Patent ID: 11919799
Assignee: OWENS-BROCKWAY GLASS CONTAINER INC.
Field: Materials, metallurgy (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  Y | IPC C

Claim 13:
14. A method of fining low-density submerged combustion glass, the method comprising:
providing a fining tank having a housing that defines a fining chamber as well as a glass inlet and a glass outlet, the fining chamber containing a molten glass bath therein that flows in a flow direction from the glass inlet to the glass outlet and which is comprised of soda-lime-silica glass, and wherein the fining tank further includes a first partition wall, a second partition wall, and a third partition wall, each of the first, second, and third partition walls extending downwardly from a roof of the housing towards a floor of the housing to define, together with corresponding portions of the floor and opposed sidewalls of the housing, a first submerged passageway, a second submerged passageway, and a third submerged passageway, respectively, the first partition wall and an inlet end wall of the housing located proximate the glass inlet defining a glass receiving zone of the fining chamber, the second partition wall being positioned downstream of the first partition wall in the flow direction of the molten glass bath to define an upstream fining zone of the fining chamber in conjunction with the first partition wall, and the third partition wall being positioned downstream of the second partition wall in the flow direction of the molten glass bath to define a downstream fining zone of the fining chamber in conjunction with the second partition wall and a glass delivery zone of the fining chamber with an outlet end wall of the housing located proximate the glass outlet;
producing unfined soda-lime-silica glass in a submerged combustion melter, the soda-lime-silica glass having a glass chemical composition that includes 60 wt % to 80 wt % SiO2, 8 wt % to 18 wt % Na2O, and 5 wt % to 15 wt % CaO;
introducing the unfined soda-lime-silica glass into the fining tank located downstream of the submerged combustion melter, the unfined soda-lime-silica glass being introduced into, and combined with, the molten glass bath in the fining chamber of the fining tank;
introducing additive particles into the molten glass bath in the fining chamber of the fining tank, the additive particles comprising a mixture of a glass reactant material and one or more fining agents, the one or more fining agents being released into the molten glass bath upon consumption of the additive particles in the molten glass bath to chemically fine the molten glass bath, and the glass reactant material comprising one or more materials that integrate into the molten glass bath upon melting, each of the unfined soda-lime-silica glass and the additive particles being introduced into the glass receiving zone of the fining chamber; and
discharging fined molten glass out of the fining chamber of the fining tank through the glass outlet, the fined molten glass having a volume percentage of gas bubbles that is less than a volume percentage of gas bubbles in the unfined molten glass that is introduced into the fining chamber.