The present invention relates to a process for producing a boron containing glass, comprising melting raw materials including boron compounds in a submerged combustion melter (11), withdrawing flue gases from said melter and recovering heat from said flue gases in appropriate heat recovery equipment prior to release into the environment.

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.

Processes and systems for producing molten glass using submerged combustion melters, including densifying an initial composition comprising vitrifiable particulate solids and interstitial gas to form a densified composition comprising the solids by removing a portion of the interstitial gas from the composition. The initial composition is passed from an initial environment having a first pressure through a second environment having a second pressure higher than the first pressure to form a composition being densified. Any fugitive particulate solids escaping from the composition being densified are captured and recombined with the composition being densified to form the densified composition. The densified composition is fed into a feed inlet of a turbulent melting zone of a melter vessel and converted into turbulent molten material using at least one submerged combustion burner in the turbulent melting zone.

The present invention relates to a process for melting solid batch material, comprising the steps of introducing solid batch material into a melter, and melting the solid batch material in the melter by submerged combustion and subjecting the melt to a flow pattern which when simulated on a computer by making use of common fluid dynamic equations shows a substantially toroidal melt flow pattern in the melt, comprising a major centrally inwardly convergent flow at the melt surface, the central axis of revolution of the toroid being substantially vertical. The invention further relates to a melter assembly for carrying out the process. The toroidal melt flow pattern is achieved by suitable arrangement, angle and spacing of multiple submerged combustion burners in the floor of the melter.

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 process for producing a boron containing glass, comprising melting raw materials including boron compounds in a submerged combustion melter withdrawing flue gases from said melter and recovering heat from said flue gases in appropriate heat recovery equipment prior to release into the environment.

A method of melting glass and glass-ceramics that includes the steps: conveying a batch of raw materials into a submerged combustion melting apparatus, the melting apparatus having liquid-cooled walls and a floor; directing a flame into the batch of raw materials and the melted batch with sufficient energy to form the raw materials into the melted batch; and heating a delivery orifice assembly in the floor of the submerged melting apparatus to convey the melted batch through the orifice assembly into a containment vessel. The melted batch has a glass or glass-ceramic composition that is substantially reactive to a refractory material comprising one or more of silica, zirconia, alumina, platinum and platinum alloys.

Processes of controlling submerged combustion melters, and systems for carrying out the methods. One process includes feeding vitrifiable material into a melter vessel, the melter vessel including a fluid-cooled refractory panel in its floor, ceiling, and/or sidewall, and heating the vitrifiable material with a burner directing combustion products into the melting zone under a level of the molten material in the zone. Burners impart turbulence to the molten material in the melting zone. The fluid-cooled refractory panel is cooled, forming a modified panel having a frozen or highly viscous material layer on a surface of the panel facing the molten material, and a sensor senses temperature of the modified panel using a protected thermocouple positioned in the modified panel shielded from direct contact with turbulent molten material. Processes include controlling the melter using the temperature of the modified panel. Other processes and systems are presented.

The claims define a submerged combustion melter comprising a submerged combustion burner (1) comprising three concentric tubes, all being closed at one end and open at the same opposite end, the internal tube (3) being connected to a source of oxygen containing gas (7), the middle tube (9) surrounding the internal tube (3) being connected to a source of fuel gas (11), and the outer tube (15) being connected to a source (19) of oxygen containing gas. The claims are also directed to a method of introducing a flame and/or combustion products into a melt from a submerged combustion burner and also directed to the use of the burner as a submerged combustion burner in a melter.

A submerged combustion melter 10 is arranged with a vertical melting chamber 11, which may be cylindrical, and at least five submerged combustion burners 21-26 in the bottom base 13, the burners so spaced apart from each other and from the walls and angled from the vertical that in use a toroidal flow pattern can be achieved, providing intensive mixing. The claims also pertain to a method of melting a vitrifiable material from solid batch by submerged combustion melting.