JP2005206368A - Screw feeder for glass melting furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a screw feeder for supplying glass materials in which quantity of nickel mixed in the glass materials can be reduced. <P>SOLUTION: In this screw feeder, materials in a hopper 1 is supplied into the glass melting furnace 6 at high temperature from a discharge port 5 at a tip part 4 of a housing by means of a screw 3 incorporated in the housing 2 provided under that. The root part side of the screw 3 positioned at least at a lower outlet of the hopper 1 is formed of metal alloy that substantially does not include nickel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a screw feeder for a glass melting furnace, and more particularly to a material of a screw of the screw feeder.

  A screw feeder is widely used as an apparatus for supplying glass raw materials to a melting furnace. In this screw feeder, the front end portion of the housing in which the screw is incorporated is disposed in the melting furnace, the glass raw material in the hopper is fed by rotation of the screw, and is supplied to the melting furnace from the discharge port provided at the front end portion of the housing. At that time, the glass raw material is supplied while stirring with an agitator provided near the outlet of the hopper so that the glass raw material does not stay in the hopper due to a bridge. Such a screw feeder is excellent in that a certain amount of glass raw material can be continuously supplied into the melting furnace, and is used for supplying glass raw material to a small melting furnace such as a glass fiber melting furnace. .

  In this screw feeder, the screw is composed of a root portion side on the hopper side and a tip portion side extending downstream thereof, which are continuous by a screw shaft. Of these, the root side is the start part of the screw. At the lower outlet of the hopper, the glass raw material in the hopper is received between the spirally provided blades on the outer periphery of the screw shaft, and sequentially supplied to the tip side by rotating the screw. To do.

  Conventionally, for example, SUS304 is generally used for the housing and screw of such a screw feeder because the tip portion is arranged in a high-temperature glass melting furnace, so that heat resistance and corrosion resistance are emphasized, or because of material price and workability during screw manufacturing. , Made of austenitic stainless steel such as SUS310. And the same material as these is used also for the agitator installed near a hopper and its lower exit part.

  On the other hand, it is known that when glass fiber contains nickel in the glass raw material, yarn breakage is likely to occur during spinning. That is, in Patent Document 1, in the heat treatment of glass fiber waste, when the glass fiber waste heated to high temperature is contaminated by touching a metal containing nickel such as stainless steel, the powder of the contaminated glass fiber waste It is described that a metal wire mesh belt that does not contain nickel is used for the conveyor installed in the heating furnace in order to easily cause yarn breakage when spinning as a raw material.

  Also, in Patent Document 2, the reason for using a metal wire mesh belt that does not contain nickel in Patent Document 1 described above is that when a mesh belt made of stainless steel containing nickel is used, glass fiber scraps are caused by nickel. It is described that when glass fiber scraps are contaminated and melted by mixing the glass fiber scraps with glass raw material, the glass fibers are spun and nickel is mixed into the glass fibers and breakage is likely to occur.

  Furthermore, Patent Document 3 describes that nickel sulfide is generated in a glass raw material in which nickel and sulfur are mixed, and this nickel sulfide causes yarn breakage during spinning of glass wool.

JP-A-6-285385 (see paragraph numbers 3 and 4 on page 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-221544 (see paragraph number 7 on page 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 13-293456 (see paragraph number 10 on page 3)

  The screw, which is the main part of the screw feeder, was manufactured by supplying glass raw material to a glass fiber melting furnace using a conventional screw feeder made of austenitic stainless steel such as SUS304 or SUS310. In such a case, there is a problem that yarn breakage often occurs during spinning, although glass fiber waste contaminated with nickel as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not included in the glass raw material. The cause search and countermeasures were strongly demanded.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to investigate the cause of yarn breakage in the spinning process of glass fiber production and prevent yarn breakage, and the present invention provides a screw feeder that can prevent yarn breakage in advance. For the purpose.

  The present invention, as a result of various studies on yarn breakage in the spinning process of glass fiber production in order to solve the above problems, has determined that the major cause of yarn breakage is the nickel component contained in the glass raw material, As a result of intensive studies on the mixing route, it has been found that nickel contained in the material of the screw feeder is mixed due to wear of the screw feeder, and obtained based on this finding.

