Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03B—MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES
  • C03B5/00—Melting in furnaces; Furnaces so far as specially adapted for glass manufacture
  • C03B5/16—Special features of the melting process; Auxiliary means specially adapted for glass-melting furnaces
  • C03B5/235—Heating the glass
  • C03B5/237—Regenerators or recuperators specially adapted for glass-melting furnaces
  • C03B5/2375—Regenerator brick design ; Use of materials therefor; Brick stacking arrangements
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
  • F27D—DETAILS OR ACCESSORIES OF FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS OR RETORTS, IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE OF KINDS OCCURRING IN MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FURNACE
  • F27D1/00—Casings; Linings; Walls; Roofs
  • F27D1/04—Casings; Linings; Walls; Roofs characterised by the form, e.g. shape of the bricks or blocks used
  • F27D1/042—Bricks shaped for use in regenerators
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
  • F27D—DETAILS OR ACCESSORIES OF FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS OR RETORTS, IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE OF KINDS OCCURRING IN MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FURNACE
  • F27D1/00—Casings; Linings; Walls; Roofs
  • F27D1/04—Casings; Linings; Walls; Roofs characterised by the form, e.g. shape of the bricks or blocks used
  • F27D1/06—Composite bricks or blocks, e.g. panels, modules
  • F27D1/08—Bricks or blocks with internal reinforcement or metal backing
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
  • Y02P40/00—Technologies relating to the processing of minerals
  • Y02P40/50—Glass production, e.g. reusing waste heat during processing or shaping

Definitions

• the embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to large load-bearing pre-formed integral (one-piece) refractory components for constructing regenerator structures associated with glass furnaces.
• raw materials including sand, lime, soda ash and other ingredients are fed into a furnace, sometimes called a glass tank.
• the raw materials are subjected to temperature above about 2,800°F (approximately 1538°C) in the glass furnace which causes the raw materials to melt and thereby form a molten bed of glass that exits the glass furnace for further downstream processing into glass products.
• the most common way of heating the glass furnace is through the combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel source, such as natural gas or oil.
• the hydrocarbon fuel is mixed with combustion air inside the furnace and combusted to thereby transfer the combustion heat energy to the raw materials and glass melt prior to exiting the furnace.
• the combustion air used to combust the fuel is preheated by means of regenerator structures. More specifically, a supply of combustion air is preheated in a honeycombed pack of checker bricks contained within the interior of the regenerator structure. More
• fresh combustion air is drawn up through the pack of heated checker bricks in the regenerator structure and preheated by means of heat transfer.
• the pre-heated combustion air may then be mixed with the fuel and combusted.
• Waste combustion gas exits the glass furnace and passes through a second regenerator structure. As the waste gasses pass through the second regenerator the checkers in the pack are heated by means of heat transferred from the waste gas.
• the process cycle is reversed so that the checker bricks in one of the regenerator structures that were being heated by heat transfer with the waste gas are then used to preheat the fresh combustion air while the checker bricks in the other regenerator structures that were used to preheat the combustion air are then re-heated by heat transfer with the waste combustion gas.
• a predetermined time e.g., after about 15-30 minutes
• regenerator structure e.g., the regenerator walls
• the regenerator structure could be fabricated from larger refractory blocks, then fewer mortar joints would ensue thereby prolonging the regenerator structure's useful life and minimizing down time due to rebuilding.
• the embodiments disclosed herein are directed toward glass furnace regenerators having monolithic interlocking refractory wall blocks which allow a faster build as compared to
• opposed pairs of side and end walls are formed of refractory blocks, wherein at last one of the side and end walls of the regenerator comprise an interlocking plurality of refractory blocks, and wherein the refractory blocks are self-supporting and load-bearing one-piece pre-cast structures of refractory materials.
• At least some of the refractory blocks may formed of dissimilar precast refractory materials to establish longitudinally adjacent integral regions of the blocks that differ in at least one of melting temperature and thermal conductivity of the refractory material.
• the precast refractory materials establishing the adjacent integral regions of at least some of the refractory blocks have a melting temperature difference of at least about 50°C and/or the precast refractory materials establishing the integral regions of at least some of the refractory blocks have a thermal conductivity difference of at least about 10%.
• the refractory blocks comprise interlocking tongue and grooves.
• a plurality of adjacent upright buck stays each having an interior flange positioned against an exterior portion of the side walls, with a plurality of rods extending between the adjacent buck stays, wherein the rods have opposed terminal ends that are engaged with an interior flange of the buck stays so as to slide relative to the interior flange.
