USE OF A SODA FLUX IN THE PRODUCTION OF GLASSWARE

N. I. Min'ko, V. I. Onishchuk,

L. A. Luchina, and L. M. Lapina

UDC 666.1.1:678.004.8

One of the possible ways of economizing in alkali-containing raw material is the use

of alkali-containing by-products. The development of the technology in which by-products

from the caprolactam industry, soda fluxes, are used as an alkali component of the batch for

making soluble sodium silicate and glass blocks at the Grodnensk Glass Plant is described.

The soda flux is formed by the thermal decomposition of the alkali effluent at the Azot

Grodnensk Planning Organization (Tech. Spec, 113-03-479-86). The chemical composition of

the product obtained is as follows, %: Na2C03, 95.0-98.0; Na2SO 4, 0.6-0.7; NaOH, 0.5-0.8;

CaC03, 0.1-0.3; loss on ignition, 0.45-0.5; and traces of Cr20~.*

The laboratory experimental studies carried out at the Grishmanov Institute made it

possible to establish the optimal variant for the replacement of the standard soda by the

flux (in this case there is an acceleration of the melting of soluble sodium silicate and

of the glass for glass blocks), to determine the extent of the effect of this change on the

uniformity of the glass, and its action on the furnace refractories in the melting end and

in the gas space.

The establishment of the optimum flux:soda ratio in the batch composition was based on

the results of visual observation of the comparative rate of melting down briquettes of the

experimental glass compositions with various flux:soda ratios. The briquettes were heated

to II00~ in a muffle furnace equipped with an inspection window. When a temperature of

900~ was reached dwells were carried out at each recorded temperature at an interval of

50~ for 30 min during which the observed shapes of the briquettes were recorded (Fig. i).

The determination of the comparative concentration of residual quartz in batches heat-

treated to II00~ served as confirmation of the visual method of establishing the optimum

ratio. As the index of the quantitative concentration of residual quartz we used the inten-
sity of its main diffraction maxima. The diffraction patterns (Fig. 2) were obtained on a

DRON-3 apparatus. It was established that 40:60% is the optimal flux:soda ratio at which a

10-15% acceleration of the formation of the glass phase is provided.

With the aim of determining the effect of the substitution on the uniformity of the

glass for the glass blocks, a centrifuge method on a OSTs-2 centrifuge was used (the State

Institute of Glass system) on powdered glass melted from the experimental batch under in-

dustrial conditions. A study of the separation curves (Fig. 3) showed that the uniformity

of the glass of the standard composition and that melted from the experimental batch,
samples

of which were taken from the melting and working ends and from the feeder, are virtually the

same. The temperature difference of the total devitrification of the powders from samples

3, 4, and 5, 6 is, respectively, 0.5 and 0.3~ while that of samples i and 2 taken from the

melting zone is 2.6~ In this case the glass of sample 2 is less uniform than sample i

which can be explained by the size of the flux particles which are larger than those of the

standard soda. At the succeeding stages of the melting the glass is homogenized to a high

level of uniformity (Fig. 3, curves 5 and 6).

To determine the action on the furnace refractories of the flux added to the batch com-

position we used a method which made it possible to simulate the movement of the glass in

the tank furnace. It was found (Fig. 4) that themaximumaggression in relation to refractor-

ies (based on chamotte and high-alumina) is found in the glass in which the alkali oxides

have been added as soda (35-40%) and flux (60-65%).

A pilot test of the soda flux was carried out at the Grodnensk Plant. The flux was

first subjected to the following treatment: drying in a drum at the temperature of the ef-

*Here and elsewhere the mass concentration is given.

I. A. Grishmanov Belgorod Technological Institute of Building Materials. Grodnensk

Glass Plant. Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 7, pp. 6-8, July, 1990.

0361-7610/90/0708-0243512.50
9 1991 Plenum Publishing Corporation 243 a

I-1 v-1 I-I I-1

r~C~C~Eb

fOZl~ V

ff~O i- ~ ~ ~ ~

Flux:soda ratio, %

2O

e.

~,~ A,~ ~.

~d . 2o

~ f6

"~ If
9

o .-I /4 /J /# 2
9

, ~ .~

Q:f00 20:80 z~O:gO ~:40 80:20

Flux:soda ratio, %

Fig. i Fig. 2

Fig. i. The shapes of the melting of briquettes made from

standard and experimental batches for the production of solu-

ble sodium silicate (a) and glass blocks (b).

