US 7,475,569 B2
Exhaust positioned at the downstream end of a glass melting furnace
David J. Baker, Newark, Ohio (US); Harry P. Adams, Granville, Ohio (US); and John R. Leblanc, Maumee, Ohio (US)
Assigned to Owens Corning Intellectual Captial, LLC, , Del. (US); and The BOC Grpoup, Inc., , N.J. (US)
Filed on Nov. 13, 2003, as Appl. No. 10/712,904.
Prior Publication US 2004/0131988 A1, Jul. 08, 2004
Int. Cl. C93B 3/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 65—335  [65/337; 65/346; 65/347; 65/135; 432/195] 28 Claims
 
1. A glass-melting furnace comprising:
an elongated channel consisting of a charge end wall, a discharge end wall, two side walls, a floor, and a roof, the elongated channel defining an upstream melting end, a downstream fining end through which molten glass is discharged, the upstream end being positioned upstream of the downstream end in the glass-melting furnace;
a charger supplying glass-forming material to the upstream end of the glass-melting furnace;
at least one burner supplying at least a majority of the heat to the glass-forming material at the upstream end of the glass-melting furnace;
the upstream end and the downstream end being configured to allow unimpeded flowing and blending of the glass-forming material; and
an exhaust disposed within the downstream end of the glass-melting furnace for exhausting combustion gases only from the downstream end of the glass-melting furnace, the exhaust further being positioned downstream of the at least one burner;
the exhaust disposed for allowing exhaust gases to provide additional heat to the melting glass-forming material, and for allowing at least some air-entrained glass-forming materials to scale back into the melting glass as exhaust gases travel from the upstream end to the downstream end.