  That is, the present inventor has found that the austenitic stainless steel such as SUS304 or SUS310 used as the material of the screw feeder contains a considerable amount of nickel. For example, SUS304 has about 8 to 11 mass. A screw feeder in which a screw that is particularly easily worn by contact with a glass raw material is made of such stainless steel because SUS310 contains about 19 to 22% by mass of nickel. When the glass raw material is supplied to the glass fiber melting furnace, nickel in the screw is mixed into the glass raw material due to abrasion by the glass raw material, and this nickel is one of the causes of yarn breakage in the spinning process of glass fiber production. Become a screw wear, screw the glass raw material in the hopper Since the root side that is received between the rades is larger than the tip side where heat resistance is strongly required, preventing nickel contamination from the screw on the root side is extremely important to prevent yarn breakage. In addition, the amount of nickel mixed in from the screw feeder is not as much as that of the screw, but it was found that the nickel mixed in from the housing other than the screw, the hopper, and the agitator installed in the hopper, and the present invention was completed. is there.

  It is recognized from Patent Documents 1 to 3 that nickel becomes a factor of yarn breakage during spinning in glass fiber production. However, Patent Documents 1 and 2 aim at preventing nickel contamination in the heat treatment of glass fiber scraps, and Patent Document 3 generates nickel sulfide in the presence of nickel and sulfur, and this nickel sulfide is used for spinning glass wool. It only shows that it is a factor of thread breakage. In any case, the screw feeder for supplying glass raw material, in particular, the screw is a factor of nickel contamination, and the wear of the screw is at the root side from the tip side. It is not shown that there is much nickel contamination from this part.

The present invention clarifies for the first time the relationship between nickel mixed into glass from screw feeders in glass fiber production and yarn breakage in the spinning process, and aims to solve the yarn breakage problem. provide.
(1) A screw feeder for supplying a raw material in a hopper into a high-temperature glass melting furnace from a discharge port at a front end of the housing by a screw incorporated in a housing provided at a lower portion of the hopper, The screw has a root portion side located at the lower outlet of the hopper and a tip portion side downstream thereof, and at least the root portion side of the screw is formed of a metal alloy substantially not containing nickel. Screw feeder for glass melting furnace.
(2) A screw feeder for supplying a raw material in a hopper into a high-temperature glass melting furnace from a discharge port at the front end of the housing by a screw incorporated in a housing provided at a lower portion of the hopper, The housing is formed of a portion for receiving the root portion side of the screw and a portion for receiving the tip portion side, and at least one of the portion for receiving the screw root portion of the housing, the hopper and the agitator installed in the hopper is a screw. A glass melting furnace characterized in that it is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel, with or without being used together with a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel, at least at the base side of Screw feeder.
(3) The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to (1) or (2), wherein the metal alloy is stainless steel substantially not containing nickel.
(4) The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to (3), wherein the stainless steel is SUS430 or SUS403.
(5) The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the tip end side of the screw is formed of a metal alloy having excellent heat resistance and corrosion resistance.
(6) The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to (5), wherein the metal alloy is an alloy containing at least nickel, chromium, and iron.
(7) The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to the above (6), wherein the metal alloy is SUS310 or INCOLOY800H.

  In the present invention, at least the root portion side of the screw of the screw feeder that supplies the glass raw material in the hopper to the glass melting furnace is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel. Nickel mixed in the raw material can be reduced. As a result, yarn breakage in the spinning process of glass fiber production caused by nickel in the glass can be prevented or reduced, improving workability and improving production yield and improving glass fiber quality. it can.

  The present invention also relates to a portion in which the screw on the base portion side of the housing is incorporated in combination with or without using at least the base portion side of the screw made of a metal alloy containing substantially no nickel, a hopper, and Since at least one of the agitators installed in the hopper is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel, the amount of nickel mixed in the glass can be prevented in the same manner due to the wear. The amount can be further reduced, and the effect is great.

  Further, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tip end side of the screw is formed of heat-resistant steel, so that the tip is incorporated in the housing in a high-temperature glass melting furnace as in the conventional screw. The glass raw material in the hopper can be arranged and supplied to the glass melting furnace.

  The screw feeder of the present invention is a feeder that supplies a glass raw material to a glass melting furnace (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a melting furnace), and can supply various glass raw materials to the melting furnace. Therefore, the type of the melting furnace in which the screw feeder is installed is not limited, and the present invention can be applied to a melting furnace where it is desired to avoid mixing nickel into the glass. However, since the mixing of nickel into the glass raw material becomes a factor of yarn cutting in the spinning process of glass fiber production, it can be preferably used as a screw feeder that continuously supplies a certain amount of glass raw material to the glass fiber melting furnace.

  Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings for a screw feeder that supplies a glass raw material to a glass fiber melting furnace. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments and drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the entire screw feeder of this example. As shown in FIG. 1, the main body of the screw feeder is composed of a hopper 1 for charging glass raw material, a housing 2 provided at the lower part of the hopper 1, and a screw 3 incorporated in the housing 2. It is installed on the base 8. In this example, the housing 2 is formed by separately forming a hopper side portion and a housing front end portion 4 disposed in a high-temperature glass melting furnace, and connecting them by a connecting portion 9. By forming the housing front end portion 4 in this way, the housing 2 can be easily manufactured and processed, and the housing front end portion 4 is changed from a material having a high heat resistance and corrosion resistance different from that of the housing 2, and the heat resistance of this portion is changed. And corrosion resistance can be increased. As this material, a metal alloy such as stainless steel excellent in heat resistance and corrosion resistance and a heat-resistant nickel alloy mainly composed of nickel-chromium-iron is preferably used. And heat-resistant nickel alloys such as INCOLOY (registered trademark) 800H (both made by Daido Steel). However, the housing 2 may be integrally formed of the same material as the housing front end portion 4.

  The screw 3 is provided with a rotating shaft 11, and the rotating shaft 11 can be rotated by a driving device (not shown), so that the screw 3 incorporated in the housing 2 and the housing front end portion 4 can be rotationally driven. Then, when the screw 3 is rotated in a state where the housing tip 4 is disposed inside the melting furnace 6, the screw 3 continuously receives the glass raw material in the hopper 1 in the housing 2 by a certain amount in the housing 2. Then, the toner is fed toward the front end portion 4 of the housing and supplied into the furnace through the discharge port 5 provided at the front end of the front end portion 4 of the housing. In this case, by providing the wheel 13 at the bottom of the base 8, the position of the discharge port 5 can be adjusted by easily moving the screw feeder to the melting furnace 6.

  Further, an agitator 12 is provided at the outlet of the hopper 1 of this example. The agitator 12 includes a shaft and blades, and the glass material at the outlet of the hopper 1 can be stirred with the blades by rotating the shaft of the agitator 12 with a driving source (not shown). This agitation prevents the glass material from bridging and staying in the hopper 1, so that the glass material can be smoothly and reliably supplied to the screw 3 in a fixed amount.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the screw 3. The screw 3 is formed by a screw shaft 7 and a screw blade 10 spirally provided around the screw shaft 7. In FIG. 2, the left side is upstream of the screw 3 and the right side is downstream, and the glass raw material is fed in the direction of the arrow. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the screw 3 can be divided into a root side (hopper side) 3a located on the lower outlet side of the hopper and a tip side (furnace insertion side) 3b downstream thereof. The division of the root portion side 3a and the tip portion side 3b is mainly classified by the heat resistance characteristics and wear resistance characteristics of the screw 3. That is, the tip portion of the screw 3 inserted into the high-temperature melting furnace 6 (see FIG. 1) places importance on heat resistance, and the tip portion side 3b can be determined as a range including at least the tip portion. On the other hand, the root portion side 3 a is a portion upstream of the tip portion side 3 b of the screw 3. Therefore, this part has a main part that receives the glass raw material in the hopper between the screw blades, and wear resistance is more important than the tip side 3b. In the present invention, the division between the root portion side 3a and the tip portion side 3b is not so strict, and for convenience, the portion incorporated in the housing tip portion can be selected as the tip portion side 3b.

  In the screw 3 of this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of the screw blade 10 (screw diameter) is constant, and the interval (pitch) of the screw blade 10 gradually increases from the upstream side of the screw 3 toward the downstream direction. Yes. By gradually increasing the pitch in this way, the volume between adjacent screw blades of the screw 3 (hereinafter referred to as blade volume) gradually increases in the feed direction (arrow direction) of the screw 3. As a result, since the blade volume gradually increases in the glass material swallowing portion below the hopper, the glass material in the hopper can be uniformly received over the entire outlet width in the screw axis direction of the hopper. On the other hand, when the pitch is constant, the blade volume is filled with the glass raw material at the upstream end of the screw 3, so that the glass raw material cannot be swallowed in the subsequent region, and the glass raw material in the hopper is discharged from the outlet. Are supplied biased to the screw 3 on the upstream side and the downstream side. Furthermore, since the blade volume gradually increases in the downstream side of the screw 3 past the outlet of the hopper, the glass material loaded between the screw blades can be afforded, so that the contact between the screw 3 and the glass material is possible. Resistance becomes smaller. As a result, the wear on the distal end side 3b or the downstream side of the screw 3 can be made smaller than the root side 3a.

