Rotary heat-exchanger for glass batch and/or cullet, comprising a stationary casing having a gas inlet and outlet, and an interior region between the gas inlet and outlet; a chamber positioned in the casing rotatable with respect to the casing and configured to receive batch material or a mixture with cullet; at least one heat exchange tube in the casing in fluid communication with the gas inlet and outlet; a feeder in communication with the chamber and comprising a feeder housing configured to discharge the batch material or mixture of batch material and cullet into the chamber along an infeed length and in contact with the at least one tube; wherein the infeed length is a length effective to heat the batch or mixture with cullet material up to at least 100° C. in the infeed length. A method of preheating glass batch is also disclosed.

Method of producing molten glass and system therefor, including providing a glass melting furnace configured to melt a glass sample, the glass sample including glass batch material including soda ash, or cullet or post-consumer cullet, or any combination of batch material, cullet and post-consumer cullet. The method includes introducing glass sample into a chamber of a rotary drum heat exchanger having at least one heat exchange tube; introducing the exhaust gas into the tube; causing a transfer of heat from the exhaust gas in the tube to the glass sample in the chamber to volatilize any organic impurities in the glass sample, heat the glass sample and evaporate water from the glass sample to dry it, the evaporated water forming water vapor in the chamber; contacting the dried sample with the water vapor; and discharging the dried sample from the rotary drum heat exchanger and introducing it into the furnace.

Installation including an industrial glass furnace (1) including a tank (2) for molten glass (3), a combustion heating chamber (4) situated above the tank (2), and a duct for evacuation of flue gases in communication with said heating chamber (4), and a stone furnace including a firing zone (21) for stone to be fired, the flue gas evacuation duct including a flue gas outlet that is connected to the firing zone (21) of stone to be fired and supplying the firing zone (21) of stone to be fired with flue gases at high temperature.

The invention provides a method to form a melt for making man-made vitreous fibres, in which mineral raw material is melted in a gas-fired cyclone furnace and the mineral charge comprises a material that comprises metallic aluminium.

Methods and apparatus for producing fibers from igneous rock, including basalt include heating igneous rock by electrical conductive coils to achieve an homogenous melt and forming homogenous fibers from the melt.

A glass furnace includes a furnace chamber for containing glass melt and a screw conveyor for receiving glass batch material and feeding the glass batch material to the furnace chamber. A dam wall is disposed with respect to the screw conveyor such that batch material from the screw conveyor must flow upward over the dam wall before entering the furnace chamber. The top of the dam wall may be below the level of the melt pool in the furnace chamber.

A melter apparatus includes a floor, a ceiling, and a wall connecting the floor and ceiling at a perimeter of the floor and ceiling, a melting zone being defined by the floor, ceiling and wall, the melting zone having a feed inlet and a molten glass outlet positioned at opposing ends of the melting zone. Melter apparatus include an exit end having a melter exit structure for discharging turbulent molten glass formed by one or more submerged combustion burners, the melter exit structure fluidly and mechanically connecting the melter vessel to a molten glass conditioning channel. The melter exit structure includes a fluid-cooled transition channel configured to form a frozen glass layer or highly viscous glass layer, or combination thereof, on inner surfaces of the fluid-cooled transition channel and thus protect the melter exit structure from mechanical energy imparted from the melter vessel to the melter exit structure.

A method for supplying pre-heated particulate mineral material from a separating cyclone to a cyclone furnace inlet includes receiving the mineral material in a material receiving conduit from a bottom outlet of the separating cyclone. There is a first pressure in the receiving conduit. The mineral material is fluidised in the receiving conduit and flows upwards in an inclined elongated gas-lock valve from a lowermost section of the receiving conduit to an uppermost section of an outlet conduit. The mineral material is supplied from the outlet conduit to the inlet of the cyclone furnace, wherein there is a second pressure that is higher than the first pressure. A fluidisation unit in the gas-lock valve maintains the particulate mineral material in a fluidised state, such that the fluidised particulate mineral material flows due to gravity from the material receiving conduit, upwards through the gas-lock valve and to the outlet conduit.

A system for preheating batch materials in a glass melting furnace includes a preheater having an outlet through which fluid is exhausted and an inlet that receives fluids exhausted from the furnace and recirculated from the preheater outlet. In one embodiment, a cyclonic separator has an inlet in communication with the preheater outlet and an outlet in fluid communication with a fan. A controller controls the speed of the fan responsive to a drop in pressure between the separator inlet and outlet and a temperature at the separator outlet. In other embodiments, controllers control valves that (i) control the amount of fluids exhausted from the preheater that are delivered to a flue and recirculated to the preheater or (ii) control the amount of fluids diverted to charger for the furnace, in response to temperatures in a duct coupled to the preheater inlet.

Methods and apparatus for producing fibers from igneous rock, including basalt include heating igneous rock by electrical conductive coils to achieve an homogenous melt and forming homogenous fibers from the melt.