Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.

William Pinc

Udaya K Vempati

Scott P Cooper

Shane T Rashley

Olexander Manulyk

Udaya Vempati

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 method of producing glass using submerged combustion melting includes supplying a combustible gas mixture to one or more submerged burners of a submerged combustion melter, combusting the combustible gas mixture supplied to the submerged burner(s) to produce combustion products, and discharging the combustion products from the submerged burner(s) directly into a glass melt contained within the submerged combustion melter to agitate and heat the glass melt. The glass melt is comprised of soda-lime-silica glass and has a redox ratio. Additionally, the disclosed method involves controlling one or more operating conditions of the submerged combustion melter selected from (1) an oxygen-to-fuel ratio of the combustible gas mixture supplied to each of the submerged burners, (2) a residence time of the glass melt, and (3) a gas flux through the glass melt.

Glass redox control in submerged combustion melting

A method of producing flint glass using submerged combustion melting involves introducing a vitrifiable feed material into a glass melt contained within a submerged combustion melter. The vitrifiable feed material is formulated to provide the glass melt with a glass chemical composition suitable for producing flint glass articles. To that end, the glass melt comprises a total iron content expressed as FeOin an amount ranging from 0.04 wt % to 0.06 wt % and also has a redox ratio that ranges from 0.1 to 0.4, and the vitrifiable feed material further includes between 0.008 wt % and 0.016 wt % of selenium or between 0.1 wt % and 0.2 wt % of manganese oxide in order to achieve an appropriate content of selenium or manganese oxide in the glass melt.

Feed material for producing flint glass using submerged combustion melting

A method of producing glass using submerged combustion melting is disclosed. The method includes introducing a vitrifiable feed material into a glass melt contained within a submerged combustion melter. The glass melt contained in the melter has a redox ratio defined as a ratio of Feto total iron in the glass melt. The method further includes combusting a combustible gas mixture supplied to each of the submerged burners to produce combustion products, and discharging the combustion products directly into the glass melt. Still further, the method includes adjusting the redox ratio of the glass melt by controlling one or more operating conditions of the submerged combustion melter selected from (1) an oxygen-to-fuel ratio of the combustible gas mixture supplied to each of the submerged burners, (2) a residence time of the glass melt, and (3) a gas flux through the glass melt.

A method of producing and fining glass includes monitoring a temperature of a molten glass bath contained within a fining chamber of a fining vessel and, based on the monitored temperature, controlling an amount of a sulfate chemical fining agent added into a glass melt contained within an interior reaction chamber of an upstream submerged combustion melter that feeds the fining vessel. The temperature of the molten glass bath may be determined within a temperature indication zone that encompasses a subsurface portion of the molten glass bath that lies adjacent to a floor of a housing of the fining vessel. By monitoring the temperature of the molten glass bath and controlling the amount of the sulfate chemical fining agent added to the glass melt of the submerged combustion melter, the wasteful use of the sulfate chemical fining agent can be minimized and the fining process rendered more efficient.

Utilization of sulfate in the fining of submerged combustion melted glass

A method of making a hollow container-shaped glass article composed of soda-lime-silica glass includes forming a particulate feedstock comprised of pulverized soda-lime-silica cullet particles into a hollow monolithic glass container preform without melting the cullet particles. The hollow monolithic glass container preform has a container shape that includes a wall defining an interior containment space and an opening to the interior containment space and, upon formation, has a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the soda-lime-silica glass. The hollow monolithic glass container preform is eventually cooled into a hollow, amorphous soda-lime-silica glass article, such as a partially-formed container or a finished container, that retains the previously-established container shape.

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Waterville, OH, United States of America

William Pinc