Owens-brockway Glass Container Inc.

Shane T Rashley

Zhongming Wang

David D Soley

Robert Kuhlman

Susan L Smith

Walter Anderson

Jian Jiao

Roger P Smith

Robin L Flynn

Udaya K Vempati

Scott Weil

William Pinc

Thomas G Green

Liming Shi

Philip J Rausch

Karin Gabriela Bastarrachea

Brian Coburn

Russel K Fleetwood

Randy Ernsthausen

Phillip J Rausch

Richard C Gobrecht, Iii

William Thomas

A method of producing flint glass using submerged combustion melting is disclosed. The method includes operating a submerged combustion melter such that combustion products are discharged from one or more submerged burners combusting a combustible gas mixture that comprises fuel and oxygen. An oxygen-to-fuel ratio of the combustible gas mixture ranges from stoichiometry to 30% excess oxygen relative to stoichiometry, a temperature of a glass melt in the submerged combustion melter is between 1200° C. and 1500° C., a residence time of the glass melt is maintained between 1 hour and 10 hours, and a specific throughput rate of molten glass discharged from the submerged combustion melter ranges from 2 tons per day per meter squared of cross-sectional area of the submerged combustion melter [tons/day/m] to 25 tons/day/m. A method of forming glass containers from the molten glass discharged from the melter is also disclosed.

Producing flint glass using submerged combustion melting

A submerged combustion melter includes first, second, third, and fourth side walls extending upwardly from a bottom wall, a crown extending inwardly with respect to the side walls and over the bottom wall to establish a melting chamber, an exhaust port configured to exhaust gas from the melting chamber, a baffle coupled to and extending inwardly from the third side wall to divide the melting chamber into melting sub-chambers that share the exhaust port and having an end spaced away from the fourth side wall, an inlet configured for introducing a glass batch into the melter, and an outlet configured to remove molten glass from the melting sub-chambers, which direct product flow in a laterally undulating flow path from the inlet to the outlet.

Multi-chamber submerged combustion melter and system

A submerged combustion melting system includes a furnace including a tank with a floor, a roof, a perimeter wall, and an interior, and burners to melt glass feedstock into molten glass, a batch inlet, a molten glass outlet, and an exhaust outlet. An exhaust system is in fluid communication with the interior of the tank, and includes a flue in fluid communication with the exhaust outlet. A refractory-lined hood may be in fluid communication with the flue, which may be fluid-cooled including fluid-cooled perimeter panels and lower and upper baffles. The hood may include a protrusion that protrudes into a downstream horizontal exhaust path and has an excurvate upper surface to streamline flow of exhaust gas through the hood to prevent gas recirculation and formation of condensate piles in the hood.

Submerged combustion melting exhaust systems

A batch feeding apparatus, a submerged combustion melter, and method are disclosed. The batch feeding apparatus can include a batch feeding apparatus comprising a detachable feeder alcove for providing batch material to a melter, the feeder alcove including at least one side wall and a cover; and a batch feeder sealingly coupled to the cover, that feeds the batch material to the feeder alcove. The batch feeding apparatus may include an extendable panel that extends downwardly below a batch inlet of the feeder alcove to molten glass, and is configured to maintain contact with the molten glass to seal off a feeder alcove interior. Additionally, the batch feeding apparatus may include a heating device, a cleaning device, and/or a storage device.

Feeder alcove and batch feeding apparats for a melter

A cooling panel for a melter is disclosed that includes first and second outer walls and a plurality of side walls coupled to the first and second outer walls. The first and second outer walls and the plurality of side walls define an interior space. Each of the first and second outer walls, moreover, has a plurality of openings. The cooling panel further includes a plurality of baffles disposed in the interior space. The baffles include a plurality of projections. The respective openings of the outer walls and projections of the baffles fit together and are connected from outside of the cooling panel so that the outer walls and the baffles are fixed together, and the side walls are fixed to the outer walls so that the cooling panel is fluid-tight.

Cooling panel for a melter

A feed assembly having a hollow tubular body and a batch charger disposed within the hollow tubular body is disclosed. The hollow tubular body extends along a central axis from a first end to a second end and, further, comprises a port that tapers from a first port end to a second port end at the second end of the tubular body. The batch charger includes a first charger end proximate the first end of the tubular body and a second charger end proximate the second end of the tubular body. The second charger end is spaced away from the second end of the tubular body to provide a port space within the port. An apparatus that includes a melting chamber and a feed assembly is also disclosed along with a method of feeding batch materials into a melting chamber.