Fig. 2. Intensity of the main diffraction maxima of quartz

in heat-treated batches for the production of soluble sodium

silicate (a) and glass blocks (b): i) main diffraction maxima

of quartz 3.340 ~; 2) the same, 1,817 ~; 3) 4.260 ~; 4) 1,542

;0o~ i ,,

l<o-I

~ 6------ t-~ !-

/ -

~ 70

o tfl/ i~

~ 7

4O

Jo i

// .~Y I

0:2595078

ll ~; , ~ C

Fig. 3

g/0

o 01
o ' /i"

0.400 fO.SO ~O.GO

I0:~0 50.70 5050 70:3030:f0

Flux:soda ratio, %

Fig. 4

Fig. 3. Separation curves of powdered glass for glass blocks:

i) sample from the melting end without flux; 2) the same, 20%

flux; 3) sample from the working end, without flux; 4) the

same, 20% flux; 5) sample from the feeder, without flux; 6) the

same, 20% flux.

Fig. 4. Dependence of the rate of corrosion of the refractor-

ies when soda is replaced by flux: i) chamotte hearth brick;

2) high-alumina refractory.

244 fluent gas, 30-40~ crushing in a hammer crusher; and sieving through a Noo 2 mesh. This

particular sieving can be explained by the study of the possibility of using the flux in

the form of heavy soda in order to reduce dust when the batch is made up and its removal
when

the batch is charg@d into the furnace.

The pilot-plant melting of soluble sodium silicate using the flux was carried out over

4 months in a continuous-action regenerative circulating tank furnace with a horse-shoe

flame. The productivity of the furnace was 56 ton/day and the area of the melting tank of

the furnace, 39 m 2.

The addition of the flux instead of standard soda was carried out in two ways: for the

first two weeks 10% of the soda was replaced by the flux and then 20%~ The addition of
flux

did not produce any changes in the melting conditions of the glass which was done in
accord-

ance with the flow chart at a melting temperature of 1420 • 20~ a working temperature of

ii00 • 20~ and a furnace pressure of 5 • 2.5 Pa.

The pilot-plant test was supported by the laboratory-experimental studies. The soda

flux was recommended for use on an industrial scale in January 1988 and has been used at
the

Grodnensk Plant in the production of soluble sodium silicate which fully meets the specifica-

tions of State Standard 1307-81.

The pilot-plant melting of the glass for glass blocks was carried out over two months.

The batch was prepared in the composition shop of the plant in accordance with the normal

recipe but allowing for a 20% replacement of the standard soda by the flux. The melting was

carried out in a gas-flame regenerative tank furnace with a horse-shoe flame. The furnace

had a productivity of 45 ton/day and the melting area was 42 m ~. According to the flow

chart, the maximum melting temperature was 1500~ the working temperature 1300~ and the

furnace pressure 6 Ya. The melted glass was worked on an APB-12 automatic machine to
form

half-blocks measuring 244 • 244 and 194 • 194 mm. Then by fusing together the half-blocks

we obtained the finished products.

During the pilot-plant melting no deviations from the production process were observed

and their chemical composition and properties satisfied the specifications in State Stand-

ard 9272-81. It must be pointed out that since the flux contains traces of Cr203 it is

reasonable to utilize it in the production of glass blocks which are colored in lettuce-

green and dark green tones. Thus in a test to produce a yellow block (substitution of 20%

of soda) graphite was added to the composition as the coloring agent. However, during the

melting of the glass it is clear that as a result of the overlap of the colors it was not

possible to get a good yellow color.

As a result of their concentration of NaOH and Na2SO4, the use of the soda flux makes

it possible to intensify by 10-15% the glass melting processes, to increase the furnace pro-

ductivity by 5-6%, and to reduce by 3-5% the unit fuel consumption. The wholesale price of

the flux is on average 30-40 rubles lower than the price of the standard soda and, as a re-

sult, the cost of the batch is reduced by 20-25% idepending on the amount of flux added to
the batch).

The use of the flux in the production of 22,000 tons of soluble sodium silicate at the

Grodnensk Plant made it possible to obtain economies of more than 154,000 rubles per year.

The industrial use of the flux during the two-vear intermaintenance operation of the

furnace (average flux:soda ratio for this period was 60:40%) in the production of soluble

sodium silicate showed that the batch containing the soda flux does not have a higher de-

structive action on the refractories. Thus the furnace hearth made from chamotte blocks was

lef~ for a second campaign. Many of the BK-33 Bakor blocks used to make the upper row of

the tank were used a second time after the maintenance shutdown. The throat of the
furnace

made up of standard Bakor blocks was 30-40% worn after two years operation. An analogous

state was also recorded at the end of the preceding intermaintenance period where no flux

had been added to the batch composition.

Thus the alkali-containing by-product, soda flux, can be used to produce individual

types of glassware under the conditions that its chemical composition is stable and there

are regular supplies to the glass plants.