According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a reclaim cylinder includes: a single housing (60) coupled to a fiber draw furnace system, the housing defining a reclaim chamber 64, a plurality of gas reclaim ports (68) spaced equidistant from each other and tangentially coupled to the housing, a gas sampling port (52) tangentially or perpendicularly coupled to the housing, and a particle sampling port (54) tangentially or perpendicularly coupled to the housing.

A sensor system to provide data for use to control manufacture of an optical fiber in microgravity including a diameter sensor to monitor a diameter of a fiber drawn from a preform material, a tension sensor to monitor tension of the fiber as the fiber is pulled from the preform material to a storage device and a controller in communication with at least one of the diameter sensor and the tension sensor to evaluate sensor data to determine at least one of a speed and rate at which the fiber is pulled from the preform material.

A system for drawing optical fiber in microgravity including a sealed housing to prevent infiltration of at least humidity and filled with a dry environment, a preform holder located within the sealed housing to hold preform material, a furnace located within the sealed housing to receive the preform material from the preform holder and to heat the preform material from which the optical fiber is pulled, a feed system to move the preform material from the preform holder to the furnace, a drawing mechanism located within the sealed housing to pull the optical fiber from the preform material within the furnace, a diameter monitor located within the sealed housing to measure a diameter of the optical fiber and a fiber collection mechanism located within the sealed housing to gather and store the optical fiber.

An optical fiber has a core to which chlorine is added and a clad to which fluorine is added, chlorine of 9000 to 13000 ppm is added to the core, a relative refractive index difference Δ1 of the core to a pure silica glass is 0.09 to 0.13%, a relative refractive index difference Δ2 of the clad to a pure silica glass is −0.36 to −0.17%, a difference (Δ1-Δ2) between the relative refractive index difference Δ1 of the core and the relative refractive index difference Δ2 of the clad is larger than or equal to 0.30%, a mode field diameter at wavelength 1.31 μm is 8.8 to 9.6 μm, and a stress difference occurring at an interface between the core and the clad is lower than or equal to 60 MPa.

A method of winding an optical fiber includes winding the optical fiber using a bobbin that includes: a body portion having two end portions; and a pair of flanges, respectively disposed at the end portions in an axial direction of the body portion. An inner surface of each of the flanges is inclined toward an outer side in the axial direction and toward a radial outer side. The method further includes guiding the optical fiber to the bobbin using a final pulley. The bobbin and the final pulley reciprocate relative to each other in the axial direction at a traverse speed V (mm/sec) such that 0.0050≤θ (rad)≤0.1000, where θ is a delay angle, θ=arctan (V/L), and L (mm) is a distance from a winding position of the optical fiber at the bobbin to the final pulley in a radial direction.

An optical fiber draw system and method of operating thereof. The method includes positioning a downfeed handle for supporting an optical fiber preform within a furnace such that the downfeed handle is movable within the furnace. The method further includes operating one or more heating elements to thermally heat at least a portion of an upper muffle extension disposed within the furnace, the one or more heating elements being moveable with the downfeed handle.

A method of manufacturing an optical fiber, the method including drawing a bare optical fiber from an optical fiber preform along a draw pathway. The method further includes during the drawing step, moving a first fluid bearing from a first position to a second position, the first position being removed from the draw pathway and the second position being disposed in the draw pathway such that the movement of the first fluid bearing to the second position causes at least a first portion of the draw pathway to change direction.

Described herein is a method of forming a smelting byproduct that can be formed into an inorganic fiber, the method comprising: a) introducing silicomanganese slag and a smelting additive into a submerged arc furnace comprising a collection zone; b) smelting the silicomanganese slag into a silicomanganese metal and a smelting byproduct, whereby the silicomanganese metal settles to a lower portion of the collection zone and the smelting byproduct gathers in an upper portion of the collection zone due to density differential between the silicomanganese metal and the smelting byproduct; c) flowing the smelting byproduct from the collection zone from a first outlet; and d) flowing the silicomanganese metal from the collection zone from a second outlet.

Described herein is a method of forming a smelting byproduct that can be formed into an inorganic fiber, the method comprising: a) introducing silicomanganese slag and a smelting additive into a submerged arc furnace comprising a collection zone; b) smelting the silicomanganese slag into a silicomanganese metal and a smelting byproduct, whereby the silicomanganese metal settles to a lower portion of the collection zone and the smelting byproduct gathers in an upper portion of the collection zone due to density differential between the silicomanganese metal and the smelting byproduct; c) flowing the smelting byproduct from the collection zone from a first outlet; and d) flowing the silicomanganese metal from the collection zone from a second outlet.

A glass cane is manufactured by filling a glass tube with a combination of glass structures forming a cross-sectional pattern within the glass tube, to form a preform. The preform is attached to a draw assembly, such as a draw tower. The draw assembly is operated to draw the preform to a reduced-diameter glass cane by passing the preform through a furnace of the draw assembly while pulling the preform or the reduced-diameter glass cane and rotating the preform or the reduced-diameter glass cane.