Method and apparatus for adding thermal energy to a glass melt
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsDaniel Robert Boughton, Scott Michael Jarvis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods and apparatuses for adding thermal energy to a glass melt. Apparatuses for generating a thermal plasma disclosed herein comprise an electrode, a grounded electrode, a dielectric plasma confinement vessel extending between the two electrodes, and a magnetic field generator extending around the dielectric plasma confinement vessel. Also disclosed herein are methods for fining molten glass comprising generating a thermal plasma using the apparatuses disclosed herein and contacting the molten glass with the thermal plasma. Glass structures produced according to these methods are also disclosed herein.
Claims6
A method for fining molten glass comprising:
- introducing a gas into an apparatus for generating a thermal plasma by a radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field, the apparatus comprising:
- an electrode,
- a grounded electrode,
- a dielectric plasma confinement vessel extending between the electrode and the grounded electrode,
- a magnetic field generator extending around the dielectric plasma confinement vessel,
- an inlet for delivering a gas into the dielectric plasma confinement vessel,
- an RF current source to create the RF electromagnetic field for converting the gas into a thermal plasma, and
- an outlet for delivering the thermal plasma,
- introducing molten glass into a fining vessel;
- and
- contacting the molten glass with the thermal plasma.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.