US3897234A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for cooling electrically-heated melting furnace
Assignee: Owens Corning
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Filing: 1974-02-22
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Granted: 1975-07-29
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Expires: 1994-02-22
Abstract
Abstract An electrically heated, glass melting furnace with a cooling trough and with cooling means for the trough is provided. The furnace is heated by means of electrodes immersed in molten glass in the furnace; particularly as the throughput of the furnace increases, the molten glass becomes hotter. To overcome this, the cooling trough is provided in a portion of the furnace bottom, extending beyond to a riser, with the bottom and the side walls of the trough being exposed to ambient temperatures below the furnace. The resulting heat loss aids in cooling the glass flowing out of the furnace to overcome the inherent heat rise at high throughputs. Cooling means are also provided extending along the trough, with the rate of cooling achieved thereby being capable of selective control. Specifically, an air duct extends along the cooling trough and has outlets spaced therealong directed at the trough bottom to supply cooling air in heat exchange relationship with the bottom. Electrodes also can extend upwardly through the trough bottom into the trough, the electrodes serving to further cool the trough by providing heat conductive paths from the trough to the ambient conditions below the furnace. The trough electrodes, if desired, can also be heated by an emergency power supply to prevent glass from solidifying in the trough in the event that a major power failure should occur and power to the main heating electrodes is off.
Inventors
- 👤 Magnus L Froberg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:37
CPC Classifications
C; C03; C03B; C03B5/00; C03B5/02; C03B5/027; C03B5/16; C03B5/18; C03B5/183; Y; Y02; Y02P; Y02P40/00; Y02P40/50; Y02P40/57
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
149 words
A FURNACE FOR MELTING A HEAT-SOFTENABLE MATERIAL, SAID FURNACE COMPRISING A TANK FOR HOLDING MOLTEN MATERIAL FORMED BY A BOTTOM, SIDE WALLS, AND END WALLS, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING BATCH MATERIAL OVER MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TANK, MEANS EXTENDING INTO THE MOLTEN MATERIAL BELOW THE BATCH MATERIAL FOR SUPPLYING HEAT TO THE MOLTEN MATERIAL, WALL MEANS FORMING A COOLING TROUGH CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK, EXTENDING BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK, AND EXTENDING BEYOND AN END WALL THEREOF TO DISCHARGE MOLTEN MATERIAL FROM THE TANK, SAID WALL MEANS BEING EXPOSED AT THE SIDES AS WELL AS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TROUGH TO AMBIENT CONDITIONS BELOW THE BOTTOM OF SAID TANK TO DISSIPATE HEAT FROM MOLTEN MATERIAL IN SAID TROUGH, AND COOLING MEANS EXTENDING ALONG SAID TROUGH AN EFFECTIVE TO SUPPLY A COOLING MEDIUM IN HEAT EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EXTERNAL SURFACE OF SAID WALL MEANS.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
149 words
A FURNACE FOR MELTING A HEAT-SOFTENABLE MATERIAL, SAID FURNACE COMPRISING A TANK FOR HOLDING MOLTEN MATERIAL FORMED BY A BOTTOM, SIDE WALLS, AND END WALLS, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING BATCH MATERIAL OVER MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TANK, MEANS EXTENDING INTO THE MOLTEN MATERIAL BELOW THE BATCH MATERIAL FOR SUPPLYING HEAT TO THE MOLTEN MATERIAL, WALL MEANS FORMING A COOLING TROUGH CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK, EXTENDING BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK, AND EXTENDING BEYOND AN END WALL THEREOF TO DISCHARGE MOLTEN MATERIAL FROM THE TANK, SAID WALL MEANS BEING EXPOSED AT THE SIDES AS WELL AS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TROUGH TO AMBIENT CONDITIONS BELOW THE BOTTOM OF SAID TANK TO DISSIPATE HEAT FROM MOLTEN MATERIAL IN SAID TROUGH, AND COOLING MEANS EXTENDING ALONG SAID TROUGH AN EFFECTIVE TO SUPPLY A COOLING MEDIUM IN HEAT EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EXTERNAL SURFACE OF SAID WALL MEANS.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
A furnace according to claim 1 characterized by means for varying the quantity of the cooling medium carried by said cooling means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
A furnace according to claim 2 characterized by temperature-sensing means associated with said trough, and control means connected to said temperature-sensing means and to said quantity varying means for controlling the quantity of the cooling medium in response to the temperature sensed by the sensing means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
166 words
An electrically heated, glass melting furnace comprising a tank for molten glass formed by a bottom, side walls, and end walls, means for supplying glass batch over molten glass in the tank, a plurality of electrodes extending upwardly through the bottom of said tank in a predetermined pattern, wall means forming a trough centrally located below the bottom of said tank between the side walls thereof, said trough extending beyond one end wall of said tank and extending not more than about half the distance toward the other end wall, said wall means comprising a bottom and two sides exposed to ambient conditions below the bottom of said tank, and means forming a riser beyond the one end wall of the tank, said trough extending to said riser, cooling means extending longitudinally of said trough below the bottom thereof for supplying a cooling medium in heat-exchange relationship with the trough bottom, and means for varying the quantity of the cooling medium carried by said cooling means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
