JP3566326B2 - Method and apparatus for producing quartz glass - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing quartz glass, and more particularly, has extremely low impurities other than silicon dioxide, which is a constituent material of quartz glass, and further controls the hydroxyl groups in the glass to an extremely low value to achieve high purity. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing quartz glass for producing quartz glass having excellent heat resistance.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, there are various techniques for manufacturing quartz glass, and as a heat source for melting raw materials, a combustion flame means such as hydrogen-oxygen, propane-oxygen, and an electric source using graphite, molybdenum, tungsten, or the like as a resistor. Heating means and the like have been employed.
[0003]
In the conventional method of manufacturing quartz glass using these heat sources, thermally strong materials, for example, graphite, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, etc. A container having a refractory layer for maintaining heat is formed and melted.
[0004]
Here, although the container in contact with the fused high-temperature quartz glass has excellent high-temperature characteristics, a chemical reaction at a high temperature with the quartz glass causes the main elements of these materials and a small amount of impurities ( It is inevitable that Na, Fe, Cr, K, Ca, Li, etc.) diffuse into the quartz glass and contaminate the quartz glass which is originally extremely pure.
[0005]
In addition, when a flammable gas is used as the heat of fusion, it is difficult to obtain quartz glass in which the hydroxyl group in the glass is controlled to an extremely low value due to the presence of the hydrogen element contained as a gas component. In addition, since the above-described container is heated and heated by the combustion flame to continuously melt and supply the granular silica raw material, the bubbles in the glass can be suppressed to a relatively small amount.
[0006]
Further, when the electric heater which is the above-mentioned electric heating means is used as a melting heat source, a granular silica raw material is filled in a container in advance, and a comparatively high heat is generated by radiant heat of a heater arranged at an upper portion and a side of the container. Melted at a slow rate.
[0007]
At this time, in order to remove the gas and gas components adhering between the particles of the filled granular silica and on the surface thereof at the time of melting, vacuum evacuation equipment for maintaining a reduced pressure in the integrated furnace including the melting vessel and the heater is necessary. And
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the quartz glass obtained by the above-mentioned conventional method has technical limitations in maintaining high purity, low hydroxyl grouping, reduction of bubbles, and the like of the granular silica raw material.
[0009]
That is, when a combustible gas such as hydrogen-oxygen or propane-oxygen is used as a heat of fusion in order to keep the hydroxyl groups in the quartz glass low, water is generated by the combustion flame of these combustible gases to produce glass. Since it is taken in as a hydroxyl group, it was difficult to control the hydroxyl group in the glass to an extremely low value.
[0010]
In addition, when Joule heat such as an electric heater is used as the melting heat source, there is no generation of hydrogen and water from the heat source, but it is necessary to devise a method to lower the partial pressure of water in the melting atmosphere, such as melting under vacuum. Thus, the quartz glass melted by the electric heating means has a problem that bubbles contained in the glass are increased as compared with the melting means using a combustible gas.
[0011]
As described above, in any case in the prior art, incorporation into quartz glass of constituent elements of the refractory due to contact reaction between the refractory of the vessel used for melting and the quartz glass and impurity elements contained in the refractory is avoided. There was a problem that it could not be done.
[0012]
Therefore, in order to melt without deteriorating the purity of quartz glass, it is required that the refractory of the container in contact with the glass has corrosion resistance to silica at a high temperature, and that this refractory has extremely high purity. However, to date, it has been extremely difficult to find a refractory that has such characteristics and can be used industrially.
[0013]
In the case of refractories that are not directly in contact with glass, the parts exposed to high temperatures in the melting furnace are considered to have the same problem as the reaction with silica vapor or the release of impurity elements from the refractories. Can be
[0014]
Therefore, as a measure to extremely reduce bubbles contained in quartz glass, entrainment of atmospheric gas at the time of melting, moisture adhering to the particle surface of the granular silica raw material, or volatile substance, or evaporating gas of silica at high temperature, etc. Therefore, technical measures including these and improvement of the melting operation technology are desired.
