Glass Processes
Caroline Hsia, Jackie Allen, Althea Rosen, James Davis
Overview
The Many Uses of Glass
Equipment & Technology
Advantages & Disadvantages
Economics
The Future of Glass
Case study: CFLs
Equipment & Technology
Advantages
Economics
The future
Conclusion
The Uses of Glass
Four main types of glass:
Glass packaging
Bottles, jars, and other containers
Fiberglass
Insulation for buildings and OEM applications
Textile fibers used as reinforcements for plastics
Flat glass
Windows, automobile windshields, mirrors, tabletops
Specialty glass
Table- and ovenware
Flat panel display glass
Light bulbs
Television tubes
Fiber optics
Scientific and medical equipment.
Glass Processes
Rolled
Patterned Flat Glass
Wired Glass
Float
Flat Glass
Buildings & Vehicles
Blown
Bottles
Jars
Bowls/Chinaware
Spun
Specialty Products
Figurines, Christmas
Ornaments, etc.
Equipment & Technology
General Types of Equipment
Furnace
Molten glass formed
Forming
Individual Section (IS) Machine
Annealing Oven
Lehr
Coating
Usually two coatings
Cutting
After glass is processed, it is
then cut to desired size
Advantages of Glass
100% recycling capability
Environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and
products
Exceptional chemical durability
Multi-faceted optical properties
Many diverse, unique applications
Least expensive form of packaging in food industry
Does not diffuse into contents of packaging, like polymers
Disadvantages of Glass
Long distance distribution is hard due to the weight of glass
Some specialty glass such as TV tubes does not justify
recycling due to insufficient volume
Causes environmental problems primarily in 3rd world
countries
Manufacturing facilities are specialized
Facilities for one type of glass cannot be easily adapted
to produce other types
Brittle
Glass production is energy intensive and often expensive
Unlike polymers, it is hard to enhance or incorporate new
properties in glass
Advantages of Different Glass Processes
Rolling
The only way to mass produce wired glass
Float glass
Can range in thicknesses between .4mm and 25mm
Can produce clear, tinted, and coated glass
Blown glass
Best way to form hollow work pieces
Automated production can produce 600 containers/min.
Spun glass
The best way to use glass as an insulator
Can be used to fortify other materials
Disadvantages of Glass Processes
Glass processes are very specific and rarely interchangeable
Rolling
Very limited variety of glass products can be made
Not the preferred method to produce flat sheets of glass
Float glass
Propensity to shatter
All specifications and additional work must be done
before toughening process
Blown glass
Limited to hollow parts
Wall thickness hard to control
Spun glass
Poses health hazards: irritation of eyes, skin, lungs
Economics
Economics
Economics
Economics
- 4 main segments = $1.6 billion in energy per year
- ~ 14% total production costs
- ~ 38% production costs = heating process
- Improvements:
- Heat generation
- Heat containment
- Heat transfer
- Waste heat recovery
The Future of Glass
Where is The Money?
1. 7% batch preparation
2. 54% refining
3. 25% forming
4. 14% finishing
What New Technology is Here?
1. Rain bed preparation
2. Oxy-fuel melting
3. Material Based Ion Exchange
Rain Bed Preparation
Glass particles fall
Hot gass rises
Higher surface area/
volume
Reusing hot gas from
furnace
saves 0.5 MMBtu/ton
Oxy-fuel Improvements
Direction of heat
Penetration
Improved efficiency
Consistency in heating
Water saturation
Ion Exchange
Create glass, then heat
treat
Create glass and change
composition
More energy savings
1MMBtu/ton
Case Study: Compact Florescent Lights
Advantages of CFLs:
CFLs use 1/5th the
energy of incandescent
light bulbs
CFLs last 6 to 10 times
longer than incandescent
bulbs
CFLs produce 75% less
heat than incandescent
bulbs
CFLs: Economics
CFLs: Process, Equipment & Technology
Process
Spun Glass
Equipment used in CFL Process
Bending
Annealing
Cleaning
Coating
Sealing
CFLs: How It's Made
The Future of CFLs
Rain Bed Technology
Reducing the Cost of CFLs
More Green
Oxy-fuel Improvements
Further reduce cost
Better for the Environment
Questions?
References
1. "Glass - Industry of The Future" NREL, Office of Industrial
Technologies
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