gp SCM 1005

Submerged Combustion Melting The Next Generation Melting System: 

Submerged Combustion Melting The Next Generation Melting System David Rue Gas Technology Institute 66th Glass Problems Conference U. Of Illinois, Champaign, IL Oct. 26, 2005

Submerged Combustion Melting Principle: 

Submerged Combustion Melting Principle Air-fuel or oxygen-fuel mixture is fired directly into a pool of hot melt intense combustion direct contact heat transfer - combustion products bubble through the melt reduced NOx formation reduced CO and unburned hydrocarbon emissions High rate of heat transfer and rapid mass transfer High thermal efficiency Reduced melter size

Submerged Combustion Melting Features: 

Submerged Combustion Melting Features Melting and mixing in a single device No external device needs to contact the melt Short residence time from forced convective heating and mixing Melter is simple, robust, and reliable Small size – low capital cost SCM is easily started and stopped in a few hours No hot repair work required Compatible with other segmented melting process steps Charging Conditioning heat recovery

GTI and GI SCM History: 

GTI and GI SCM History Gas Institute (Ukraine) developed SCM for mixed nuclear waste vitrification and industrial melting – not deployed Process simplified and commercial, air-fired units operating more than 10 years for other applications two 3-ton/h rockwool SCM units in Kiev, Ukraine three 3-ton/h rockwool SCM units in Byarosa, Belarus One SCM cement aggregate unit in Noril’sk Russia GTI licensed SCM for applications outside former Soviet Union GTI has patents and background IP in melting, submerged firing, and heat recovery 500-lb/h SCM unit fabricated and operated at GTI Multiple melts including basalt and sodium silicate First use of oxy-gas burners

SCM 3 ton/h Mineral Wool SCM in Belarus: 

SCM 3 ton/h Mineral Wool SCM in Belarus Loading Feed Hopper SCM Furnace SCM Interior

From Melt to Mineral Wool: 

From Melt to Mineral Wool Molten Slag Channel 4 Wheel Fiber Spinner Blow Chamber Product Fiber Mat

SCM Advantages: 

SCM Advantages Energy savings >20% vs. oxy-gas melters >55% capital cost reduction Compact with very little refractory – 80% refractory reduction Melt area is 15% of tank melter area (0.6 ft2/ton/day) Reduced emissions NOx >50% below oxy-gas melters CO and unburned hydrocarbons reduced >20% Rapid switching of melt composition Short residence time - rapid heat transfer Reliable, proven melting technology Feed flexibility lowers batch and feeder cost Mates with conditioning and heat recovery steps Excellent redox and color control

Approaches to Glass Melting: 

Approaches to Glass Melting Single tank Compromise simple and reliable, but non-optimized approach Holding furnaces, fining, and conditioning are needed after the melter for many glass products Staged or ‘segmented’ Melting, mixing, refining, conditioning, heat recovery, etc. are optimized as needed for the glass product highly flexible with many potential process advantages Requires eloquent design for reliability and to avoid over-complexity and high capital cost

NGMS Project Underway at GTI: 

NGMS Project Underway at GTI Demonstrate melting and homogenization stage of low capital cost, energy efficient NGMS process for all industrially produced glass Sponsors DOE NYSERDA Gas industry Consortium actively supporting development and commercialization of SCM fro NGMS Corning Incorporated - PPG Industries, Inc. Johns Manville - Schott North America Owens Corning

Batch-Scale SCM at GTI: 

Batch-Scale SCM at GTI

Lab-Scale SCM: 

Lab-Scale SCM Industry batch melted to glass Full glass range melted Low-temp. soda-lime glass High-temp ‘hard’ LCD glass Borosilicate glass Scrap reinforcing fiberglass Batch feed Continuous discharge Evaluation of glass product before pilot SCM fabrication Components scaled for 0.5-1.0 ton/h pilot SCM Product glass is fully melted and homogeneous

Special Tap Designed for Glass Melts: 

Special Tap Designed for Glass Melts Soda-Lime Glass

Scrap Fiberglass – Melt Sampling: 

Scrap Fiberglass – Melt Sampling

Pilot-Scale SCM Unit: 

Pilot-Scale SCM Unit Objective – continuous feed and discharge – made easier with Larger capacity melter (0.5-1.0 ton/h)\ Demonstrated platinum discharge tap Most components are in place and tested Melter, burners, cooling water chiller needed Added instrumentation into data acquisition system Multiple burners spaced to create Uniform temperature profile Desired mixing and residence time distributions Elimination of poor mixing zones in corners and along walls Flexibility built into the unit Changeable burner patterns Provisions for two or more discharge locations Provisions for two feed locations

Slide15: 

Glass Quality Varies Dramatically Acceptable Bubble Count Lower-cost glass making must have BOTH High intensity melting Rapid refining Quality varies over 5 orders of magnitude SCM alone – Makes fully melted homogeneous glass Only makes lowest quality glass SCM works well with all external refining methods

NGMS (SCM AND Rapid Refining): 

NGMS (SCM AND Rapid Refining) If refining is slow, the capital cost benefits of low-cost, high-intensity melting are lost Potential refining approaches include

Toward Commercialization: 

Toward Commercialization Already completed SCM concept Pilot-scale oncept validation, including combustion system Initial commercial use for low-quality products (mineral wool, aggregate) Current activities – through 2006 Lab-scale melting of full range of industrial glass and fiberglass scrap Batch feed and continuous discharge using oxy-gas burners CFD and physical modeling of SCM Design, fabrication, and operation of continuous 0.5-1.0 ton/h pilot-scale SCM Preparations for first industrial demo-scale SCM Design, construction of first commercial SCM making abrasives from steel industry waste and cullet (northern IN)

Next Steps: 

Next Steps 2006-2008 Plan first glass industry plant demo-scale 1-4 ton/h SCM Fiberglass or scrap fiberglass Test unit not replacing existing melter Rapid conditioning work to develop NGMS for all industrial glass compositions 2009+ Demo-scale SCM and NGMS units in consortium member plants Initial replacement of current melters with NGMS 2012+ Fully developed and commercially demonstrated NGMS using SCM Licensing of NGMS to non-consortium member glass companies

Commercialization Pathway: 

Commercialization Pathway Expected order of market entry Scrap fiberglass Fiberglass Specialty glass (pressed and blown) Specialty glass (optical fiber, LCD, etc.) Container glass Flat glass Consortium agreement lays out company access priority to the NGMS technology Consortium member companies GMIC member companies Non-GMIC glass companies