• Tie back bars may thus be
• the refractory blocks include interlocking tongue and grooves
• at least one of the tongues of some blocks may be discontinuous so as to receive therein a portion of a respective tie back bar.
• the refractory blocks comprise latitudinally oriented recessed channels for receiving respective ones of the tie back bars therein.
• the channels may define a hole which is sized and configured to accept therein a pin dependently extending from a proximal end of a tie back bar.
• the block includes a tongue on a top surface thereof, the tongue will be interrupted by the latitudinally oriented recessed channel thereby forming a gap.
• the tie back bar may therefore be further provided with an intermediate protrusion having a cross-sectional profile corresponding to the tongue so that when the intermediate protrusion is positioned in the gap, it will be aligned with the tongue.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a non-furnace side of a regenerator structure that that embodies the one-piece blocks as described more fully herein;
• FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the regenerator structure from the furnace side;
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a partially assembled lower wall section of the regenerator depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 which also shows the placement of the rider arches thereon;
• FIG. 4 is a perspective cross-sectional elevational view of an upper wall section of the regenerator depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 which also shows the placement of the crown arches thereon;
• FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a partially assembled wall section of the regenerator depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 and showing the external buck stays associated with such wall section;
• FIG. 5A is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the wall section depicted in FIG. 5;
• FIG. 5B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the wall section depicted in FIG. 5 as taken along line 5B-5B in FIG. 5A;
• FIG. 5C is an exploded perspective view of a representative wall block and tie back bars;
• FIG. 6A is a partially exploded perspective view of a representative wall block showing another embodiment of the tie back bars that may be employed in the constructions disclosed herein;
• FIG. 6B is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the embodiment of the tie back bars shown in FIG. 6A;
• FIG. 7 A is a perspective view of a wall section showing yet another embodiment of tie back bars that may be employed in the constructions disclosed herein;
• FIG. 7B is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the embodiment of the tie back bars shown in FIG. 7A.
• FIGS. 1 and 2 schematically depict non- furnace side and furnace side perspective views, respectively, of a regenerator structure 10 having a lower wall section 10L constructed of large pre-cast refractory blocks (a few of which are identified by reference numeral 12) and an upper wall section 10U constructed of large pre-cast refractory blocks (a few of which are identified by reference numeral 14) thereby forming opposed pairs of side and end walls 16, 18, respectively.
• the regenerator structure 10 is used in operative combination with a glass furnace (not shown) and that the regenerator structure 10 generally depicted in the accompanying FIGS. 1 and 2 is of a type used for side-fired glass furnaces.
• the regenerator structure 10 includes a series of ports 10-1 which are used to introduce pre-heated combustion air into the glass furnace (not shown) or to exhaust combustion gas from the furnace depending on the operational cycle.
• the upper wall section 10U of the regenerator structure 10 is capped with a series of adjacently positioned crowns (a representative few of which are noted by reference numeral 30).
• the walls 16, 18 are structurally supported by external upright structural beams known colloquially as buck stays 20 (see FIG. 5).
• the buck stays 20 are compressively held against the walls 16, 18 by means of tie rods (not shown) extending between and interconnecting opposed pairs of buck stays 20 both latitudinally and longitudinally relative to the regenerator structure 10.
• the bottom portion of the regenerator structure includes adjacently positioned rider arches 40 (not shown in FIGS 1 and 2, but seen FIG. 3).
• the rider arches 40 are thus provided to establish a channel 10C for the ingress/egress of combustion air and gases to/from the regenerator structure 10 and to provide a supporting floor for the checker bricks (not shown) occupying the interior volume of the regenerator structure 10 thereabove.
• the various integral (one-piece) refractory blocks 12, 14 forming the walls 16, 18 as well as the crown arches 30, the rider arches 40 and the internal checker bricks may be positioned during construction and/or refurbishment of the regenerator 10 by the assembly apparatus and methods described more fully in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/859,820 filed on September 21 , 2015 (the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).
• the crown arches 30 and the rider arches 40 may be in accordance with those disclosed more fully in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14/939,210 filed on November 12, 2015 (the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).
• the walls 16, 18 of the lower section 10L of regenerator 10 are formed by relatively large integral pressed blocks 12 that are interlocked with other blocks in the same course and in adjacent courses by mated tongue-and-groove structures (a representative few of the tongues and grooves are identified in FIG. 3 by 12a and 12b, respectively).
• the blocks 12 may be fabricated of desired width in the lower wall 10L so as to accommodate foundation stringer blocks 40a having respective tongue and groove ends that provide foundation support for the rider arches 40.