Batch charger for a melting furnace

A molten material furnace system having a liquid cooled flow control mechanism and method are disclosed. In particular, the flow control mechanism can include a needle including: a longitudinal axis; an outer conduit including an outer base end, an outer body, and an outer free end; an inner conduit including an inner base end, an inner body radially spaced from the outer body, an inner free end, and a central inlet passage extending between the inlet and the inner free end. Also disclosed is a needle control assembly to position the flow control needle relative to a stilling tank outlet orifice to control flow of molten material through the outlet orifice.

Fluid-cooled needle for molten material flow control

A method of producing glass includes receiving unrefined molten glass in a stilling chamber of a stilling tank at a fluctuating flow rate. An intermediate pool of molten glass is held within the stilling chamber of the stilling tank and is heated therein by one or more non-submerged burners. Molten glass flows from the intermediate pool of molten glass to a transfer pool of molten glass held in a spout chamber of a feeding spout that is appended to the stilling tank. A molten glass feed can be drawn from the transfer pool of molten glass and delivered from the feeding spout at a controlled flow rate.

Stilling vessel for submerged combustion melter

According to an aspect of the disclosure, a glass manufacturing system includes a hot-end subsystem, including: a submerged combustion melter that melts feedstock to produce molten glass; a stiller that receives the molten glass from the submerged combustion melter and that includes a stilling tank to still the molten glass and that is configured to control outflow of the stilled molten glass to effectively decouple viscosity of the molten glass from the flow rate of the molten glass and thereby control finer molten glass levels; and a finer that is mechanically decoupled from the stiller, and that receives and fines the stilled molten glass to produce fined molten glass. Many other aspects of the system are also disclosed and claimed.

Glass manufacturing

A method of producing glass includes drawing unrefined foamy molten glass from a glass melt held in a submerged combustion melter and introducing the unrefined foamy molten glass into a stilling chamber of a stilling tank. An intermediate pool of molten glass is held within the stilling chamber of the stilling tank and is heated therein by one or more non-submerged burners. Molten glass flows from the intermediate pool of molten glass to a transfer pool of molten glass held in a spout chamber of a feeding spout that is appended to the stilling tank. A molten glass feed can be drawn from the transfer pool of molten glass and delivered from the feeding spout at a controlled rate.

A submerged combustion melter and system are disclosed. The submerged combustion melter includes a bottom wall, at least one side wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall, a crown extending inwardly with respect to the at least one side wall and over the bottom wall to establish a melting chamber, an exhaust port configured to exhaust gas from the melting chamber, at least one baffle extending from the at least one side wall to divide the melting chamber into melting sub-chambers that share the exhaust port, at least one inlet configured for introducing a glass batch into the submerged combustion melter, and at least one outlet configured to remove molten glass from the at least one melting chamber.

A cooling panel for a melter and method for fabricating the cooling panel are disclosed. In particular, the cooling panel can include first and second outer walls and a plurality of side walls coupled to the outer walls that define an interior space. A plurality of baffles is disposed in the interior space, where projections in the baffles fit into respective openings in the outer walls and can be connected from outside the cooling panel. The cooling panel can be formed by way of welding and/or additive manufacturing, as discussed herein.

A feed assembly for a melting chamber having a plurality of walls and at least one submerged burner, and related methods of its operation are disclosed. The feed assembly includes a tubular body being hollow and having a first end and extending to a second end. The second end is for connecting to one of the plurality of walls. The tubular body further includes a port proximate the second end wherein the port has a first port end and tapers radially inwardly to a second port end at the second end. The feed assembly also has a batch charger disposed within the tubular body and having a first charger end and extending to a second charger end.

Batch charger for a melting chamber

A glass melter batch inlet and cleaning device and related methods of its operation are disclosed. The glass melter batch inlet and cleaning device includes an outer tubular housing including a side inlet, an inner tubular chopper including a side inlet relief in registration with the side inlet of the outer tubular housing, and at least one actuator extending alongside the outer tubular housing and coupled to the inner tubular chopper to move the chopper with respect to the outer tubular housing.

Batch inlet and cleaning device for glass melter

An assembly for forming a parison within a mold of a glass forming machine includes a plunger cylinder having a first end configured to be received by the mold and form the parison and a second end. The cylinder is configured for movement along a translational axis. An alignment plate defines a bore through which the cylinder extends. The alignment plate is configured to be affixed to a fixed member of the forming machine after movement of the alignment plate in a plane perpendicular to the translational axis to align the translational axis of the cylinder with a centerline of the mold. A height adjustment plate is spaced from, and hung from, the alignment plate and configured to support the second end of the cylinder. The height adjustment plate is movable relative to the alignment plate to cause a corresponding movement of the cylinder along the translational axis.

Growing community of inventors

Bowling Green, OH, United States of America

Shane T Rashley