Submerged combustion melting processes for producing glass and similar materials, and systems for carrying out such processes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016002084-A1
Application number	US-201514752556-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 26, 2015
Priority date	Jun 11, 2012
Publication date	Jan 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Processes of controlling submerged combustion melters, and systems for carrying out the methods. One process includes feeding vitrifiable material into a melter vessel, the melter vessel including a fluid-cooled refractory panel in its floor, ceiling, and/or sidewall, and heating the vitrifiable material with a burner directing combustion products into the melting zone under a level of the molten material in the zone. Burners impart turbulence to the molten material in the melting zone. The fluid-cooled refractory panel is cooled, forming a modified panel having a frozen or highly viscous material layer on a surface of the panel facing the molten material, and a sensor senses temperature of the modified panel using a protected thermocouple positioned in the modified panel shielded from direct contact with turbulent molten material. Processes include controlling the melter using the temperature of the modified panel. Other processes and systems are presented.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A process comprising:
a) feeding at least one partially or wholly vitrifiable material into a feed inlet of a melting zone of a melter vessel comprising a floor, a ceiling, and a wall connecting the floor and ceiling at a perimeter of the floor and ceiling, the melter vessel comprising a feed opening in the wall or ceiling and an exit end comprising a melter exit structure for discharging molten material formed in the melting zone, the melter vessel comprising at least one fluid-cooled refractory panel in its floor, ceiling, and/or sidewall; b) heating the at least one partially or wholly vitrifiable material with at least one burner directing combustion products into the melting zone under a level of the molten material in the zone, one or more of the burners configured to impart turbulence to at least some of the molten material in the melting zone; c) discharging molten material from the melter vessel through the melter exit structure; d) cooling the at least one fluid-cooled refractory panel sufficiently to form a modified panel comprising a frozen or highly viscous material layer, or combination thereof, on at least a portion of a surface of the panel facing the molten material; e) sensing one or more temperatures that provide an indirect indication of an actual melt temperature of at least a portion of the turbulent molten material in the melting zone; and f) controlling at least one of steps (a)-(d) using at least one of the temperatures of step (e) to achieve a desired melt temperature of at least a portion of the turbulent molten material in the melting zone.

2 . The process of claim 1 wherein the sensing of one or more temperatures that provide an indirect indication is selected from the group consisting of sensing a temperature of a surface of the molten material, sensing inlet and outlet temperatures of a coolant fluid passing through the modified panel, sensing melter exhaust temperature, sensing temperature of the molten material flowing non-turbulently in a forehearth fluidly connected to the melter exit structure, sensing temperature of the molten material discharging non-turbulently out of the melter exit structure, and combinations or two or more of thereof.

3 . The process of claim 1 comprising obtaining one or more optical temperature measurements of the molten material in the melter vessel, calculating a degree of correlation between the one or more sensed temperatures and the one or more optical temperature measurements, and using the degree of correlation in the controlling of the at least one of steps (a)-(d).

4 . The process of claim 2 wherein the sensing a temperature of a surface of the molten material comprises sensing the temperature through an exhaust port of the melter vessel.

5 . The process of claim 2 wherein the sensing a temperature of a surface of the molten material comprises sensing the temperature through a view port of the melter vessel.

6 . The process of claim 2 wherein the sensing a temperature of a surface of the molten material comprises sensing the temperature through the feed opening of the melter vessel.

7 . The process of claim 2 comprising sensing the exhaust temperature, measuring flow rate of molten material out of the melter exit structure, measuring heat input via the burners, measuring melt temperature of the molten material in the melting zone directly under a plurality of operating conditions, forming a model of the melt temperature of the molten material in the melting zone under the plurality of operating temperatures, controlling at least one of steps (a)-(d) using the model in a model predictive control strategy.

8 . A system comprising:
melter vessel comprising a floor, a ceiling, and a wall connecting the floor and ceiling at a perimeter of the floor and ceiling, the melter vessel comprising a feed opening in the wall or ceiling and an exit end comprising a melter exit structure for discharging molten material formed in the melting zone, the melter vessel comprising at least one fluid-cooled refractory panel in its floor, ceiling, and/or sidewall, and one or more burners, at least one of which is positioned to direct combustion products into the melting zone under a level of molten material in the melting zone and form a turbulent molten material, the fluid-cooled panel configured to be modified during operation of the melter vessel to have a frozen or highly viscous material layer, or combination thereof, formed on at least a portion of a surface of the panel facing the molten material, the melter vessel further comprising a one or more thermocouples for sensing a temperature of the modified panel, the one or more protected thermocouples positioned in the modified panel so as to be shielded from direct contact with turbulent molten material in the melting zone; and a controller configured to control the melter vessel using the temperature of the modified panel to achieve a desired melt temperature of at least a portion of the turbulent molten material in the melting zone.

9 . The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more protected thermocouple has a distal end buried in the refractory of the modified panel.

10 . The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more protected thermocouple has a distal end positioned flush with the surface of the panel facing the molten material.

11 . The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more protected thermocouple has a distal end buried in the frozen or highly viscous material layer of the modified panel.

12 . The system of claim 8 wherein the modified panel comprises a plurality of protected thermocouples positioned in the modified panel so as to be shielded from direct contact with turbulent molten material in the melting zone.

13 . The system of claim 8 wherein the melter vessel comprises a fluid-cooled skimmer configured to form a frozen or highly viscous material layer, or combination thereof, on outer surfaces thereof contacting the molten material, forming a modified skimmer, the modified skimmer extending downward from the ceiling of the melter vessel and positioned upstream of the melter exit structure, the modified skimmer having a lower distal end defining a top of a throat of the melter vessel, the throat controlling the discharge of molten material from the melter vessel, and a second protected thermocouple positioned in the modified skimmer so as to be shielded from direct contact with molten material passing through the throat.

14 . The system of claim 8 wherein the melter exit structure comprises a fluid-cooled panel configured to form a frozen or highly viscous material layer, or combination thereof, on an inner surface thereof facing the molten material, forming a modified melter exit structure, and a second protected thermocouple positioned in the modified melter exit structure so as to be shielded from direct contact with molten material passing through the modified exit structure.

15 . The system of claim 8 comprising a computer configured to correlate the sensed temperature of the modified panel with a temperature obtained from an optical temperature measurement of the molten material in the melter vessel, obtaining a degree of correlation, and using the degree of correlation in the controlling of the at least one of steps (a)-(d).

16 . A system comprising:
melter vessel comprising a floor, a ceiling, and a wall connecting the floor and ceiling at a perimeter of the floor and ceiling, the melter vessel comprising a feed opening in the wall or ceiling and an exit end comprising a melter exit structure for discharging molten ma

Assignees

• Johns Manville

Inventors

• Charbonneau Mark William

Classifications

• C03B5/44

  Cooling arrangements for furnace walls · CPC title

• C03B5/24 Primary

  Automatically regulating the melting process · CPC title

• C03B5/2356

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

• C03B2211/70

  Skull melting, i.e. melting or refining in cooled wall crucibles or within solidified glass crust, e.g. in continuous walled vessels · CPC title

• C03B7/06

  Means for thermal conditioning or controlling the temperature of the glass · CPC title