System for producing molten glasses from glass batches using turbulent submerged combustion melting

• US 9,643,869 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2012
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Johns Manville Corporation (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Johns Manville Corporation (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Inventors: Shock, Jeffrey M., McCann, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): FRANKLIN, JODI COHEN
• Application Number:
  US13/540,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20140007622A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,771 Days
• Field of Search: 65 2913, 65335, 65347, 651359, 65145-146
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 1/02 Compacting the glass batches, e.g. pelletising
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 2211/22 by direct combustion in the melt
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 2211/70 Skull melting, i.e. melting or refining in cooled wall crucibles or within solidified glass crust, e.g. in continuous walled vessels
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 3/005 using screw feeders
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 3/023 Preheating
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/04 in tank furnaces C03B5/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/183 using thermal means, e.g. for creating convection currents
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/20 Bridges, shoes, throats, or other devices for withholding dirt, foam, or batch
• 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 5/26 Outlets , e.g. drains, siphons; Overflows , e.g. for supplying the float tank, tweels
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/43 Use of materials for furnace walls, e.g. fire-bricks
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/44 Cooling arrangements for furnace walls

Abstract

Processes and systems for producing molten glass using submerged combustion melters, including densifying an initial composition comprising vitrifiable particulate solids and interstitial gas to form a densified composition comprising the solids by removing a portion of the interstitial gas from the composition. The initial composition is passed from an initial environment having a first pressure through a second environment having a second pressure higher than the first pressure to form a composition being densified. Any fugitive particulate solids escaping from the composition being densified are captured and recombined with the composition being densified to form the densified composition. The densified composition is fed into a feed inlet of a turbulent melting zone of a melter vessel and converted into turbulent molten material using at least one submerged combustion burner in the turbulent melting zone.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a) a melter vessel comprising a floor, a ceiling, and a wall connecting the floor and ceiling at a perimeter of the floor and ceiling, the wall comprising a feed end wall, a melter exit end wall, and two opposing sides walls, the walls, floor, and ceiling comprised of a metal shell and a fluid-cooled refractory panel, the melter vessel comprising a glass batch feed opening in the ceiling or in the feed end wall adjacent the ceiling and the melter exit end wall comprising a melter exit structure for discharging molten material formed in a turbulent melting zone, and one or more burners, at least one of which is positioned to direct combustion products into the turbulent melting zone under a level of turbulent molten material in the turbulent melting zone; and

b) a glass batch compacting screw feeder fluidly and mechanically coupled to the glass batch feed opening, the glass batch compacting screw feeder configured to treat glass batch to form a densified glass batch comprising glass batch solids by removing a portion of interstitial gas from the glass batch and feed the densified glass batch into the glass batch feed opening of the melter vessel in the turbulent melting zone;

the glass batch compacting screw feeder extending in a horizontal direction and including a number of sections arrayed in succession along its length so as to subject the glass batch to a succession of operations, the sections including;

a glass batch feeding screw section including a feed screw extending into a glass batch source chamber for drawing the glass batch from the glass batch source chamber and moving it into a glass batch feed seal screw section including a seal screw;

the glass batch feed seal screw section adjacent the glass batch feeding screw section, the glass batch feed seal screw section seal screw having substantially same pitch as the feed screw of the glass batch feeding screw section;

a glass batch conveying screw section adjacent the glass batch feed seal screw section and having conveying screw having a greater Ditch than a pitch of the seal screw to provide greater solids-moving capacity than the glass batch feed seal screw section;

a recirculation screw section adjacent the glass batch conveying screw section and having a recirculation screw having substantially same pitch as a pitch of the conveying screw;

a high pressure screw section having a high pressure screw having substantially same pitch as the pitch of the recirculation screw;

a recirculation chamber through which the feeder screw extends, the recirculation chamber including

a feeder seal shroud closely surrounding the feed seal screw section;

a high pressure shroud closely surrounding the high pressure screw section and having an output end;

the recirculation chamber further enclosing the glass batch conveying screw section and the recirculation screw section to confine particulate glass batch solids blown out of the high pressure screw section as the particulate glass batch solids are compressed thereby; and

,

a hingedly mounted preloaded cover in yieldable sealing engagement with the output end of the high pressure shroud to permit the densified glass batch to emerge under pressure from the high pressure shroud.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a sloping chute attached to the output end of the high pressure shroud to prevent free-fall of the emerging densified glass batch.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein a portion of the high pressure shroud extends downstream beyond the high pressure screw section so that the glass batch composition being densified in that portion tends to act as a seal between the high pressure screw section and the output end of the high pressure shroud.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein a portion of the high pressure shroud extends upstream into the recirculation chamber.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the portion of the high pressure shroud includes a plurality of perforations.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the recirculation chamber has walls that extend upward from opposite sides of the screw feeder, the walls not diverging upwardly.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the glass batch feeding screw section includes an increasing pitch in the direction of draw to produce an increase in capacity in that direction.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the glass batch feeding screw section includes a decreasing shaft diameter in the direction of draw to produce an increase in capacity in that direction.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the glass batch conveying screw section includes an increasing pitch in the direction of draw to produce an increase in capacity in that direction.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the glass batch conveying screw section includes a decreasing shaft diameter in the direction of draw to produce an increase in capacity in that direction.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the recirculation chamber further includes one or more gas injection nozzles for injecting a gas other than air into space adjacent the glass batch recirculation screw section.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the recirculation chamber further includes one or more gas injection nozzles for injecting a gas other than air into space adjacent the glass batch conveying screw section.