Apparatus, systems and methods for processing molten glass

• US 9,776,903 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2014
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• 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: Huber, Aaron Morgan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lazorcik, Jason L
• Application Number:
  US14/533,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20160122221A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 Days
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/1675 Platinum group metals
• 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 5/225 Refining C03B5/18 takes precedence ; Refining agents C03C1/004
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/23 Cooling the molten glass C03B5/18, C03B5/225 take precedence
• 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 5/43 Use of materials for furnace walls, e.g. fire-bricks
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 5/44 Cooling arrangements for furnace walls
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 1/002 Use of waste materials, e.g. slags
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 3/087 containing calcium oxide, e.g. common sheet or container glass

Abstract

Apparatus, systems and methods for refining molten glass include a fining chamber having a refractory floor and a sidewall structure that may include a refractory liner, and includes an inlet transition region having increasing width from initial to a final width, and depth decreasing from an initial to final depth. The floor includes a raised curb having width equal to final width of the inlet transition region, curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber. The raised curb separates the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, the primary fining region defined by the refractory floor and sidewall structure. The primary fining region has a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

routing a molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to an inlet transition region of a fining chamber, the fining chamber having a longitudinal axis and defined at least by a refractory floor and first and second sidewalls, the inlet transition region having a width, depth, and length, the length measured along a line parallel to the longitudinal axis, the inlet transition region width increasing from an initial width to a final width, and the inlet transition region depth defined by a planar floor that slants upward in the flow direction at an angle to horizontal, thus forming a partially refined molten glass;

routing the partially refined molten glass over a raised curb in the fining chamber placed substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the raised curb having a curb width equal to the final width of the inlet transition region, a curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and a curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber, the curb height being greatest at the longitudinal axis and decreasing gradually to one half of the curb height at the longitudinal axis at the first and second sidewalls, and separating the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, thus forming a second partially refined molten glass,

the raised curb forcing portions of the second partially refined molten glass to flow toward the first and second sidewalls of the primary fining region as it enters the primary fining region, the primary fining region having a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising melting glass-forming materials to produce a turbulent molten mass of foamed glass in a submerged combustion melter to produce the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising separating the second partially refined molten glass into an upper phase consisting essentially of glass foam and a lower phase consisting essentially of molten glass as the second partially refined molten glass flows toward an exit transition region of the fining chamber, the exit transition region having a width, a length, and a depth, wherein the width decreases from an initial width equal to the width of the primary fining region to a final width that is less than the initial width by a factor of 0.5 or less.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising routing the molten glass through and out of at least one passage in the exit transition region that is positioned lower than a phase boundary between the upper and lower phases in the exit transition region.

5. The method of claim 4 comprising temperature homogenizing the molten glass as it passes through at least one of the inlet transition region, the primary fining region, and the exit transition region.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising feeding at least a portion of the temperature homogenized molten glass to one or more glass forming stations.

7. The method of claim 6 comprising wherein the glass forming stations are selected from the group consisting of fiber forming spinnerets, fiberization stations, and non-glass fiber product forming stations.

8. The method of claim 4 comprising controllably flowing at least some of the molten glass by gravity through at least one aperture in the floor of the exit transition region upon a planned or unplanned condition.

9. The method of claim 4 comprising cooling the sidewall structure using fluid-cooling of the sidewall structure sufficient to form a frozen glass layer on inside surfaces of the sidewall structure.

10. The method of claim 4 comprising cooling the molten glass as it passes through the at least one passage to a temperature just above a desired glass product forming temperature.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of routing the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to the inlet transition region of the fining chamber comprises flowing the molten mass of glass through at least one inlet aperture of the inlet transition region, wherein 100 percent of the inlet aperture is lower than a level of molten glass in the inlet transition region.

12. A method comprising:

routing a molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to an inlet transition region of a fining chamber, the fining chamber having a longitudinal axis and defined at least by a refractory floor and first and second sidewalls, the inlet transition region having a width, depth, and length, the length measured along a line parallel to the longitudinal axis, the inlet transition region width increasing from an initial width to a final width, and the inlet transition region depth defined by a floor comprising a non-planar, arcuate section that curves upward in a flow direction connected to a planar horizontal step, resulting in different depths of molten glass therein, thus forming a partially refined molten glass;

routing the partially refined molten glass over a raised curb connected to the planar horizontal step in the fining chamber, the raised curb placed substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the raised curb having a curb width equal to the final width of the inlet transition region, a curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and a curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber, the curb height being greatest at the longitudinal axis and decreasing gradually to one half of the curb height at the longitudinal axis at the first and second sidewalls, and separating the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, thus forming a second partially refined molten glass,

