The present invention discloses an atomizer. The atomizer includes a concentrate reservoir volume that is in fluid communication with a concentrate vaporization assembly. The concentrate vaporization assembly includes a frit adapted to absorb concentrate from the concentrate reservoir volume. The concentrate vaporization assembly further includes a heating element adapted to heat the frit and absorbed concentrate. The atomizer further includes a vapor collection and discharge assembly including a vapor accumulation chamber in fluid communication with the frit and a vapor evacuation channel in fluid communication with the vapor accumulation chamber and in fluid communication with an egress port. The heating element is activated by a user control of a switch on a battery, which causes the concentrate contained within the frit filter to vaporize, and the user inhales resulting vapor by inhaling at the egress port of the vapor evacuation channel.

Producing a molded body made of opaque quartz glass includes providing SiO.sub.2 grains obtained by comminuting quartz glass having a purity of at least 99.9 wt % SiO.sub.2, forming a slurry containing a suspension liquid and the SiO.sub.2 grains and which has a total solids content, wet grinding the SiO.sub.2 grains in the slurry so as to form ground SiO.sub.2 grain particles, forming a porous green body from the slurry, and sintering the porous green body. To provide a low cost quartz glass, the wet grinding of the SiO.sub.2 grains takes place at least temporarily in the presence of SiO.sub.2 nanoparticles, the proportion of which in the total solids content of the slurry is in the range of 0.1 wt % to 10 wt %, and the slurry has a solids content in the range of 76 to 80 wt % after addition of the SiO.sub.2 nanoparticles and after the wet grinding.

In known methods for producing a glass component, a void-containing intermediate product containing doped or non-doped SiO.sub.2 is inserted into a sheath tube composed of glass, which has a longitudinal axis and an inner bore, and is thermally treated therein. In order to subject the intermediate product to a thermal and/or reactive treatment that is reproducible and uniform in its effect from this starting point, it is proposed in one embodiment that into the sheath tube's inner bore a first gas-permeable gas diffuser is inserted which is displaceable along the sheath tube's longitudinal axis and is pressed against the intermediate product during the thermal treatment.

One aspect relates to a process for the preparation of a quartz glass body. The process includes providing silicon dioxide particles, making a glass melt out of the silicon dioxide particles in an oven and making a quartz glass body out of at least part of the glass melt. The oven has a gas outlet through which gas is removed from the oven, wherein the dew point of the gas on exiting the oven through the gas outlet is less than 0° C. One aspect further relates to a quartz glass body which is obtainable by this process. One aspect further relates to a light guide, an illuminant and a formed body, which are each obtainable by further processing of the quartz glass body.

In a known method for producing a quartz glass component, a crystal formation layer containing a crystallization promoter is produced on a coating surface of a base body of quartz glass. Starting therefrom, to provide a method for producing a quartz glass component of improved thermal strength and long-term stability which displays a comparatively small deformation particularly also in the case of rapid heating-up processes, it is suggested according to one aspect that a porous crystal formation layer containing amorphous SiO.sub.2 particles is produced with a mean thickness in the range of 0.1 to 5 mm, and that a substance which contains cesium and/or rubidium is used as the crystallization promoter.

A method for homogenizing glass includes the method: providing a cylindrical blank composed of the glass having a cylindrical outer surface that extends along a longitudinal axis of the blank between a first end face and a second end face, forming a shear zone in the blank by softening a longitudinal section of the blank and subjecting it to a thermal-mechanical intermixing treatment, and displacing the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank. To enable a radial mixing within the shear zone in addition to the tangential mixing with the lowest possible time and energy input, starting from this method, cylindrical sections of the blank are adjacent to the shear zone on both sides, the first cylindrical section having a first central axis and the second cylindrical section having a second central axis, the first central axis and the second central axis being temporarily non-coaxial with each other.

Provided is a heat reflective member, which is prevented from braking even in a high-temperature environment. It generates no dust in use, and can be washed with a chemical liquid. The heat reflective member has a laminated structure in which quartz glass layers are formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of a siliceous sintered powder layer. The heat reflective member includes: an impermeable layer which is formed at a portion of the siliceous sintered powder layer at an end portion of the heat reflective member, which has a thickness at least larger than half of a thickness of the siliceous sintered powder layer, and through which a gas or a liquid is prevented from penetrating; and a buffer layer which is formed between the impermeable layer and the siliceous sintered powder layer, and which changes in density from the impermeable layer toward the sintered powder layer.

A method for preparing quartz glass with low content of hydroxyl and high purity, includes providing silica powders including hydroxyl groups. The silica powders are dehydroxylated, which includes drying the silica powders at a first temperature, heating the silica powders up to a second temperature and introducing a first oxidizing gas including halogen gas, thereby obtaining first dehydroxylated powders, and heating the first dehydroxylated powders up to a third temperature and introducing a second oxidizing gas including oxygen or ozone, thereby obtaining second dehydroxylated powders. The second dehydroxylated powders are heated up to a fourth temperature to obtain a vitrified body. The vitrified body is cooled to obtain the quartz glass with low content of hydroxyl and high purity. The quartz glass prepared by the above method has low content of hydroxyl and high purity. A quartz glass with low content of hydroxyl and high purity is also provided.

A method for homogenizing glass includes the method: providing a cylindrical blank composed of the glass having a cylindrical outer surface that extends along a longitudinal axis of the blank between a first end face and a second end face, forming a shear zone in the blank by softening a longitudinal section of the blank and subjecting it to a thermal-mechanical intermixing treatment, and displacing the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank. The displacement of the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank is superimposed by a simultaneous oscillating motion of the shear zone along the longitudinal axis of the blank. The first end of the blank is rotated at a first rotational speed and the second end of the blank is rotated at a second rotational speed. An oscillating motion of the shear zone is generated by periodically varying the first and/or second rotational speed.

One aspect is a reflective member, which has a laminated structure in which transparent quartz glass members are formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of an opaque siliceous sintered powder layer. The opaque siliceous sintered powder layer has a thickness of 0.1 mm or more and a thickness distribution of ±0.05 mm or less. When a load is applied to each of the transparent quartz glass members on an upper surface and a lower surface of the laminated structure in a direction parallel to the laminated structure, the reflective member is fractured at a load of 5 N or more per square centimeter. The laminated structure includes a semi-transparent portion having a width of 0.01 mm or less, which has an intermediate opacity between an opacity of the opaque siliceous sintered powder layer and an opacity of each of the transparent quartz glass members.