall structure, or both the downstream component roof and the downstream component wall structure.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein one or more of the non-submerged downstream component auxiliary burners is adjustable with respect to direction of flow of the combustion products.