A glass melting component for use in a melt includes at least one guide structure for the conveying and/or nucleation of gas bubbles from the melt. The guide structure is present at least on a surface of the glass melting component which faces the melt during use of the glass melting component.

The invention includes systems and methods for melting materials to make glass and other materials subject to electric melting that improve the capacity of the melters and/or the melt quality and/or the melting costs and/or the life of tank melters. These systems and methods use one or more of boosting with one or more streams of super hot melt coming from one or more boosting melters, cooling one or more components of one or more of the melters normally cooled using water with a high temperature cooling fluid or fluid suspension and protecting the normally high wear areas of refractory linings by covering those high wear areas with one or more strips of a corrosion and oxidation resistant metal or alloy useful above 2400 degrees F.

Disclosed is an apparatus for conditioning molten glass. The apparatus includes a connecting tube assembly having a conduit for conveying the molten glass, the conduit (108) including at least two flanges (112, 114) and a sealing member (118) disposed between the at least two flanges (112, 114) around an outer peripheral region of the flanges, thereby forming an enclosed volume between an outer wall (110) of the conduit, the at least two flanges (112, 114) and the sealing member (118). An atmosphere within the volume may be controlled such that a predetermined partial pressure of hydrogen or a predetermined partial pressure of oxygen may be maintained within the volume. A current may be established between the at least two flanges to heat the conduit.

A method of making a glass product includes: melting a batch of raw materials to form a glass melt in a melting tank; heating the batch and/or the glass melt using two or more electrodes, the electrodes including an electrode material and heating the batch and/or the glass melt includes operating the electrodes at a current frequency of at least 1,000 Hz and at most 5,000 Hz; withdrawing the glass melt from the melting tank; and forming the glass melt into the glass product.

An insulated tuckstone that includes a basic tuckstone and an insulating layer exhibiting a thermal conductivity lower than 2.0 W.Math.m 1.Math.K?1 between 20? C. and 500? C., exhibiting enough rigidity to be self-supporting and covering an insulated surface of the basic tuckstone. The insulated surface is included in the lower surface of the basic tuckstone, extending into the lower transition surface and representing more than 20% of the lower transition surface. The insulating layer has a chemical composition, as a percentage by mass on the basis of the oxides, such that Al.sub.2O.sub.3+SiO.sub.2+ZrO.sub.2+CaO+Na.sub.2O+MgO+K.sub.2O+TiO.sub.2+Fe.sub.2O.sub.3+HfO.sub.2+P.sub.2O.sub.5+Y.sub.2O.sub.3>80%.

A gradient fining tank and a method of operating the tank to refine foamy molten glass is disclosed. The gradient fining tank includes a floor, a roof, and two laterally-spaced sidewalls that at least partially define an interior chamber of the tank. The floor of the tank is profiled to provide the tank with an extended shallow portion that defines an inlet to the interior chamber and a deep holding portion that defines an outlet from the interior chamber. An entry section of the floor provides the extended shallow portion of the tank and a transition section and exit section of the floor provide the deep holding portion. A depth of the interior chamber at an outlet end of the deep holding portion is greater than a depth of the interior chamber at the outlet end of the extended shallow portion.

Fused tuckstone defining lower and upper surfaces. The lower surface includes a support surface to rest on metallic structure of a glass furnace, a tank surface intended to face an upper edge of a tank of the furnace, and a lower transition surface connecting the support and tank surfaces. The upper surface includes a superstructure surface to receive a side wall of a superstructure of the furnace and an upper transition surface connecting the superstructure and lower surfaces. At least a part of the lower transition surface has a crystal density of more than four times the crystal density at a depth of 4 centimeters below the lower transition surface, a crystal density being evaluated by the number of crystals having a surface area of more than 12 ?m.sup.2 per mm.sup.2 of surface after polishing, the crystal density at the depth being evaluated after cutting of the tuckstone.

A submerged combustion melting system includes a submerged combustion melter having a housing that defines a melting chamber and one or more vibration damping devices operatively coupled to the housing.

A submerged combustion melting system includes a submerged combustion melter having a housing that defines a melting chamber and one or more vibration damping devices operatively coupled to the housing.

An apparatus and method of refining molten glass are disclosed. An upstream vessel contains molten glass, a downstream vessel is arranged downstream of the upstream vessel, and vacuum refining vessels are located between the upstream vessel and the downstream vessel and are in separate, alternating fluid communication with the upstream vessel and in separate, alternating fluid communication with the downstream vessel.