System and Method of Continuous Glass Filament Manufacture
A system and a method of manufacturing continuous glass filament fiberglass media comprises melting glass within a temperature controlled melter. Molten glass exits through orifices in a bushing plate. The resulting fiberglass filaments are received on a rotating drum and sprayed with binder and aqueous solution. The resulting fiberglass mat is placed onto a let-off table then sprayed with aqueous solution before further processing.
1 . An apparatus for manufacture of continuous glass filament filtration media, comprising:
a reservoir comprising binder;
a rotatable drum;
a traversing glass melting furnace configured to move in a first direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotatable drum;
a bushing plate coupled to the traversing glass melting furnace, the bushing plate consisting of one or more of Inconel alloys 600 , 601 , 690 , 693 , 702 , and 754 , wherein the bushing plate comprises a plurality of orifices configured to spin filaments.
2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the bushing plate is oriented at a 5 to 7 degree angle relative to the axis of rotation of the rotatable drum.
3 . The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the rotatable drum is 12 feet to 24 feet long; and
wherein the rotatable drum is 12 feet to 22 to feet in circumference.
4 . The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the rotatable drum comprises a shaft of 2.5 inches to 4.5 inches in diameter.
5 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more shields coupled to the bushing plate and extending 6 inches to 24 inches below the bushing plate.
6 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orifices comprise countersunk openings.
7 . The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of orifices comprises an entry throat angle of 70 degrees to 100 degrees.
8 . The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of orifices comprises a tip with a tip length of 0.095 inch to 0.25 inch.
9 . The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of a first group of the plurality of orifices comprises a first diameter; and
wherein each of a second group of the plurality of orifices comprises a second diameter that is larger than the first diameter.
10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the first diameter is 0.1495 inch; and
wherein the second diameter is 0.157 inch.
11 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an aqueous solution sprayer coupled to the traversing glass melting furnace.
12 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a binder sprayer coupled to the traversing glass melting furnace and configured to spray binder onto a swath of fiberglass filament on the rotatable drum.
13 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the binder comprises urea formaldehyde and polybutene.
14 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the binder consists of urea formaldehyde and polybutene.
15 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a cooling loop assembly.
16 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the cooling loop assembly comprises:
a plurality of tubes containing chilled liquid; and
an air tube comprising a plurality of openings.
17 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein:
the plurality of tubes comprises copper tubes; and
at least one of the plurality of tubes is positioned within one inch of the bushing plate.
18 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of orifices consists of 298 to 425 orifices.
19 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the orifices comprises a diameter of 0.14 inch to 0.19 inch.
20 . The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the orifices are configured in 7 to 10 rows.
21 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the bushing plate is centered over a longitudinal edge of the rotatable drum.