166 words
An electrically heated, glass melting furnace comprising a tank for molten glass formed by a bottom, side walls, and end walls, means for supplying glass batch over molten glass in the tank, a plurality of electrodes extending upwardly through the bottom of said tank in a predetermined pattern, wall means forming a trough centrally located below the bottom of said tank between the side walls thereof, said trough extending beyond one end wall of said tank and extending not more than about half the distance toward the other end wall, said wall means comprising a bottom and two sides exposed to ambient conditions below the bottom of said tank, and means forming a riser beyond the one end wall of the tank, said trough extending to said riser, cooling means extending longitudinally of said trough below the bottom thereof for supplying a cooling medium in heat-exchange relationship with the trough bottom, and means for varying the quantity of the cooling medium carried by said cooling means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
46 words
A furnace according to claim 4 characterized by temperature-sensing means associated with said trouGh, and control means connected to said temperature-sensing means and to said quantity varying means for controlling the quantity of the cooling medium in response to the temperature sensed by the sensing means.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
103 words
A METHOD OF OPERATING AN ELECTRICALLY HEATED, MELTING FURNACE COMPRISING ESTABLISHING A POOL OF MOLTEN MATERIAL, SUPPLYING BATCH MATERIAL ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE POOL TO ESTABLISH A LAYER OF BATCH OVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE, HEATING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL BELOW THE BATCH LAYER, COLLECTING MOLTEN MATERIAL IN A TROUGH BELOW THE POOL AND EXTENDING NOT MORE THAN ABOUT ONE-HALF THE LENGTH OF THE POOL, DIRECTING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TROUGH TOWARD A LOCATION BEYOND THE POOL AND COOLING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TROUGH, BY FORCIBLY DIRCETING A COOLING MEDIUM IN HEAT-EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TROUGH FROM A LOCATION OUTSIDE THE TROUGH.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
103 words
A METHOD OF OPERATING AN ELECTRICALLY HEATED, MELTING FURNACE COMPRISING ESTABLISHING A POOL OF MOLTEN MATERIAL, SUPPLYING BATCH MATERIAL ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE POOL TO ESTABLISH A LAYER OF BATCH OVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE, HEATING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL BELOW THE BATCH LAYER, COLLECTING MOLTEN MATERIAL IN A TROUGH BELOW THE POOL AND EXTENDING NOT MORE THAN ABOUT ONE-HALF THE LENGTH OF THE POOL, DIRECTING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TROUGH TOWARD A LOCATION BEYOND THE POOL AND COOLING THE MOLTEN MATERIAL IN THE TROUGH, BY FORCIBLY DIRCETING A COOLING MEDIUM IN HEAT-EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TROUGH FROM A LOCATION OUTSIDE THE TROUGH.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 6 characterized by, sensing the temperature of the molten material near the downstream end of the trough, and changing the volume of the cooling medium in response to the temperature sensed.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
149 words
A furnace for melting a heat-softenable material, said furnace comprising a tank for holding molten material, means extending into the molten material below the surface thereof for supplying heat to the molten material, wall means forming a cooling trough located below a bottom of the tank and extending therebeyond to discharge molten material from the tank, said trough being located centrally in the bottom of the tank, and extending not more than about one-half of the length of the tank bottom, said wall means being exposed on the sides and the bottom to ambient conditions below the bottom of said tank to dissipate heat from molten material in said trough, cooling means extending along said trough and effective to supply a cooling medium in heat-exchange relationship with an external surface of said wall means, and means for varying the quantity of the cooling medium carried by said cooling means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
149 words
A furnace for melting a heat-softenable material, said furnace comprising a tank for holding molten material, means extending into the molten material below the surface thereof for supplying heat to the molten material, wall means forming a cooling trough located below a bottom of the tank and extending therebeyond to discharge molten material from the tank, said trough being located centrally in the bottom of the tank, and extending not more than about one-half of the length of the tank bottom, said wall means being exposed on the sides and the bottom to ambient conditions below the bottom of said tank to dissipate heat from molten material in said trough, cooling means extending along said trough and effective to supply a cooling medium in heat-exchange relationship with an external surface of said wall means, and means for varying the quantity of the cooling medium carried by said cooling means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-07-28 | 1979-01-27 | 1979-07-29 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-07-28 | 1983-01-27 | 1983-07-29 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-07-28 | 1987-01-27 | 1987-07-29 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |