Roof-mounted oxygen-fuel burner for a glass melting furnace and process of using the oxygen-fuel burner

A process for producing refined glass from raw glass-forming material in a refractory lined glass melter, the glass melter having a roof connected to a bottom by side walls, defining an elongated channel having a melting zone and a downstream fining zone, the process comprising the steps of:

• charging raw glass-forming material to the melting zone of the glass melter;
• providing at least one oxygen-fuel burner recessed within a burner block within the roof of the glass melter, the oxygen-fuel burner having an inner central cylindrical gaseous fuel conduit for providing gaseous fuel and an outer cylindrical oxygen conduit concentric with the inner fuel conduit for providing oxygen, the at least one oxygen-fuel burner having a longitudinal axis substantially perpendicular to a surface of the raw glass-forming material;
• and
• controlling the maximum velocity of the gaseous fuel and the oxygen from the oxygen-fuel burner at the exit of said burner block within an operating zone, the operating zone defined by an upper operating curve according to the following fourth order linear polynomial:
• V Bb = a + b ⁡ ( H i d ) + c ⁡ ( H i d ) 2 + d ⁡ ( H i d ) 3 + e ⁡ ( H i d ) 4 [ I ]
• wherein,
• H/id=about 6-20,
• VBb=about 190-550 feet per second,
• a=571.0801,
• b=−187.2957,
• c=30.1164,
• d=−1.8198,
• e=0.04,
• and a lower operating curve according to the following fourth order linear polynomial:
• V Bb = a + b ⁡ ( H i d ) + c ⁡ ( H i d ) 2 + d ⁡ ( H i d ) 3 + e ⁡ ( H i d ) 4 [ I ]
• wherein,
• H/id=about 6-30,
• VBb=about 50-300 feet per second,
• a=−103.6111,
• b=38.9939,
• c=−2.8772,
• d=0.1033,
• e=−0.00125
• to combust proximate a top surface of the raw glass-forming material and produce a flame having a middle portion of an approximately columnar shape;
• melting raw glass-forming material within the melting zone by means of the flame coverage from the at least one oxygen-fuel burner,
• refining the melted raw glass-forming material in the fining zone;
• and
• withdrawing the refined glass from the fining zone.