[0015]
On the other hand, attempts have been made to use arc or plasma as a heat source for the melting means of quartz glass, but some problems cannot be solved for practical use, and practical use on an industrial scale is not possible. Has not been realized.
[0016]
In other words, the reason why arc and plasma are not used is that, first, since quartz glass is a non-conductive substance, a transition type arc and plasma with a molten material as a counter electrode cannot be used and a non-transition type is adopted. Even with this method, in the arc method using simple graphite or the like as an electrode, when the powder material is continuously supplied and melted, the powder is scattered due to ambient air vibration whose direction is uncertain, and It was difficult to eliminate bubbles.
[0017]
Further, even when a conventional non-transferred arc plasma is used, there is a similar problem as described above because the linear velocity of the plasma arc is high.
[0018]
Second, in the case of using these arcs and plasma, it is inevitable that impurities are mixed into the quartz glass due to consumption of the electrode material, which is not preferable as a heat source for melting the quartz glass, which is originally desired to have high purity. This was a factor that hindered practical application.
[0019]
On the other hand, a radio frequency plasma has a function capable of solving these problems, but the equipment cost on an industrial scale is expensive, the energy conversion efficiency is extremely low, and furthermore, There is a problem that the possibility of practical use as a production facility is low due to low productivity and the like.
[0020]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described various problems of the related art, and has as its object to prevent impurities from being mixed in from a container or the like when quartz glass is melted, and An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for producing quartz glass that can be economically melted without incorporating hydroxyl groups into glass.
[0021]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a quartz glass manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes, for example, a water-cooled metal container in which an upper portion installed rotatably and vertically movable in a furnace body has an open top and a bottom portion and a side wall portion are water-cooled. A melting vessel, a raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace, a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode symmetrically arranged in a plasma arc coupling zone of the melting vessel. And a twin plasma torch comprising a torch.
[0022]
In addition, the method for producing quartz glass according to the present invention is characterized in that, before a melting operation, a feed material is spread to a predetermined thickness on the bottom of a melting vessel, and then a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch of twin plasma torches symmetrically arranged. The melting is performed with the vicinity coupled by the plasma arc generated from the above as the top of the melting portion.
[0023]
Thus, the arc plasma which could not be practically used for melting quartz glass was solved by developing a twin torch plasma, and the technology described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-267729 previously filed was applied. Based on this, it was further developed and put to practical use.
[0024]
[Action]
The method for producing quartz glass according to the present invention is realized by using arc plasma having a high energy density, and when melting quartz glass, maximizes the high energy of the plasma to improve productivity efficiency. For improvement, it is desirable to use a diatomic nitrogen gas which does not adversely affect the quartz glass as the plasma gas.
[0025]
Prior to the melting operation, granular silica is spread to a predetermined thickness on the bottom of the melting vessel.In the melting operation, a plasma arc generated from a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch of a symmetrically arranged twin plasma torch is used. The fusion is performed in such a manner that the vicinity of the coupling is set as the top of the fusion portion.
[0026]
Therefore, the quartz glass produced according to the present invention has extremely high purity, extremely low hydroxyl groups, and can be purified with very few bubbles, so that heat resistance, chemical inertness, and transparency (light in the infrared to ultraviolet range) can be obtained. It has excellent permeability and is a non-magnetic material, and can be used for various devices and instruments such as optical materials and semiconductor devices by being cut, cut or polished.
[0027]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of a method and an apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0028]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a hopper filled with a raw material such as granular silica which is a raw material of quartz glass.
[0029]
The raw material of the quartz glass includes, in addition to the granular silica, silica sand, quartz lump, quartz sand or amorphous silica, cristobalite, etc., and preferably has a particle size range of 70 μm to 500 μm.
[0030]
At the bottom of the hopper 10, a connecting pipe 14 and a raw material supply pipe 16 which are connected to a furnace body 20 via a raw material quantitative supply device 12 are connected, and a plasma arc coupling of a melting vessel 18 in the furnace body 20 ( It is arranged so as to pass through or approach to the (coupling) zone 22 and can be adjusted vertically and horizontally.