  In the present invention, the root portion side 3a of the screw 3 having a higher degree of wear than the tip end side 3b is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel in order to prevent nickel from being mixed into the glass raw material due to wear. . Here, the metal alloy which does not contain nickel substantially means a metal alloy which does not contain nickel or contains only a small amount of about 0.60% by mass or less of impurities even if it contains nickel. Examples of the metal alloy include stainless steel, carbon steel, super heat resistant alloy and the like that substantially do not contain nickel. Among these, stainless steel is generally excellent in terms of corrosion resistance, heat resistance, hardness, and the like. Specifically, ferritic stainless steels such as SUS405, SUS410L, SUS429, and SUS430, which have good corrosion resistance and heat resistance, or martensitic stainless steels such as SUS403 and SUS410, which have excellent corrosion resistance and wear resistance, are preferable. Can be used. Among the stainless steels, SUS430 has the highest chromium content as the material of the root portion side 3a in particular, and has good heat resistance although not as good as austenitic stainless steel, and has a balance with wear resistance. It is preferable for reasons such as superiority. The tip end side 3b is preferably formed of heat resistant steel so as to obtain desired heat resistance characteristics. As this heat resistant steel, a general heat resistant alloy containing at least nickel, chromium and iron can be used. However, when the heat resistance of the distal end side 3b of the screw 3 is not strongly required due to the cooling structure of the housing distal end portion 4, the distal end side 3b may also be formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel.

  Further, in the present invention, the housing part in which the root part side 3a of the screw 3 shown in FIG. The hopper 1 and the agitator 12 installed in the hopper 1 (hereinafter referred to as a portion other than the screw) are similarly formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel. All the parts other than the screw are in contact with the glass raw material and are easily worn, and heat resistance is not required. In order to minimize the mixing of nickel, all the parts other than the screw are made to be the root side 3a of the screw 3. Most preferably, it is formed of a metal alloy containing substantially no nickel. However, without using together with the root portion side 3a of the screw 3, all or only a part other than the screw may be formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel. As the material, for example, SUS430 is preferable for the housing and hopper, and SUS403 is particularly preferable for the agitator 12 that requires hardness and toughness.

  In the present invention, the screw 3 is manufactured by welding a screw shaft 7 and a screw blade 10 separately formed. Similarly, when the root portion side 3a and the tip portion side 3b of the screw 3 are formed of different materials, they are manufactured by welding separately formed portions. For example, it is possible to obtain a base part 3a made of SUS430 and a tip part 3b made of SUS310 by welding such that these screw blades are spirally continuous.

  In the present invention, at least the root portion of the screw that is easily worn is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel, so even if the screw is worn when the glass material is supplied, nickel is mixed in the glass material. This can be prevented or reduced, thereby preventing yarn breakage in the spinning process of glass fiber production, and is particularly suitable as a screw feeder for supplying glass raw materials to a glass fiber melting furnace. Furthermore, the present invention can be similarly applied to screw feeders used in glass melting furnaces other than those for glass fibers when it is desired to avoid mixing nickel into the glass raw material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The front view which shows schematically the whole screw feeder concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The front view of the screw in the screw feeder of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1: hopper, 2: housing, 3: screw, 4: tip of housing,
5: discharge port, 6: glass melting furnace, 7: screw shaft, 8: base,
9: connecting part, 10: screw blade, 11: rotating shaft, 12: agitator,
13: Wheelwheel

Claims (7)

  A screw feeder for supplying raw material in a hopper into a high-temperature glass melting furnace from a discharge port at a front end of the housing by a screw incorporated in a housing provided at a lower portion of the hopper, the screw being a hopper A glass melting furnace comprising a base portion side located at a lower outlet of the steel plate and a tip portion side downstream thereof, wherein at least the base portion side of the screw is formed of a metal alloy substantially not containing nickel. Screw feeder.   A screw feeder for supplying raw material in a hopper into a high-temperature glass melting furnace from a discharge port at a front end of the housing by a screw incorporated in a housing provided at a lower portion of the hopper, the housing being a screw At least one of a portion for receiving the screw root portion of the housing, a hopper and an agitator installed in the hopper, at least at the root of the screw. A screw feeder for a glass melting furnace, characterized in that the part side is formed of a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel, with or without being used together with a metal alloy that does not substantially contain nickel. .   The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the metal alloy is stainless steel not containing nickel.   The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to claim 3, wherein the stainless steel is SUS430 or SUS403.   The screw feeder for glass melting furnaces in any one of Claims 1-4 in which the front-end | tip part side of the said screw is formed with the metal alloy excellent in heat resistance and corrosion resistance.   The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to claim 5, wherein the metal alloy is an alloy containing at least nickel, chromium, and iron.   The screw feeder for a glass melting furnace according to claim 6, wherein the metal alloy is SUS310 or INCOLOY800H.

Images