GLASS INDUSTRY

GLASS
• Glass may be physically defined as a rigid under cooled liquid having no definite
melting point and a sufficiently high viscosity to prevent crystallization
• And chemically as the union of nonvolatile inorganic oxides resulting from the
decomposition and fusion of alkali & alkaline earth compounds, sand and other glass
constituents, ending in a product with random structure.
• It is a brittle material.
PROPERTIES OF GLASS

• Glass has many uses because of its transparency, high

resistance to chemical attack, effectiveness as an electrical
insulator and ability to contain a vacuum.
• Approximately 800 different glass compositions are
produced, some with particular emphasis on one property
and some with attention to a balanced set of properties.
USES
• The uses & applications of glass are very numerous.
• Automobile glass represents almost half of the flat glass
produced annually.
• Now the architectural trend is toward more glass in
commercial buildings and in particular colored glass.
 COMPOSITION
• Lime, soda and silica still form 90% of all the glass in
the world.
• The major ingredients are sand, lime and soda ash and
any other raw materials may be considered as minor
ingredients, even though the effect produced may be
of major importance.
• The most important factors in glass making are
viscosity of molten oxides and the relation between
this viscosity and the composition.
• In general the chemical composition of various glass
classes is different.
 1. FUSED SILICA
• Fused silica or vitreous silica is made by high temperature
pyrolysis of silicon tetrachloride or by fusion of quartz or pure
sand.
• It is characterized by the low expansion and high softening
point which impart high thermal resistance and permit it to be
used beyond the temperature of other glasses. This glass is
extraordinary transparent to ultraviolet radiation.
2. ALKALI SILICATES
• Alkali silicates are the only two component glasses
of commercial importance.
• Sand and soda ash are simply melted together, and
the product designated as sodium silicates having a
range of composition from Na2O.SiO2 to
Na2O.4SiO2.
• Silicate of soda solution also known as water
glass is used as an adhesive for paper. Other uses
include fireproofing.
 3. SODA LIME GLASS
• It constitutes 95% of all glass manufactured. It is used for
containers of all kinds, flat glass, automobile and windows and
table ware.
•The composition as a rule lies between the following limits.
• SiO2– 70-80%, CaO– 8-13%, Na2O--13-18%
• This type of glass melt with difficulty but is more chemical
resistant.
4. LEAD GLASS

• By substituting lead oxide for calcium oxide in the

glass melt, lead glass is obtained. These glass are
very useful in optical work because of their high
refractive index.
• Large quantities are used for the construction of
electric light bulbs, neon sign tubes because of high
electrical resistance of this glass.
• It is also suitable for shielding from nuclear reactor.
 5. BOROSILICATE GLASS
• Borosilicate glass usually contains about 10-20% B2O3,
80-87% silica, and less than 10% Na2O. It has a low
expansion coefficient, superior resistance to shock,
excellent chemical stability and high electrical resistance.
• The laboratory glassware made from this glass is sold
under the trade name Pyrex.
• Other uses are high tension insulators, pipelines and
telescope lenses.
 6. SPECIAL GLASSES
• Colored and coated, safety, optical, and glass ceramics are
special glasses. All of these have varying compositions
depending upon the final product desired.

