The invention relates to a material feeding system (1) for a melter comprising: (i) a substantially horizontal feeding barrel (5) designed to feed solid material through the melter wall (9) into the melt (11) contained in the said melter, and arranged below the level (13) of the melt (11) contained in the melter (30), (ii) said feeding barrel (5) comprising a material input opening (15) and material output opening (17), the material output opening (17) leading into the melt (11) contained in the melter (30), said feeding barrel (5) comprising an internal feeder (20) designed to push solid material (7) loaded through the material input opening (15), in the direction of the longitudinal barrel axis (6) toward the material output opening (17), the end of the internal feeder (20) on the material output side extending at a minimum at a distance from the internal melter surface (19) of two (2) to ten (10) times the diameter of the feeding barrel (5), preferably three (3) to eight (8) times the diameter of the feeding barrel, more preferably three (3) to six (6) times the diameter of the feeding barrel or three (3) to five (5) times the diameter of the feeding barrel (5). The invention further covers a submerged combustion melter equipped with above material feeding system and a process for feeding material into a melter.

Methods and systems for de-stabilizing foam produced in submerged combustion melters. A molten mass of glass and bubbles is flowed into an apparatus downstream of a submerged combustion melter. The downstream apparatus includes a floor, a roof and a wall connecting the floor and roof, but is devoid of submerged combustion burners and other components that would increase turbulence of the molten mass. The molten mass has foam on at least a portion of a top surface of the molten mass. One method includes directly impinging an impinging composition onto at least a portion of the foam in the downstream apparatus. Systems for carrying out the methods are described.

A method of producing glass includes drawing unrefined foamy molten glass from a glass melt held in a submerged combustion melter and introducing the unrefined foamy molten glass into a stilling chamber of a stilling tank. An intermediate pool of molten glass is held within the stilling chamber of the stilling tank and is heated therein by one or more non-submerged burners. Molten glass flows from the intermediate pool of molten glass to a transfer pool of molten glass held in a spout chamber of a feeding spout that is appended to the stilling tank. A molten glass feed can be drawn from the transfer pool of molten glass and delivered from the feeding spout at a controlled rate.

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.

In a process for manufacturing glass, a mixture of solid glass-forming materials (18) may be melted by application of heat from one or more submerged combustion burners (34) to produce a volume of unrefined molten glass comprising, by volume, 20% to 40% gas bubbles. A refining agent may be introduced into the unrefined molten glass to promote gas bubble removal from the molten glass. The unrefined molten glass including the refining agent may be heated at a temperature in the range of 1200° C. to 1500° C. to produce a volume of refined molten glass. The refined molten glass may comprise, by volume, fewer gas bubbles than the unrefined molten glass. A colorant material may be introduced into the refined molten glass to produce a volume of molten glass having a final desired color.

A burner for a facility for melting vitrifiable materials, includes an injector block including a combustion gas distribution network and at least one injector, and a plate in glass and/or flame contact which overlaps the injector block and includes at least one injection hole in fluid communication with the injector, wherein the plate is removably attached to the injector block.

Submerged combustion burners having a burner body and a burner tip connected thereto. The burner body has an external conduit and first and second internal conduits substantially concentric therewith, forming first and second annuli for passing a cooling fluid therethrough. A burner tip body is connected to the burner body at ends of the external and second internal conduits. The burner tip includes a generally central flow passage for a combustible mixture, the flow passage defined by an inner wall of the burner tip. The burner tip further has an outer wall and a crown connecting the inner and outer walls. The inner and outer walls, and the crown are comprised of same or different materials having greater corrosion and/or fatigue resistance than at least the external burner conduit.

A glass melting furnace and method for introducing batch feed material into a glass melter tank of the glass melting furnace are disclosed. The glass melting furnace comprises the glass melter tank, a feeder tank, and at least one conduit. The glass melter tank defines at least one melter tank inlet, a molten glass outlet, and an exhaust gas outlet, and the feeder tank, which is separate from the glass melter tank, defines a batch feed inlet and a feeder tank outlet. The at least one conduit is in fluid communication with the feeder tank outlet and the melter tank inlet. Moreover, the melter tank inlet is defined below a melt level of a glass melt contained within the glass melter tank and at least partially filling the at least one conduit.

Continuous basalt fibers are produced by melting basalt rock in a submerged combustion melter, and by forming said melt into continuous basalt fibers.

The invention relates to a glass melting process comprising melting glass cullet in a submerged combustion melter comprising at least one submerged burner, under oxidizing conditions, wherein the glass cullet comprises increased levels of contaminants.