[0031]
From above the furnace body 20, a twin plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch 24 and a plasma cathode torch 26 is symmetrically arranged in the plasma arc coupling zone 22 of the melting vessel 18, and the torch angle and the furnace body 20 are controlled. It is inserted so that the insertion depth and the like can be adjusted.
[0032]
The plasma anode torch 24 and the plasma cathode torch 26 preferably each form an angle of 45 ° to 65 ° with respect to the vertical axis, and have a horizontal distance of 50 mm to 100 mm with respect to the vertical axis of the furnace center of each plasma torch. It is set as follows.
[0033]
As shown in FIG. 2, the raw material supply pipe 16 has a quartz glass conduit 28 for continuously supplying a raw material such as granular silica to a melting zone, and a water inlet 30a for circulating cooling water outside the quartz glass conduit 28. And a water cooling conduit 30 made of metal having a drainage port 30b, and a seal gas passage 32 provided at a fixed interval between the quartz glass conduit 28 and the water cooling conduit 30. In order to maintain a constant interval between the seal gas passages 32, the projections are arranged on the inner wall of the metal water cooling conduit 30 in the circumferential direction so that the center of the quartz glass conduit 28 is coaxial. And two in the length direction.
[0034]
That is, when the feedstock is supplied from the feedstock supply pipe 16 to the melting zone, a small amount of the conduit material may be mixed due to friction between the feedstock and the inner surface of the conduit. Because it is exposed to extremely high temperatures, it is most preferable to use a quartz glass tube rather than using a pipe made of a different material having high heat resistance from the viewpoint of maintaining high purity. Therefore, the outside of the quartz glass pipe 28 is water-cooled. It is covered with a conduit 30 to block radiant heat from the plasma arc.
[0035]
In addition, by introducing argon, helium, neon, nitrogen gas, or the like from the gas inlet 32a into the seal gas passage 32 and discharging the gas through the gas outlet 32b, the seal gas passage 32 continuously drops from the distal end of the raw material supply pipe 16. Since the gas flows so as to concentrically wrap the outer peripheral portion of the supply material, the supply material such as particulate silica is prevented from being scattered by the plasma flow, and the supply material can be appropriately dropped into the melting vessel 18. The feedstock can be vitrified in high yield.
[0036]
That is, the raw material supply pipe 16 protects the quartz glass conduit 28 for supplying a raw material such as granular silica to the melting zone from the radiant heat of the plasma arc, and further prevents water from adhering to the evaporation surface from the molten surface. A quartz glass conduit 28 is inserted into the inner diameter of a water cooling conduit 30 made of metal, and a seal gas passage 32 is provided between the water cooling conduit 30 and the quartz glass conduit 28.
[0037]
In addition, the raw material supply pipe 16 preferably forms an angle of 45 ° to 90 ° in all directions with respect to the horizontal axis of the molten surface, and the linear distance of the leading end portion to the molten surface is at an arbitrary position of 50 mm to 200 mm. It has been done.
[0038]
Arc plasma is generated by a twin plasma torch including the plasma anode torch 24 and the plasma cathode torch 26. From the viewpoint of practical use as industrial equipment, nitrogen gas is supplied to the plasma cathode torch 26 from 5% to 50% of argon. %, The cathode electrode is consumed in a long-time operation, so that a slight bias of the plasma frame may occur to disturb the melting conditions.
[0039]
Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a two-gas type plasma cathode torch 26 has been proposed. The plasma cathode torch 26 supplies argon gas Ar from an inner passage 36 a formed so as to surround the cathode electrode 34. The argon gas is caused to flow from the torch nozzle, and the nitrogen gas N is passed through the small holes 38 which are radially arranged at the tip of the torch nozzle in communication with the outer passage 36b and converge at the nozzle center. ₂ Is ejected, and nitrogen gas is ionized by an argon arc to generate argon-nitrogen plasma.
