A molten material apparatus can include a container including a wall at least partially defining a containment area and an opening extending through the wall. The molten material apparatus can include a protective sleeve mounted at least partially within the opening of the wall of the container. A thermocouple can be positioned within an internal bore of the protective sleeve. A method of processing molten material can include inserting a thermocouple into a protective sleeve fabricated from a refractory ceramic material, and measuring a temperature of material within a containment area of a container with the thermocouple.

Apparatus, systems and methods for refining molten glass include a fining chamber having a refractory floor and a sidewall structure that may include a refractory liner, and includes an inlet transition region having increasing width from initial to a final width, and depth decreasing from an initial to final depth. The floor includes a raised curb having width equal to final width of the inlet transition region, curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber. The raised curb separates the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, the primary fining region defined by the refractory floor and sidewall structure. The primary fining region has a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

A heater includes a heat generating member being conductive and configured to radiate heat rays by being fed with electric power, and a tubular member constituting of a metal and accommodating the heat generating member, wherein the heat generating member is composed of a material containing carbon at 80% or more by mass, the tubular member is composed of a material including one or more selected from platinum, rhodium, tungsten, iridium, and molybdenum, and an insulating material is not provided between the heat generating member and the tubular member.

Low-carbon monolithic refractories are provided. Methods of manufacturing glass employing low-carbon monolithic refractories are also provided. Methods and apparatuses for glass manufacture for reducing the formation of carbon dioxide blisters during glass manufacture are also provided.

Combustion burners, burner panels, submerged combustion melters including the panels, and methods of using the same are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the burner includes an annular liquid cooled jacket defining a central longitudinal through passage. An inner conduit is positioned substantially concentrically within an outer conduit, the latter positioned in the through passage, each conduit comprising proximal and distal ends, the conduits configured so that the outer and inner conduits are movable axially. The inner conduit forms a primary passage and the outer conduit forms a secondary passage between the outer conduit and the inner conduit. In one embodiment the outer conduit has an exterior surface configured along at least a portion thereof with threads mating with adjacent threads on an inner surface of the annular liquid cooled jacket. Other embodiments including lock and release dogs or bolt arrangements. The burners promote burner life and melter campaign length.

The present invention relates to a float glass substrate including an alkali-free glass, the float glass substrate having a Cl content of from 0.10 to 0.50 mass %, containing substantially no SnO.sub.2, and having a Pt content of, by mass, from 0.001 to 0.30 ppm. The float glass substrate may have a Rh content of, by mass, from 0.001 to 0.50 ppm.

Methods for reducing the oxygen concentration in an enclosure including a platinum-containing vessel through which molten glass is flowing are disclosed. The methods include injecting hydrogen gas into an oxygen-containing atmosphere flowing between the enclosure and a reaction chamber. The atmosphere is heated with a heating element in the reaction chamber, whereupon oxygen in the oxygen-containing atmosphere reacts with the hydrogen. In other embodiments, the hydrogen gas and oxygen-containing atmosphere can be exposed to a catalyst comprising platinum positioned in the reaction chamber.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for forming a glass article in which molten glass is heated in a refractory vessel by establishing an electrical current in the molten glass between opposing powered electrodes along a first electrical path. The melting vessel includes a precious metal component in contact with the molten glass, and at least one non-powered electrode proximate the precious metal component. The at least one non-powered electrode and the precious metal component form second and third electrical paths, respectively, in parallel with the first electrical path such that an electrical current in the second electrical path is decreased, thereby reducing an electrochemical reaction in the precious metal component.

The volatilization suppressing component according to the present disclosure has a metallic base material; and a laminated film having at least a first layer formed on a portion or the entirety of a surface of the metallic base material, and a second layer formed on the first layer, wherein the first layer is an adhesive layer between the metallic base material and the second layer, and the second layer is a protective layer for the first layer.

A method for producing a glass product, preferably a sheet-like glass product, is provided that includes conveying a molten silicate glass through a conduit system from one area of a glass product producing installation to another area of the glass product producing installation. The conduit system includes noble metal and is configured to conduct an electric current through the noble metal so as to generates Joule heat in the conduit system. The current is an alternating current for which the time integral over a positive and a negative half-wave results in a zero value.