Method of boosting a glass melting furnace using a roof mounted oxygen-fuel burner
AssigneeThe BOC Group, Inc.
InventorsNeil George Simpson, Greg Floyd Prusia, Stephen McDonald Carney, Thomas G. Clayton, Andrew Peter Richardson, John R. LeBlanc
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an industrial glass furnace which contains recuperators, regenerators, electric boost or other devices for providing heat to glass batch material an oxy-fuel burner mounted in the roof of the furnace provides additional heat to melt the batch material. A method of mounting and using such a roof-mounted oxy-fuel burner including the operating parameters to maximize heat transfer while minimizing the disturbance of the batch material is disclosed.
Claims18
A process for melting glass forming material in a furnace having a roof, a charging end, a melting zone adjacent the charging end, a fining zone downstream of the melting zone, and an end for providing molten glass adjacent the fining zone;
- wherein the glass forming material is introduced into the melting zone and is melted by at least one roof-mounted oxy-fuel burner positioned over the glass forming material entering the furnace, travels from the melting zone to the fining zone and is provided as molten glass from the fining zone;
- and combustion energy is provided over both the melting zone and the fining zone;
- said process including:
- (i) providing the combustion energy over the melting zone principally by oxy-fuel combustion;
- and
- (ii) providing the combustion energy over the fining zone by air-fuel combustion.
A method of melting batch material in a glass furnace including a roof, an upstream melting zone and a downstream fining zone, the method comprising:
- providing at least one oxy-fuel burner positioned at the roof in said furnace over said batch material as the batch material enters the furnace in the melting zone;
- providing at least one air-fuel burner in said furnace in the downstream fining zone,
- generating a flame from said at least one oxy-fuel burner in the melting zone, whereby the batch material is melted principally by said at least one oxy-fuel burner;
- and,
- generating a flame from said at least one air-fuel burner in the downstream fining zone.
A process for glass production in a glass furnace having a roof, a melting zone, and a downstream fining zone comprising:
- charging raw glass batch materials into the furnace melting zone;
- providing at least one oxy-fuel burner positioned at the roof over the raw glass batch materials as the raw glass batch materials are charged into the furnace;
- melting said raw batch material principally by energy from the at least one oxy-fuel burner provided over said material;
- and
- providing energy to the furnace fining zone by firing at least one air-fuel burner in the furnace downstream of the melting zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.