[0040]
With this method, tungsten in the electrode material generates an argon arc without directly touching the nitrogen gas.Therefore, there is no chemical reaction with nitrogen, and the erosion of the electrode material is extremely small. Can be extended from tens of hours to several hundred hours.
[0041]
Further, the plasma anode torch 24 and the plasma cathode torch 26 are provided with a water inlet 40a and a water outlet 40b for cooling the outside of the nozzle, and a water inlet 42a and a water outlet 42b for cooling the inside of the chip, respectively. By circulating cooling water, radiant heat from the plasma arc is blocked.
[0042]
The melting vessel 18 is made of a water-cooled vessel made of metal such as stainless steel or copper, and the center of the bottom of the vessel is supported by the rotating shaft 44. The rotating shaft 44 is mounted so as to be able to rotate and move up and down via a rotating motor 48 and a lifting motor 50 installed on a furnace base 46, and the lower end of the rotating shaft 44 is provided with cooling water. A rotary joint 54 having an inlet 52a and a drain 52b is assembled to circulate cooling water in the melting vessel 18.
[0043]
On the other hand, the ceiling of the furnace body 20 has a flat shape, and the cooling water is circulated and cooled, and the silica vapor rising from the melting surface of the melting vessel 18 is provided on the furnace body side wall. Air is exhausted from the exhaust port 56.
[0044]
The evaporation of silica from the molten surface is condensed in the raw material supply pipe 16 located substantially perpendicular to the molten surface, and when the condensed silica grows, it falls on the molten surface to generate glass bubbles. Become. In order to prevent the condensation of the evaporated silica, it is necessary to arrange the raw material supply pipe 16 at a position where the ambient temperature is high, and to bring its surface temperature close to the ambient temperature.
[0045]
Therefore, since the surface temperature of the raw material supply pipe 16 having the water-cooled outer cylinder according to the present invention is much lower than the ambient temperature, the surface is coated with silica at an initial stage. The surface temperature rises due to the heat insulating effect, and furthermore, the surface becomes sintered by the radiant heat from the plasma, the strength increases, and it is possible to prevent the surface from dropping on the molten surface during long-time melting.
[0046]
The raw material supply pipe 16 is located almost in the middle between the two plasma torches 24 and 26, and the above-mentioned effect is achieved by approaching the twin plasma torch as much as possible. To prevent the attached silica from falling.
[0047]
The operation according to the present invention will be described based on the above configuration.
[0048]
First, at the bottom of the melting vessel 18, prior to the melting operation, as shown in FIG. 6, granular silica (note that the granular silica is of the same grade as the silica particles of the feed material, The melting operation is performed by coupling a plasma arc generated from a plasma anode torch 24 and a plasma cathode torch 26 of a symmetrically arranged twin plasma torch. The melting is performed in such a manner that the vicinity of the melting point is the top of the melting portion.
[0049]
First, the silica particles laid at the bottom of the melting vessel 18 are melted by a plasma arc, and then the angle and distance between the raw material supply pipe 16 and the twin plasma torches 24 and 26 are adjusted, and the melting vessel 18 is rotated at a predetermined speed. While the raw material particles are being supplied to the side wall portion, the process is performed so that the wall of the heat insulating layer 60 of fused silica having a thickness of 5 mm to 50 mm and a height of about 100 mm is formed. When the heat insulating layer of silica is formed on the side wall, the raw material supply pipe 16 and the twin plasma torches 24 and 26 are returned to predetermined positions, and the granular silica raw material powder is supplied at the center of the melting vessel 18. While melting.
[0050]
As another method, the surface of the silica particles laid on the bottom of the melting vessel 18 is melted by a plasma arc, the melting area is enlarged while adjusting the angles and positions of the twin plasma torches 24 and 26, and the vicinity of the side wall of the melting vessel is increased. Melting is performed until the melting operation is started.
[0051]
By fusing the silica particles at the bottom of the melting vessel, the silica evaporates, and the silica fine particles adhere to the side wall of the water-cooled vessel. It is.