the raised curb forcing portions of the second partially refined molten glass to flow toward the first and second sidewalls of the primary fining region as it enters the primary fining region, the primary fining region having a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising melting glass-forming materials to produce a turbulent molten mass of foamed glass in a submerged combustion melter to produce the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising separating the second partially refined molten glass into an upper phase consisting essentially of glass foam and a lower phase consisting essentially of molten glass as the second partially refined molten glass flows toward an exit transition region of the fining chamber, the exit transition region having a width, a length, and a depth, wherein the width decreases from an initial width equal to the width of the primary fining region to a final width that is less than the initial width by a factor of 0.5 or less.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising routing the molten glass through and out of at least one passage in the exit transition region that is positioned lower than a phase boundary between the upper and lower phases in the exit transition region.

16. The method of claim 15 comprising temperature homogenizing the molten glass as it passes through at least one of the inlet transition region, the primary fining region, and the exit transition region.

17. The method of claim 16 comprising feeding at least a portion of the temperature homogenized molten glass to one or more glass forming stations.

18. The method of claim 17 comprising wherein the glass forming stations are selected from the group consisting of fiber forming spinnerets, fiberization stations, and non-glass fiber product forming stations.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of routing the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to the inlet transition region of the fining chamber comprises flowing the molten mass of glass through at least one inlet aperture of the inlet transition region, wherein 100 percent of the inlet aperture is lower than a level of molten glass in the inlet transition region.

20. The method of claim 15 comprising controllably flowing at least some of the molten glass by gravity through at least one aperture in the floor of the exit transition region upon a planned or unplanned condition.

21. The method of claim 15 comprising cooling the sidewall structure using fluid-cooling of the sidewall structure sufficient to form a frozen glass layer on inside surfaces of the sidewall structure.

22. The method of claim 15 comprising cooling the molten glass as it passes through the at least one passage to a temperature just above a desired glass product forming temperature.

23. A method comprising:

routing a molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to an inlet transition region of a fining chamber, the fining chamber having a longitudinal axis and defined at least by a refractory floor and first and second sidewalls, the inlet transition region having a width, depth, and length, the length measured along a line parallel to the longitudinal axis, the inlet transition region width increasing from an initial width to a final width, and the inlet transition region depth defined by a non-planar, arcuate floor that curves upward in a flow direction, resulting in different depths of molten glass therein, thus forming a partially refined molten glass;

routing the partially refined molten glass over a raised curb connected to the non-planar, arcuate floor that curves upward in a flow direction in the fining chamber, the raised curb placed substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the raised curb having a curb width equal to the final width of the inlet transition region, a curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and a curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber, the curb height being greatest at the longitudinal axis and decreasing gradually to one half of the curb height at the longitudinal axis at the first and second sidewalls, and separating the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, thus forming a second partially refined molten glass,

the raised curb forcing portions of the second partially refined molten glass to flow toward the first and second sidewalls of the primary fining region as it enters the primary fining region, the primary fining region having a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising melting glass-forming materials to produce a turbulent molten mass of foamed glass in a submerged combustion melter to produce the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising separating the second partially refined molten glass into an upper phase consisting essentially of glass foam and a lower phase consisting essentially of molten glass as the second partially refined molten glass flows toward an exit transition region of the fining chamber, the exit transition region having a width, a length, and a depth, wherein the width decreases from an initial width equal to the width of the primary fining region to a final width that is less than the initial width by a factor of 0.5 or less.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising routing the molten glass through and out of at least one passage in the exit transition region that is positioned lower than a phase boundary between the upper and lower phases in the exit transition region.

27. The method of claim 26 comprising temperature homogenizing the molten glass as it passes through at least one of the inlet transition region, the primary fining region, and the exit transition region.

28. The method of claim 27 comprising feeding at least a portion of the temperature homogenized molten glass to one or more glass forming stations.

29. The method of claim 28 comprising wherein the glass forming stations are selected from the group consisting of fiber forming spinnerets, fiberization stations, and non-glass fiber product forming stations.

30. The method of claim 26 comprising controllably flowing at least some of the molten glass by gravity through at least one aperture in the floor of the exit transition region upon a planned or unplanned condition.

31. The method of claim 26 comprising cooling the sidewall structure using fluid-cooling of the sidewall structure sufficient to form a frozen glass layer on inside surfaces of the sidewall structure.

32. The method of claim 26 comprising cooling the molten glass as it passes through the at least one passage to a temperature just above a desired glass product forming temperature.

33. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of routing the molten mass of glass having bubbles therein to the inlet transition region of the fining chamber comprises flowing the molten mass of glass through at least one inlet aperture of the inlet transition region, wherein 100 percent of the inlet aperture is lower than a level of molten glass in the inlet transition region.