GLASS INDUSTRY

GLASS

• Physically:
  a rigid undercooled liquid
• no definite melting point
• a sufficiently high viscosity (greater than )

• Chemically: the union of the nonvolatile inorganic

oxides resulting from the decomposition and
fusion of alkali and alkaline earth compounds,
sand, and other glass constituents, ending in a
product with random atomic structure
 GLASS

• A completely vitrified product

• Exhibits compressive strength much greater than
its tensile strength
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GLASS

• Transparent
• Has high resistance to chemical attack
• An excellent electrical insulator
• Has the ability to contain vacuum
• Absorbs, reflects or transmits light
• Extremely brittle
 HISTORY

• Pliny the Elder (or Gaius Plinius Secundus)

• Phoenecian merchants discovered glass
• 6000 or 5000 B.C. – the Egyptians were making
sham jewels of glass which were often of fine
workmanship and marked beauty
• A.D. 290 – window glass
• Hand-blown window-glass cylinder was invented
by a 12th century monk
 HISTORY

• Medieval times – Venice enjoyed a monopoly as

the center of the glass industry
• 15th century – use of window glass became
general
• 16th century – glass was made in Germany and
England
 HISTORY

• 1688 – plate glass appeared as rolled product in

France
 HISTORY

• Glassworks in the United States were founded in

• 1608 – Jamestown, Virginia
• 1639 – Salem, Massachusetts
• Major improvements: purifying the batch
materials and increasing the fuel economy
• 1900 – glass industry was art with closely
guarded secret formulas and empirical processes
of manufacture based primarily upon experiences
 HISTORY

• 1914 – Fourcault process for drawing a sheet of

glass continuously was developed in Belgium
• Automatic machines were invented to speed up
production of bottles, light bulbs, etc…
 COMPOSITION

• Lime, silica, and soda form 90% of glass.

• Most important factors in making glass:
• Viscosity of molten oxides
• Relation between the viscosity and composition
 COMPOSITION

1. Fused Silica
2. Alkali Silicate
3. Soda-lime Glass
4. Lead Glass
5. Borosilicate Glass
6. Special Glasses
7. Glass Fibers
 COMPOSITION

1. Fused Silica (vitreous silica)

• high-temperature pyrolysis of silicon
tetrachloride or by fusion of quartz or pure sand
• Low expansion; high softening point
 COMPOSITION

2. Alkali Silicates
• Only two-component glasses of commercial
importance
• Silicate of soda solution (water (soluble) glass) –
used as an adhesive for paper in the
manufacture of corrugated-paper boxes (other
uses: fireproofing)
 COMPOSITION

•  Soda-lime Glass
3.
• Constitutes 95% of all glass manufactured
• Used for containers of all kinds, flat glass,
automobile and other windows, tumblers, and
tableware
• Composition as a rule:
• : 70 – 74%
• : 8 – 13%
• : 13 – 18%
 COMPOSITION

4. Lead Glass
• Obtained by substituting lead oxide for calcium
oxide in the glass melt
• High index of refraction and dispersion
 COMPOSITION

•  Borosilicate Glass
5.
• Contains about 10 – 20% , 80 – 87% silica, and
less than 10%
• Low expansion coefficient, superior resistance
to shock, excellent chemical stability, and high
electrical resistance
 COMPOSITION

6. Special Glasses
• Colored and coated, opal, translucent, safety,
optical, photochromic glasses, and glass
ceramics

7. Glass Fibers
• Produced from special glass compositions that
are resistant to weather conditions
 RAW MATERIALS

• Sand
 
• should be almost pure quartz
• iron content shouldn’t exceed 0.45% for
tableware or 0.015% for optical glass (iron
affects the color of most glass)
• Soda ()
• Supplied by dense soda ash ()
• Other sources: sodium bicarbonate, salt cake,
sodium nitrate (useful in oxidizing iron and in
accelerating the melting)
 RAW MATERIALS

• Feldspars
 
• ( represents or or a mixture of both)
• Cheap, pure, and fusible
• Composed entirely of glass-forming oxides
• Alumina content serves to lower the melting
point of glass and to retard devitrification
 RAW MATERIALS

• Borax
 
• Supplies glass with both or boric oxide as a
minor ingredient
• Lowers the expansion coefficient and increases
chemical durability, and hardness or refractive
index
 RAW MATERIALS

• Salt cake
• Removes the troublesome scum from tank
surfaces
• Arsenic trioxide may be added to facilitate the
removal of bubbles
• Nitrates of either sodium or potassium serve to
oxidize iron and make it less noticeable in the
finished glass
• Potassium nitrate or carbonate is employed in
many better grades of table, decorative, and
optical glass
 RAW MATERIALS

• Cullet
• Crushed glass from imperfect articles, trim, and
other waste glass
• Facilitates melting and utilizes waste material
• May be as low as 10% of the charge or as high
as 80%
 RAW MATERIALS

• Refractory Blocks
• Developed because of the severe conditions
ecountered
• The latest practice in regenerators utilizes basic
refractories because of the alkali dust and
vapors
• Furnace operating temperatures are limited by
silica-brick crowns (which are economical to use
in the industry)
 CHEMICAL REACTIONS

• 
 MANUFACTURING OF GLASS

• Transportation of raw materials to the plant

• Sizing of some raw materials
• Storage of raw materials
• Conveying, weighing, and mixing raw materials
MANUFACTURING OF GLASS
MANUFACTURING OF GLASS
MANUFACTURING OF GLASS
 METHODS OF MANUFACTURE

•4 Major phases
• Melting
• Shaping or forming
• Annealing
• Finishing
 MELTING

• Glass furnaces may be classified as

• Pot furnace
• Tank Furnace
 POT FURNACE

• Approximate capacity of 2 t or less

• Used for small production of special glasses or
where it is essential to protect the melting of
optical glass and art glass by the casting process
• Pots – crucibles made of selected clay or platinum
• Very difficult to melt glass in this vessel without
contaminating the product or partly melting the
container itself, except when platinum is used
POT FURNACE
 TANK FURNACE

• Batch materials are charged into one end of a

large “tank” built of refractory blocks, some of
which measure 38 x 9 x 1.5m and have a
capacity of 1350 t of molten glass
TANK FURNACE
 SHAPING OR FORMING

• Machine or hand molding

 MOST COMMON TYPES OF MACHINE
MOLDING
• Window
  Glass
• Plate Glass – raw materials are fed into one end
of the furnace at a temperature as high as
• Float Glass
• Bottles
• Light Bulbs
• Tubing
 ANNEALING

• Reduces strain
• Involves two operations:
• Holding a mass of glass above a certain critical
temperature long enough to reduce internal strain by
plastic flow to less than a predetermined maximum
• Cooling the mass to room temperature slowly enough to
hold the strain below this maximum
 FINISHING

• Cleaning, grinding, polishing, cutting,

sandblasting, enameling, grading, and gaging.