[0052]
As described above, the silica particles having the same purity as the feed material are pre-filled into the bottom of the melting vessel 18, and the fused silica layer is formed on the side wall of the melting vessel 18 using the feed material, so that the adiabatic heat insulating effect is obtained. With this method, high purity of the quartz glass can be maintained.
[0053]
In the past, self-frying methods have been attempted as a method for melting a part of metal ceramics. In these methods, however, a feed material filled in a container is melted by some heating means, and then the molten material is melted. In the present invention, the melting operation of quartz glass is performed after a heat insulating layer is formed in advance by using a water-cooled melting vessel 18 with granular silica of the same grade as the molten raw material in the present invention. This is a completely different method.
[0054]
In addition, the combination with the high-density plasma of the twin torch plasma arc that can obtain a high-energy-density heating source makes it possible for the first time to form a self-heating insulating layer in this manner.
[0055]
When quartz glass is used for equipment in the semiconductor manufacturing process or for optical applications, the chemical purity and bubbles of the glass are required as important properties, but securing high purity is the technology described above. Can be realized by
[0056]
Next, a melting method for reducing bubbles in glass will be described.
[0057]
First, after the heat insulating layer 60 made of silica is formed in the melting vessel 18, the raw material supply pipe 16 and the twin plasma torches 24 and 26 are fixed at predetermined positions at the center of the vessel while rotating the melting vessel 18, and are controlled. The granular silica raw material having the particle size range is continuously fed into the raw material supply pipe 16 by using the quantitative supply device 12, so that the granular silica passes through the plasma arc from the tip of the raw material supply pipe 16, Is deposited and melted.
[0058]
Here, the twin plasma arc melts at a position where the respective arcs are electrically coupled in the melting portion, and the silica raw material supplied to the plasma coupling zone 62 is instantaneously melted by the high-temperature plasma arc. Atmosphere gas, volatile components, and the like that are melted and captured by the silica particles at this time are released as gases from the liquid layer surface to the outside, so that they are prevented from being included as bubbles in the glass. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, it was found that flowing helium gas through the gap between the quartz glass tube of the raw material supply tube 16 and the water-cooled outer cylinder further increased the effect of reducing bubbles in the glass. did.
[0059]
Further, in order to maintain the plasma coupling zone 62 of the twin plasma arc on the molten surface, the melting vessel 18 is lowered in accordance with the generation rate of the continuously melted glass layer.
[0060]
In other words, since the viscosity of fused silica glass is very high, the portion where the raw material silica is melted and the portion spread by flowing to the side wall of the container have a mountain shape with the melted portion at the top, so that it goes from the top of the mountain to the bottom. In order for the glass to flow sufficiently, it is necessary to maintain a sufficiently high temperature over the side wall of the melting vessel 18.
[0061]
For this reason, the plasma flow from the twin plasma torches 24 and 26 extending from the plasma coupling zone 62 covers the surface of the molten glass from the top to the bottom of the mountain, so that the rotation of the melting container 18 and the rotation of the melting container 18 synergize with each other. The high temperature required for the flow of the glass can be maintained over the side wall portion.
[0062]
As described above, in the present invention, the melting is performed so that the melting surface is covered with the plasma. Therefore, by using a gas other than the hydrogen gas as the plasma gas, the quartz glass can be made to have a low hydroxyl group. Of course, it is needless to say that it is necessary to control the moisture (dew point) of the plasma gas to be used as low as possible.
[0063]
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, a case where a melting test is performed based on a positional relationship among the melting container 18, the raw material supply pipe 16, and the twin plasma torches 24 and 26 will be described.
