Glass melting furnace
AssigneeAgc Glass Europe
InventorsOlivier Douxchamps, Johan Behen
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a glass meting furnace comprising a channel-shaped melting tank, the batch materials being introduced at an upstream end, the molten glass being recovered at the downstream end, said furnace being heated by means of burners, in which the combustion energy is produced by oxy-fuel combustion in respect of at least 65% thereof, the burners being distributed on the walls along the length of the furnace, in which flue gas discharge is mostly localized close to the upstream end near the openings through which the batch materials are introduced, the rest of the flue gas being removed close to the downstream part so as to maintain dynamic sealing with respect to the surrounding atmosphere.
Claims20
A glass melting furnace comprising a channel-shaped melting tank, wherein
- batch materials are introduced at an upstream end,
- molten glass is recovered at a downstream end,
- said furnace is heated by burners, in which at least 65% of combustion energy is produced by oxy-fuel,
- the burners are distributed on walls along a length of the furnace,
- flue gas discharge is mostly localized close to the upstream end near openings through which the batch materials are introduced,
- a remainder of flue gas is removed close to the downstream part so as to maintain dynamic sealing with respect to a surrounding atmosphere.
A process for melting glass in a glass melting furnace, said furnace comprising a channel-shaped melting tank, the process comprising
- introducing batch materials at an upstream end,
- heating said furnace heated by burners distributed on walls along a length of the furnace, whereby at least 65% of combustion energy is produced by oxy-fuel combustion,
- localizing most flue gas discharge close to the upstream end near openings through which the batch materials are introduced,
- removing a remainder of flue gas close to a downstream end so as to maintain dynamic sealing with respect to a surrounding atmosphere, and
- recovering molten glass at the downstream end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.