Segmented glass melting processes require special attention to glass refining before glass is delivered to the forming process. Refining levels vary, based on product requirements, allowing this step to e designed as needed, but most commercial glasses require refining. Submerged combustion melting (SCM) produces a homogeneous molten glass that contains a large number of bubbles ranging all the way up to 2cm in diameter. Efforts to rapidly refine SCM glass have led to an understanding of methods that hold promise and those that are ineffective for this glass. A crucial factor involves the number and distribution of bubbles and how they move within the viscous glass. A two-stage refining approach holds promise. This approach enables attainment of glass for fiber quality in the first stage and glass for higher quality applications (container, float etc) in a second stage. This paper describes efforts to develop and study batch and continuous refining of SCM product glass. A wide range of refining approaches have been proposed and explored in the past, and the current work is reviewed in the context of this body of earlier work.