[0064]
[Test Example 1]
(1) Positional relationship of plasma torch
θa: 41.5 degrees, θc: 41.5 degrees, fd: 72 mm,
td: 144 mm, Atd, Ctd: 164 mm,
(2) Melting container
Bottom part: diameter 400 mm, top part: diameter 500 mm, depth: 200 mm,
(3) Raw material supply pipe / seal gas supply amount: N ₂ → 5L / min,
(4) Operating conditions
・ Plasma gas → Anode torch: Ar30L / min
・ Cathode torch: Ar30L / min + N ₂ 30L / min
・ Power → 284V 544A (DC)
・ Raw material particle size → 74 μm to 177 μm
・ Melting vessel rotation speed → 1.5rpm
・ Melting container descending speed → 40mm / H
Silica particles (3 mm to 10 mm particles) are spread to a thickness of about 10 cm on the bottom of the melting vessel, the melting vessel is rotated, and its surface is melted in advance while moving the plasma torch, and then about 4 mm under the above conditions. A time melting test was performed. As a result, it was possible to obtain a transparent quartz glass having approximate dimensions of “320 mm in diameter × 220 mm in height” and “about 17 kg in weight” with very few bubbles. At this time, the yield of the granular silica as the raw material was determined by calculating the weight of the quartz glass and the unmelted silica, and it was confirmed by calculation that the yield was 91%. The results of evaluating the obtained quartz glass confirmed the characteristics shown in FIG.
(5) Chemical analysis value (unit: ppm)
See FIG.
(6) Hydroxyl (OH) content (unit: ppm)
OH: 8 ppm
[0065]
[Test Example 2]
(1) Positional relationship of plasma torch
θa: 44.8 degrees, θc: 45.8 degrees, fd: 20 mm,
td: 155 mm, Atd: 170 mm, Ctd: 167 mm,
(2) Melting container
The same specifications as in Test Example 1 were used.
(3) Raw material supply pipe / seal gas supply amount: He → 3 L / min,
(4) Operating conditions
・ Plasma gas → Anode torch; Ar28L / min
・ Cathode torch: Ar16L / min + N ₂ 14L / min
・ Power → 247V 480A (DC)
・ Raw material particle size → 74 μm to 149 μm
・ Melting vessel rotation speed → 3rpm
・ Melting container descending speed → 20mm / H
Silica particles (5 mm to 20 mm particles) were spread to a thickness of about 5 cm on the bottom of the melting vessel, and raw silica particles were sprayed thereon to flatten the surface. Before starting the melting operation, plasma was ignited and the surface of the silica particles was melted in the same manner as in Test Example 1. Further, the rotation speed of the melting vessel is increased (40 rpm to 60 rpm), and the plasma torch and the raw material supply pipe are moved to the side wall portion, and while supplying the silica raw material, about 1 cm thick and 10 cm high silica is supplied to the inner wall of the melting vessel. A sintered layer was formed to form a heat insulating layer. After that, the plasma torch and the raw material supply pipe were set to the above position conditions, and a melting test was performed for 6 hours and 40 minutes. As a result, it was possible to obtain a transparent quartz glass having good outline dimensions of "a diameter of 340 mm x a height of 140 mm" and a "weight of about 22 kg", with very few bubbles. At this time, the total input amount of the raw materials is 24 kg, and the average input amount per hour is about 3.6 kg / H. Further, when the weight of the fused silica glass and the weight of the unmelted silica were determined and calculated, the yield of the granular silica at this time was 89%. Further, the characteristics of the fused transparent quartz glass were as shown in FIG.
(5) Chemical analysis value (unit: ppm)
See FIG.
(6) Hydroxyl (OH) content (unit: ppm)
OH: 3 ppm
[0066]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects.
[0067]
The quartz glass can be melted economically by preventing impurities from being mixed in from the container or the like when the quartz glass is melted, and without introducing hydroxyl groups into the glass.
[0068]
Therefore, the quartz glass produced according to the present invention can be purified with extremely high purity, extremely low hydroxyl groups, and extremely few bubbles, so that heat resistance, chemical inertness, and transparency (light in the infrared to ultraviolet range) can be obtained. It has excellent permeability and is a non-magnetic material, and is used for various devices and instruments such as optical materials and semiconductor devices by being cut, cut, or polished.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a raw material supply pipe of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the plasma torch of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part of FIG.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the tip of the plasma torch according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a test apparatus showing a positional relationship among a melting vessel, a raw material supply pipe, and a plasma torch according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a table showing chemical analysis values according to Test Example 1.
