GLASS

MANUFACTURING
What is glass?

An amorphous, rigid and brittle material, typically transparent or

translucent, made by fusing sand with soda, lime, and sometimes other
ingredients; and cooling rapidly.
Raw materials

Glass manufacturing materials can be divided into 5 categories

1. Glass former
2. Flux
3. Modifier
4. Coloring agents
5. Fining agents
6. Cullet (broken glass pieces)
Glass former

- one of the most important components present in any glass

- Various glass formers are used in varying ratios with modifiers and
intermediates to produce a glass that can withstand the rigors of a
specific application.

Most common type of glass formers present in oxide glass

– Silica (SiO2)
– boric oxide (B2O3)
– phosphoric oxide (P2O5)
The use of silica glass is wide but melting temperature of silica is too high
(1600- 1725°C).

To reduce the processing temperature of silica, different types of flux

such as Na2O and PbO can be used
The addition of fluxes to silica reduces the overall cost of glass processing
but results in degradation of properties.

Sodium carbonate and calcium carbonate are common fluxes. Potash

glass is more dense than soda glass.

To overcome this problem, different property modifiers or intermediates

such as boron, sodium, magnesium, titanium, and calcium can be used to
modify the properties of glass
Colorants are used to control the color in the final glass.

The amount of iron oxides (impurities) present in the glass results in

unintentional change in color of glass.

The other types of colorants used are gold and silver. These types of
colorants change glass color by forming colloids in glasses
As the raw materials melt and react inside the furnace, carbon dioxide and
water emission takes place which causes formation of bubbles.

Fining agents such as arsenic, antimony oxides, potassium and sodium

nitrates are added to raw materials to remove bubbles from the melt

The high temperature and low viscosity is maintained to raise the gas
bubbles at the upper surface of the melt and hence removed from the melt

Fining is important because it controls the homogeneity of glass by

eliminating bubbles.
Manufacturing Steps

The manufacture of glass is in four phases:

(1) preparation of raw material
(2) melting in a furnace
(3) Forming
(4) finishing. (annealing lehr)
Glass Forming

Depending upon the applications, there are different processes of forming

the glass.

The most common type of glass forming process can be categorized as:

– Flat glass
– Glass fibers
– Glass tubing
Flat Glass

Flat glass, sheet glass, or plate glass is made by two processes.

The processes are:
– float glass process
– rolled glass process
Float Glass

Ribbon of glass is made by pouring molten glass from the furnace to a

bed of molten metal such as tin, lead and low melting point alloys under
controlled atmosphere.
Rolled Glass Process

In the drawing or rolling process, the continuous stream of molten glass

from a furnace passes through a pair of water cooled rollers.
Glass Fibers

Fiberglass is available in two types

– continuous glass fiber
– short glass fiber (glass wool)

The first one is used in fabrication of composite materials and latter one is
used for thermal insulation.

Continuous glass fiber is produced by drawing molten glass through

multiple orifices
Short Glass Fibers

In glass wool process ,

the molten glass is
ejected from a
rotating head by
centrifugal spraying
process
Glass Tubing

In this process, molten glass flows around a rotating hollow cone-shaped

or cylindrical mandrel through which air is supplied continuously to avoid
the collapsing of glass tube while the glass is drawn out by set of rollers.
Types of applications of glass

1. Soda-lime glass
2. Fused silica glass
3. Lead glass
4. Borosilicate glass
Soda-Lime Glass

– Main constituent of practically all commercial glass is sand.

– Sand by itself can be fused to produce glass but the temperature at
which this can be achieved is about 1700°C. Adding other minerals
and chemicals to sand can considerably reduce the melting
temperature.
– The addition of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), known as soda ash, to
produce a mixture of 75% silica (SiO2) and 25% of sodium oxide
(Na2O), will reduce the temperature of fusion to about 800°C due to
sodium silicate.
Soda-Lime Glass (water glass)

– However, a glass of this composition is water- soluble and is known as

water glass.
– To give the glass stability, other chemicals like calcium oxide (CaO) and
magnesium oxide (MgO) are needed.
– These are obtained by adding limestone which results in a pure inert
glass.
– Soda-lime glass is a mixture of sodium silicate and calcium silicate.
Fused Silica Glass

– Simplest type of glass, consists mainly of silica

– Made by heating silica to a molten liquid, the liquid is then cooled
rapidly to form an amorphous solid
Lead Glass

– Commonly known as Crystal or lead crystal

– Made by using lead oxide instead of calcium oxide, and potassium
oxide instead of all or most of the sodium oxide
– Glass containing at least 24% PbO can be described as lead crystal.
Glass containing less than 24% PbO, is known simply as crystal glass.
– Lead glass has a high refractive index making it sparkle brightly and a
relatively soft surface
Borosilicate Glass

– Glass in the form of ovenware and other heat resisting ware, better
known under the trade name Pyrex.
– Borosilicate glass (or sodium-borosilicate glass) is made mainly of
silica (70-80%) and boric oxide (7- 13%) with smaller amounts of the
alkalis (sodium and potassium oxides) and aluminium oxide.
– As it doesn't break when changing temperature quickly. sodium
borosilicate glass is widely used across the chemical industry,
pharmaceutical sector for laboratory apparatus
Annealed Glass

– The basic flat glass product that is the first result of the float process.
– It is common glass that tends to break into large, jagged shards.
– It is used in some end products and often in double-glazed windows.
– Also the starting material used to produce more advanced products
through further processing such as laminating, toughening, coating,
etc
Toughened or tempered glass

Glass can fracture due to stress concentration.

To avoid the fracture of glass, local high compressive stresses are induced near
the surfaces.

This is done by thermal toughening of glass.

– Heating the glass plate to 650ºC after which rapidly cooling the outer surface by air
blasts.
– Due to which thin compressive layer is created at the outer surface and the center
of the glass becomes the region of tensile stresses. This causes the self-equilibrium.
– The glasses used in glazed door and making tabletops are made by this process and
is termed as toughened or safety glass.
Laminated Glass

Made of two or more layers of glass with one or more "interlayers" of polymeric
material bonded between the glass layers.
 Laminated glass is produced using one of two methods:
– Poly Vinyl Butyral (PVB) laminated glass (Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or Polyurethane
(PU) are also used)
– Cast in Place (CIP) laminated glass is made by pouring a resin into the space between
two sheets of glass that are held parallel and very close to each other.
 Safety and security
Rather than shattering on impact, laminated glass is held together by the
interlayer. This reduces the safety hazard associated with shattered glass fragments