Glass furnace regenerators having opposed pairs of side and end walls formed of refractory blocks, wherein at last one of the side and end walls of the regenerator comprise an interlocking plurality of refractory blocks, and wherein the refractory blocks are self-supporting and load-bearing one-piece pre-cast structures of a refractory material. Tie back bars may be provided to operatively connect a wall formed of the refractory blocks to externally provided buckstays to allow relative movement between the refractor blocks forming the wall and the buckstays (e.g., as may be required due to the blocks undergoing thermal expansion during use).

A refractory block assembly for a steam reformer furnace tunnel includes a hollow main body portion having at least one through-hole having openings formed in a first side and an opposed second side of the hollow main body portion. At least one refractory insert member, having mechanical mating features on at least a portion of the outer surface thereof, resides within at least one of the at least one through-hole of the hollow main body portion.

A heat storage device such as a hot blast stove including a heat regeneration checkerwork made of checker bricks, the checkerwork being supported by a support assembly (16). In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the support assembly having a carrier structure made of refractory material and carrier floor also made of refractory material, the carrier floor resting on the carrier structure and being arranged and formed to carry the checker bricks of the checkerwork.

Thermal storage unit including: a receptacle including orifices allowing a heat-transfer fluid to be introduced into and extracted, and a stack of bricks, arranged in the receptacle in superposed strata, each stratum having lower and upper large faces and defining a plurality of ducts opening via lower and upper openings, the stack including a pair of strata of a lower and upper stratum, the upper and lower large faces of the lower and upper stratum being separated to define a passage, placing an upper opening of a lower duct of the lower stratum in fluidic communication with at least one lower opening, entirely offset with respect to the upper opening, of at least one upper duct of the upper stratum, the lower large face of the upper stratum closing off, at least partially, the upper opening, when the upper opening is observed, along its axis, from the lower duct.

A refractory block assembly for a steam reformer furnace tunnel includes a hollow main body portion having at least one through-hole having openings formed in a first side and an opposed second side of the hollow main body portion. At least one refractory insert member, having mechanical mating features on at least a portion of the outer surface thereof, resides within at least one of the at least one through-hole of the hollow main body portion.

A refractory block assembly for a steam reformer furnace tunnel includes a hollow main body, at least one first mechanical mating member defining a protruded portion extending from an upper surface of the main body, at least one second corresponding mechanical mating member defining an opening corresponding to the protruded portion formed in a portion of a lower surface of the main body, and at least one through-hole having openings formed in a first side and an opposed second side of the main body portion. A refractory insert member having mechanical mating features on at least a portion of the outer surface thereof resides within the at least one though-hole of the refractory block.

Glass furnace regenerators having opposed pairs of side and end walls formed of refractory blocks, wherein at last one of the side and end walls of the regenerator comprise an interlocking plurality of refractory blocks, and wherein the refractory blocks are self-supporting and load-bearing one-piece pre-cast structures of a refractory material. Tie back bars may be provided to operatively connect a wall formed of the refractory blocks to externally provided buckstays to allow relative movement between the refractor blocks forming the wall and the buckstays (e.g., as may be required due to the blocks undergoing thermal expansion during use).

A method for improving thermal efficiency of a heating device that reduces an amount of heat flowing out from a heating device 11 to the outside by installing a heat-resistant inorganic conjugated molded product 16 in and along a pathway 15 for heated gas generated from the heating device 11 without interrupting the flow of heated gas passing the pathway 15, heating the inorganic conjugated molded product 16 with the heated gas, and putting radiation heat from the heated inorganic conjugated molded product 16 back into the heating device 11, the inorganic conjugated molded product 16 being provided with an interior layer and an exterior layer, the exterior layer consisting of a coverture for inorganic materials that protects the interior layer from heated gas.

Refractory checker brick modules for glass furnace regenerators are provided which include multiple preformed refractory checker bricks (e.g., tubular checker bricks, cruciform checker bricks, interweave checker bricks, interlock checker bricks, pigeon-hole checker bricks, basket weave checker bricks and the like) stacked in multiple off-set courses to form a honeycomb structure thereof, the checker bricks in the module being bonded to one another by a bonding agent.

A refractory block assembly for a steam reformer furnace tunnel includes a hollow main body, at least one first mechanical mating member defining a protruded portion extending from an upper surface of the main body, at least one second corresponding mechanical mating member defining an opening corresponding to the protruded portion formed in a portion of a lower surface of the main body, and at least one through-hole having openings formed in a first side and an opposed second side of the main body portion. A refractory insert member having mechanical mating features on at least a portion of the outer surface thereof resides within the at least one though-hole of the refractory block.