FIG. 8 is a table showing chemical analysis values according to Test Example 2.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Hopper
12 Constant feeder
16 Raw material supply pipe
18 melting vessel
20 Furnace body
22 Plasma arc coupling band
24 Plasma anode torch
26 Plasma cathode torch
28 Quartz glass conduit
30 water cooling conduit
32 Seal gas passage
46 Furnace base

Claims (6)

A melting vessel made of a water-cooled metal vessel installed rotatably and vertically in the furnace, a raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace, and a plasma arc of the melting vessel A twin-plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch symmetrically arranged in the coupling zone, wherein silica having the same quality as the feed material is provided at the bottom of the melting vessel before the melting operation; After being spread, the twin plasma torch symmetrically arranged is melted with the vicinity coupled by the plasma arc generated from the plasma anode torch and the plasma cathode torch as the apex of the melting portion. A method for producing quartz glass, comprising: A melting container consisting of a water-cooled metal container whose top, which is rotatably and vertically movable within the furnace, is open and whose bottom and side walls are water-cooled,
A raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace,
An apparatus for producing quartz glass, comprising: a twin plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch symmetrically arranged in a plasma arc coupling zone of the melting vessel. A melting vessel composed of a water-cooled metal vessel installed rotatably and vertically movable in the furnace, a raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace, and a plasma arc of the melting vessel An apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass having a twin plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch symmetrically arranged in a coupling zone,
The raw material supply pipe is a quartz glass conduit that continuously supplies a raw material such as granular silica to the plasma arc coupling zone of the melting vessel, and a metal water cooling conduit that circulates cooling water outside thereof, An apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass, comprising: a sealing gas passage having a predetermined interval between the quartz glass pipe and the water cooling pipe. A melting vessel composed of a water-cooled metal vessel installed rotatably and vertically movable in the furnace, a raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace, and a plasma arc of the melting vessel An apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass having a twin plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch symmetrically arranged in a coupling zone,
The plasma cathode torch has an inner passage for generating an argon arc from the torch nozzle so as to surround the cathode electrode, and an outer passage for radially arraying the tip of the torch nozzle and ejecting nitrogen gas from a small hole having an angle converged at the nozzle center. An apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass, comprising: a passage; and a circulation passage for cooling water provided outside the nozzle and inside the chip, so as to block radiant heat from the plasma arc. A melting vessel composed of a water-cooled metal vessel installed rotatably and vertically movable in the furnace, a raw material supply pipe for supplying a raw material filled in a hopper to the melting vessel in the furnace, and a plasma arc of the melting vessel An apparatus for manufacturing quartz glass having a twin plasma torch comprising a plasma anode torch and a plasma cathode torch symmetrically arranged in a coupling zone,
The raw material supply pipe is a quartz glass conduit that continuously supplies a raw material such as granular silica to the plasma arc coupling zone of the melting vessel, and a metal water cooling conduit that circulates cooling water outside thereof, A seal gas passage having a certain interval between the quartz glass conduit and the water cooling conduit,
The plasma cathode torch has an inner passage for generating an argon arc from the torch nozzle so as to surround the cathode electrode, and an outer passage for radially arraying the tip of the torch nozzle and ejecting nitrogen gas from a small hole having an angle converged at the nozzle center. An apparatus for producing glass, comprising: a passage; and a circulation passage for cooling water provided outside the nozzle and inside the chip, so as to block radiant heat from the plasma arc. The twin plasma torch comprising the plasma anode torch and the plasma cathode torch is arranged symmetrically in a plasma arc coupling zone of the melting vessel so that a torch angle and a depth of insertion into a furnace body can be adjusted. The quartz glass manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the quartz glass is arranged.

Images