Cooling panel for a melter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11390551-B2
Application number	US-201916590065-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2019
Priority date	Oct 1, 2019
Publication date	Jul 19, 2022
Grant date	Jul 19, 2022

Abstract

A cooling panel for a melter and method for fabricating the cooling panel are disclosed. In particular, the cooling panel can include first and second outer walls and a plurality of side walls coupled to the outer walls that define an interior space. A plurality of baffles is disposed in the interior space, where projections in the baffles fit into respective openings in the outer walls and can be connected from outside the cooling panel. The cooling panel can be formed by way of welding and/or additive manufacturing, as discussed herein.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cooling panel for a melter, comprising:
first and second outer walls and a plurality of side walls coupled to the first and second outer walls, defining an interior space, where each of the first and second outer walls have a plurality of openings;
a refractory material;
one or more protrusions on one of the first and second outer wall, wherein the protrusions include studs extending away from the first or second outer wall and terminating in enlarged heads embedded into the refractory material; and
a plurality of baffles disposed in the interior space, where the baffles include a plurality of projections;
wherein respective openings and projections fit together and are connected from outside of the cooling panel so that the outer walls and the baffles are fixed together, and the side walls are fixed to the outer walls so that the cooling panel is fluid-tight.

2. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the cooling panel does not include interior welds inside the cooling panel.

3. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the baffles has a first side and a second side, and the respective projections for each baffle extend from both of the first and second sides so that a plurality of first projections extend from the first side to fit in respective first openings of the plurality of openings of the first outer wall, and a plurality of second projections extend from the second side to fit in respective second openings of the plurality of openings of the second outer wall.

4. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the side walls, outer walls, and baffles form a serpentine flow path for passing a coolant within the interior space.

5. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the cooling panel has a bottom portion and a top portion and includes a coolant inlet at the bottom portion and a coolant outlet at the top portion for passing a coolant.

6. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the cooling panel does not include a temperature sensor.

7. The cooling panel of claim 1 , further comprising a first outer edge extending about a perimeter of one of the first and second outer walls so that the first outer edge extends about the refractory material.

8. The cooling panel of claim 7 , further comprising a second outer edge extending about a perimeter of the other of the first and second outer walls wherein the second outer edge forms one or more internal apertures.

9. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of baffles divides the interior space into a plurality of rows.

10. The cooling panel of claim 1 , further comprising refractory material extending from the second outer wall, and wherein the cooling panel includes a door and a frame for the door.

11. The cooling panel of claim 10 , further comprising one or more wall extensions extending from at least one of the door or frame beyond the second outer walls and at least partially surrounding a portion of the refractory material.

12. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein the projections of the baffles are welded from outside of the cooling panel.

13. The cooling panel of claim 12 , wherein the projections of the baffles are plug welded.

14. The cooling panel of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the baffles have lengths shorter than that of the first and second outer walls.

15. A method of forming a cooling panel for a melter, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of side walls, first and second outer walls each having a plurality of openings, and a plurality of baffles each having a plurality of projections;
connecting the first and second outer walls with the plurality of baffles disposed between the outer walls, where the projections are inserted through respective openings;
connecting the side walls to the first and second outer walls to fix the sides walls to the outer walls and so that the cooling panel is fluid-tight;
forming one or more protrusions on one of the first and second outer walls; and
disposing refractory material onto the one or more protrusions of the one of the first and second outer walls so that the one or more protrusions are embedded into the refractory material.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the method does not include forming interior welds within the cooling panel.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of baffles includes each baffle having a first side and a second side, and the respective projections for each baffle extend from both of the first and second sides so that a plurality of first projections extend from the first side to fit in respective first openings of the plurality of openings of the first outer wall, and a plurality of second projections extend from the second side to fit in respective second openings of the plurality of openings of the second outer wall.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of connecting the side walls includes fillet welding the side walls to both of the first and second outer walls.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising attaching a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet to one of the first and second outer walls for passing a coolant and so that the coolant inlet is attached to a bottom portion of the one of the first and second outer walls and the coolant outlet is attached to a top portion of the one of the first and second outer walls.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
attaching one or more forms to at least one side wall of the plurality of side walls;
carrying out the disposing refractory material step; and
removing the one or more forms from the at least one side of the plurality of side walls.

21. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
welding the projections of the baffles from outside of the cooling panel.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the projections of the baffles are plug welded.

23. The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing at least some of the baffles with lengths shorter than that of the first and second outer walls.

24. The method of claim 15 , wherein the protrusions include studs extending away from the first or second outer wall and terminating in enlarged heads embedded into the refractory material.

25. A cooling panel produced by the method of claim 15 .

26. A cooling panel for a melter, comprising:
a first outer wall having a first interior surface, a first exterior surface, and first openings extending through the first outer wall between the first interior and exterior surfaces;
a second outer wall having a second interior surface facing the first interior surface of the first outer wall, a second exterior surface, and second openings extending through the second outer wall between the second interior and exterior surfaces;
a plurality of side walls welded to the first and second outer walls and, together with the first and second outer walls, defining an interior space of the cooling panel;
a refractory material;
one or more protrusions on one of the first and second outer wall, wherein the protrusions include studs extending away from the first or second outer wall and terminating in enlarged heads embedded into the refractory material; and
a plurality of baffles disposed in the interior space, wherein at least one of the plurality of baffles has a first side and a second side, and projections extending from the first and second sides so that a plurality of first projections extend from the first side to fit in

Assignees

• Owens Brockway Glass Container

Inventors

• Rashley Shane T
• Kuhlman Robert
• Soley David
• Jiao Jian
• Anderson Walter
• Smith Susan L

Classifications

• C03B5/44 Primary

  Cooling arrangements for furnace walls · CPC title

• C03B2211/22

  by direct combustion in the melt · CPC title

• C03B5/2356

  Submerged heating, e.g. by using heat pipes, hot gas or submerged combustion burners (bubblers C03B5/193) · CPC title