• FIG. 4 shows in greater detail a portion of the walls 16, 18 associated with the upper section 10U of the regenerator 10.
• the blocks 14 in the upper section 10U of the walls 16, 18 are of lesser width as compared to the blocks 12 in the lower section 10L of the walls.
• the interior of the walls 16, 18 at the upper section 10U of the regenerator 10 may thus be lined with relatively smaller refractory bricks (a representative few of which are identified by reference numeral 10B).
• the blocks 14 are interlocked with other blocks in the same course and in adjacent courses by mated tongue-and-groove structures (a representative few of the tongues and grooves are identified in FIG. 3 by 14a and 14b, respectively).
• FIG. 5 shows some of the blocks 12 in the lower section 10L of the regenerator 10 during construction which are provided with latitudinally oriented recessed tie back channels 20a, each of which receives a respective one of the tie back bars 20b (see FIG. 5C).
• the tie back bars 20b include a pin 20c dependently extending from a proximal end thereof which is physically received within a correspondingly sized hole 12c formed in the top of the blocks 12 so as to retain the bars 20b in their respective grooves 20a.
• the tie back bars 20b also include an intermediate protrusion 20d which has a corresponding cross-sectional raised profile to that of the tongues 12a of the blocks 12. As such, when positioned within the recessed channels 20a, the intermediate protrusion 20d of the tie back bars 20b will thereby bridge the gap 12d formed in the tongue 12a by the channels 20a thereby presenting an essentially continuous tongue profile in cross-section (see FIG. 5B).
• the tie back bars 20b will also be physically held in the recessed channels 20a by virtue of the weight of a superjacent block 12 stacked thereabove.
• the exposed distal ends of the tie back bars 20b are rigidly connected (e.g., via welding) to cross-wise adjusting angle rods 22.
• Each of the adjusting angle rods 22 extends substantially horizontally parallel to the courses of the blocks 12 (or 14) between an adjacent pair of the buck stays 20.
• the opposed terminal ends of the rods 22 are unconnected to the buck stays 20 but are slideably engaged with an interior flange
• the adjusting angle rods 22 are permitted to slideably move in the lengthwise direction of the buck stays 20 thereby allowing the walls 16 and 18 to accommodate such thermal expansion.
• tie back bars 20b' is shown in accompanying FIGS. 6A and 6B as being positioned in the channels 20a of a block 12 and having a proximal turn-back bent end forming a generally triangular protrusion 20d'.
• the protrusion 20d' has a smaller raised profile as compared to the tongue 12a of the blocks 12 so that when positioned in the channels 20a, the protrusion 20d' will be received by a groove 12b on the bottom surface of a vertically adjacent block 12.
• the distal ends 20e' of the bars 20b' may likewise be rigidly connected (e.g., via welding) to crosswise rods 22 (not shown in FIG. 6 but see FIGS. 5A and 5B) to allow for vertical positional movement of the blocks 12 relative to the buckstays 20 (e.g., as may occur due to thermal expansion of the blocks 12).
• FIGS. 5B and 6B depict certain of the blocks 12 as having a transverse groove 20a
• the groove 20a may be omitted from the blocks 12, in which case the tie back bars 20b or 20b' as may be the case will then be fashioned with an intermediate curved section conforming to the contour of the tongue of the block 12.
• the blocks 12 will have continuous (uninterrupted) tongues along an upper surface thereof with the tie back rods 20b, 20b' being positioned on the top surface of the block 12 such that the curved section thereof conformably receives a subjacent portion of the tongue 12a.
• the terminal end of such alternately configured tie back bars 20b, 20b' may be rigidly connected to the angle rods 22.
• the tie back bars 20b and 20b' may be employed together provided that the blocks 12 include the
• FIGS. 7A and 7B A further alternative tie back bar assembly 30 that may be employed in the embodiments described herein is shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.
• the tie back assembly 30 is generally comprised of a series of interior and exterior tie back plates 32, 34, respectively that are positioned in an end-to-end manner parallel and adjacent to the discontinuous tongues 12a.
• the interior and exterior tie back plates 32, 34, respectively are rigidly joined to one another (e.g., via welding) by coplanar bridge plates 36 which are received in a respective gap 12d formed in the discontinuous tongues 12a.
• each of the tie back assemblies 30 comprised of interior and exterior tie back plates 30, 34 and the interconnecting bridge plate 36 can be positioned on the top surface of the blocks 12 and compressively held in a fixed position by the weight of blocks 12 stacked thereon.
