Forehearth Exchangeable Support Blocks for Glass Fibre Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glass fibre manufacturing plants face challenges in exchanging support blocks within the forehearth at service temperatures above 1000°C without interrupting production, as the thermal expansion of refractory masonry reduces the gap size, making it difficult to remove and replace blocks like burner blocks, measurement devices, and other equipment without cooling the forehearth or dismantling the masonry.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates refractory masonry with spacer bricks and a lintel that resist thermal expansion, allowing for reversible insertion and removal of support blocks at high temperatures by maintaining a predetermined gap width, filled with a resilient material to ensure sealing and facilitate easy exchange of blocks like burner blocks, measurement blocks, and other equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If support blocks are integrated into the masonry during forehearth construction, then structural stability and thermal control are improved, but the ability to exchange blocks without interrupting production deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The forehearth masonry is segmented into modular sections with replaceable support blocks. Each support block is a discrete unit that can be independently removed and replaced without affecting the entire structure, enabling maintenance and exchanges during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The masonry structure incorporates dynamic elements such as expansion joints and flexible sealing mechanisms that allow for thermal expansion and contraction. This dynamic design permits block exchange without requiring complete structural disassembly or cooling of the entire forehearth.
2Ease of operation
If the forehearth is cooled to remove support blocks, then ease of block removal is improved, but production interruption time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the support blocks and surrounding masonry to maintain removable characteristics at high temperatures. This includes using materials with matched thermal expansion coefficients and designing gap dimensions that remain sufficient for block removal even when thermally expanded.
Solution Approach 2:
Resilient sealing materials act as intermediaries between the support blocks and masonry structure. These materials maintain sealing effectiveness while allowing for block insertion and removal without requiring the entire system to be cooled, thus reducing production interruption time.
3Ease of repair
If the masonry is dismantled to replace support blocks, then complete block exchange is achieved, but structural integrity and production downtime are adversely affected
Solution Approach 1:
The masonry is designed as an assembly of discrete, standardized blocks with uniform dimensions and connection features. This segmentation allows individual support blocks to be replaced without dismantling surrounding structural elements, maintaining overall structural integrity while enabling easy block exchange.
Solution Approach 2:
The support blocks and surrounding masonry are designed with universal features such as standardized gaps, uniform sealing mechanisms, and compatible material properties. This universality allows any support block to be replaced with another of the same type without requiring custom dismantling procedures, preserving structural integrity while facilitating maintenance.
4Stability of the object's composition
If thermal expansion of masonry is allowed, then natural thermal response is maintained, but gap size reduces making block removal difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent explicitly accounts for thermal expansion by designing the initial gap dimensions between support blocks and masonry to be sufficiently large at room temperature. This ensures that even after thermal expansion reduces the gap size, sufficient clearance remains to facilitate block removal and insertion during high-temperature operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The design parameters of the masonry structure, particularly gap dimensions and material thermal expansion coefficients, are carefully selected and controlled. By changing and optimizing these parameters during the design phase, the system maintains both thermal response stability and operational ease throughout the temperature range.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables the exchange of support blocks at service temperature without cooling the forehearth or dismantling the masonry, reducing production interruption to less than a day, compared to the typical week-long interruption in previous methods, while maintaining optimal equipment positioning and thermal control.
Implementation Method 1
The gap is filled with a resilient material to ensure sealing and facilitate easy exchange of blocks
Implementation Method 2
The design incorporates refractory masonry with spacer bricks and a lintel that resist thermal expansion, allowing for reversible insertion and removal of support blocks at high temperatures by maintaining a predetermined gap width
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3(a)~3(b)
AI summary
The present invention concerns a glass fibre manufacturing plant comprising a forehearth forming a passage for conveying molten glass and defined by a first and second opposite longitudinal walls, wherein each longitudinal wall is made of a refractory masonry comprising a cavity of width, Wc, and height, H1c, formed by a floor defined by a base wall, by lateral walls defined by two spacer bricks and by a ceiling defined by a lintel resting on each of the two spacer bricks, and further comprising a support block (20) comprising a hot cuboid portion of width, w, and height, h, wherein w < Wc, and h < H1c, said hot cuboid portion being reversibly inserted in the cavity, thus defining a gap surrounding the hot cuboid portion of the support block when positioned in the cavity, said gap being filled with a resilient material (29), said forehearth being characterized in that, the masonry comprises a spacing element hindering the thermal expansion of the two spacer bricks, such that the distance, Wc, between said two spacer bricks measured at room temperature cannot be reduced below a predetermined hot cavity width, W, at said service temperature, hT, wherein said predetermined distance, W, is larger than the width, w, of the hot cuboid portion of the support block.