• the exterior plate 34 is preferably dimensioned so that an outer edge portion 34a extends beyond the exterior face of the blocks 12a (see FIG. 7B).
• the outer edge portion 34a may also be provided with a series of apertures (a representative one of the apertures being shown in FIG. 7B by reference numeral 34b) to allow connection to a cross-wise angle rod 22 extending between adjacent pairs of buckstays 20 for the purpose as already described previously by means of a corresponding series of connectors (e.g., nut and bolt assemblies, a representative few of which are shown in FIGS. 7 A and 7B by reference numeral 38).
• the outer edge portion 34a may of course alternatively or additionally be rigidly connected to the angle rod 22 by welding.
• block as used herein is intended to refer to a generally large sized solid refractory member that requires mechanical assistance for handling and manipulation (e.g., via suitable hoists, lifts and the like). More specifically, a refractory "block” as used herein and the accompanying claims is intended to refer to a refractory member whose weight cannot be lifted manually by a single individual in accordance with generally accepted guidelines according to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), e.g., typically an object which weighs more than about 50 pounds.
• OSHA US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• a refractory block is therefore to be distinguished from a conventional refractory hand-laid brick since the latter is a small sized solid refractory member that may easily be handled and manipulated by a single individual in accordance with the generally accepted OSHA guidelines, e.g., typically an object weight less than about 50 pounds.
• the refractory blocks 12, 14 employed by the embodiments disclosed herein are most preferably formed of a refractory material (e.g., fused silica) that is mechanically pressed and cured at high temperatures (e.g., up to about 1400°C) as described, for example, in U.S. Patent Nos. 2,599,236, 2,802,749 and 2,872,328, the entire contents of each such patent being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference.
• a refractory material e.g., fused silica
• high temperatures e.g., up to about 1400°C
• refractory block members are of an exceptionally large size (e.g., block members having a size of generally about 650 mm or greater), then such blocks may be formed by casting and heat curing a refractory material (e.g., fused silica) as described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,277, 106 and
• the large integral (one-piece) refractory blocks 12, 14 as disclosed herein are pre-cast structures formed of castable refractory materials.
• the castable refractory materials may have an air permeability of typically about 5 x 10 ⁇ 15 m 2 to about 5 x 10 ⁇ 14 m 2 (i.e., about 100 times lower than the air permeability for conventional pressed bricks currently used for regenerator walls) as measured according to British Standard (BS) 1902-3.9: 1981 (the entire content of which is expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).
• BS British Standard
• This relatively low air permeability further reduces penetration by gaseous components in the regenerator thereby also contributing to a reduction of wall corrosion.
• the blocks 12 and/or 14 forming the lower and upper wall sections 12, 14, respectively, of the regenerator 10 may be formed monolithically of the same fused refractory material or may include multiple sections formed of different refractory material.
• certain of the blocks may be formed with an exterior longitudinally extending section that is of a dissimilar refractory material as compared to one (or more) interior longitudinally extending sections integrally fused together so as to provide a gradient of thermal insulating properties across the thickness of the block as noted
• the fused refractory materials forming each section differ from the fused refractory materials forming integrally adjacent sections by at least one of melting point and/or thermal conductivities.
• the melting points of the fused refractory materials forming integrally adjacent sections of the blocks 12 and/or 14 will differ by at least 50 °C, sometime at least about 100 °C or even at least 150 °C, relative to one another.
• the thermal conductivities of the fused refractory materials forming integrally adjacent sections of the blocks 12 and/or 14 will differ by at least about 10%, sometimes at least about 20% or even at least about 30%, relative to one another.
• the blocks 12 and/or 14 forming the lower and upper wall sections 10L and 10U, respectively, may therefore be "engineered” in order to provide suitable thermal insulating characteristics in dependence of the particular location of the blocks 12 and/or 14 in the wall.
• certain of the blocks 12 and/or 14 may be formed of side-by-side longitudinal sections each formed of a different refractory material so as to, e.g., provide a higher melting point and/or higher thermal conductivity material on the exposed "hot face" of the block and a relatively lower melting point and/or lower thermal conductivity material at the back face of the same block.
• the integral refractory blocks 12 and/or 14 may be provided as a one-piece unitary block structure which serves the thermal insulating functions that have traditionally required the presence of multiple layers of bricks across the wall thickness of the regenerator structure.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Furnace Housings, Linings, Walls, And Ceilings (AREA)
• Glass Melting And Manufacturing (AREA)
• Waste-Gas Treatment And Other Accessory Devices For Furnaces (AREA)

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