7. FIBER GLASS
 Glass fibers are manufactured from special glass compositions
that are resistant to weather conditions. This glass is low in
silica and low in alkali.
 RAW MATERIALS
• For large tonnages of glass, sand is required. Soda ash, salt
cake (sodium sulphate) and limestone or lime is required to
flux* this silica.
• A substance that aids, induces, or otherwise actively
participates in fusing or flowing is called as a flux*.
• In addition there is a heavy consumption of lead oxide,
potassium carbonate, borax, boric acid, arsenic trioxide,
feldspar and fluorspar (CaF2) together with a great variety of
metallic oxides, carbonates and other salts required for colored
glass.
 CONTD.
• Sand for glass manufacture should be almost pure
quartz. Its iron content should not exceed 0.45% for
tableware and 0.015% for optical glass as iron affects
the color.
• Soda (Na2O) is usually supplied by dense soda ash
(Na2CO3).Other sources are sodium bicarbonate, salt
cake(Na2SO4) and sodium nitrate.
• The important sources of lime (CaO) are limestone
and the burnt lime from dolomite(CaCO3.MgCO3).
 CONTD.
• Feldspars have the general formula R2O.Al2O3.6SiO2, where
R2O represents Na2O or K2O or a mixture of these two.
• They are preferred as a source of alumina because they are
cheap, pure and fusible and are composed entirely of glass
forming oxides. It also supplies Na2O, K2O and SiO2.The
alumina content serves to lower the melting point of the glass.
• Borax as a minor ingredient supplies glass with both Na2O and
boric oxide. Besides its high fluxing power, borax not only
lowers the expansion coefficient but also increases chemical
durability.
• Boric acid is used only in small batches where only small
amount is required. Its price is twice that of borax.
 CONTD.
• Salt cake (sodium sulphate), a minor ingredient is said to
remove trouble some scum from tank furnaces.
• Sulphates such as ammonium and barium sulphates are also
encountered in all types of glass.
• Arsenic trioxide may be added to facilitate the removal of
bubbles.
• Nitrates of either sodium or potassium serve to oxidize iron.
• Cullet is crushed glass from imperfect articles and other waste
glass. It facilitates melting and utilizes waste material. It may
as low as 10% of the charge or as high as 80% of the charge.
 CHEMICAL REACTIONS
• The chemical reactions involved may be summarized
as:
• Na2CO3 + a SiO2 Na2O.aSiO2 + CO2
• CaCO3 + bSiO2 CaO.bSiO2 + CO2
• Na2SO4 + cSiO2 + C Na2O.cSiO2 + SO2
• The ratios Na2O/SiO2 and CaO/SiO2 may vary
depending on the type of glass. e.g. in an ordinary
glass the molar ratios are approximately 1.5 mol
Na2O, 1 mol CaO, and 5 mol SiO2.
MANUFACTURING
• Typical manufacturing sequences may be divided
into following steps:
• Transportation of raw materials into plant
• Sizing of some raw materials
• Storage of raw materials
• Conveying, weighing and mixing raw materials and
feeding them into glass furnace
• Burning of the fuel to secure temperature needed for
glass formation
• Reactions in the furnace to form glass
• Saving of heat by regeneration
• Shaping of glass products
• Annealing of glass products
• Finishing of glass products
METHODS OF MANUFACTURING
• The manufacturing procedures may be divided into four
main phases:
• Melting
• Shaping & Forming
• Annealing
• Finishing
MELTING
• Glass furnaces may be classified as either pot or tank furnaces.
Pot furnaces with an approximate capacity of 2 ton or less are
used for small production of special glasses. They are
employed in the manufacture of optical glass and art glass by
casting process.
• In a tank furnace batch material are charged into one end of a
large tank build of refractory blocks having a capacity of 1350
ton of molten glass. The glass forms a pool in the hearth of the
furnace across which the flames play alternately from one side
and the other. In this type of furnace as in pot type the walls
gradually corrode under the action of hot glass. The quality of
the glass and the life of the tank are depend upon the quality of
the construction blocks. For this reason much attention has
been given to glass refractories.
MELTING (REGENERATIVE
FURNACE)
• The foregoing types are regenerative furnaces and operate in two
cycles with two sets of chambers. The flame gases after giving up
some of their heat in passing across the furnace containing the
molten glass go downward through one set of chambers stacked
with open brickwork. A great deal of sensible heat content of the
gases is removed reaching temperature ranging from 1500ºC near
the furnace to 650ºC on the exit side.
 MELTING (REGENERATIVE
FURNACE)
• Simultaneously air is preheated by being passed up
through the other previously heated regenerative
chamber and is mixed with the burnt fuel gas, the
resulting being of a higher temperature than would
have been possible if air is not preheated. At regular
intervals the flow of the air fuel mixture or the cycle is
reversed and it enters the furnace from the opposite
side. Much heat is saved by this regenerative principle
and a higher temperature is reached. To reduce the
action of the molten glass on the construction material,
water cooling pipes are frequently placed in the
furnace wall.
 SHAPING OR FORMING
• Glass may be shaped either machine or hand molding.
The outstanding factor to be considered in machine
molding is that design of the glass machine should be
such that article is completed in a very few seconds.
During this relatively short time the glass changes
from a viscous liquid to a clear solid.
• The most common types of machine shaped glass are
window glass, plate glass, float glass, bottles, light
bulbs and tubing etc.
 WINDOW GLASS
• Previously this glass was manufactured by an extremely
arduous hand manual process. But now a continuous Fourcault
process is used for the production of window glass. In the
Fourcault process a drawing chamber is filled with glass from
the melting tank. The glass is drawn vertically from the kiln
through a so called “debiteuse” by means of a drawing
machine. The debiteuse consists of a refractory boat with a slot
in the center through which glass flows continuously upward
when the boat is partly submerged. The glass is continuously
drawn upward in the ribbon form as fast as it flows up through
the slot and its surface is chilled by adjacent water coils. The
ribbon still traveling vertically and supported by means of
rollers passes through a 75m long annealing chimney or lehr.
On emerging from the lehr it is cut into sheets of desired size
and sent on for upgrading and cutting.
 PLATE GLASS
• The glass is melted in in large continuous furnaces holding
1000 or more tons. The raw material is fed into the one end of
the furnace and the melted glass passes through the refining
zone and out the opposite end in an unbroken flow. From the
wide refractory outlet the molten glass passes between two
water cooled forming rolls running at a slightly higher surface
speed than the forming series of smaller water cooled rolls
running at a slightly higher surface speeds and the shrinking of
the glass as it cools flatten the ribbon as it enters the annealing
lehr. After annealing the ribbon may be cut into sheets for
grinding & polishing and is reduced to salable plates by cutting.
 FLOAT GLASS
• The float process employs the tank furnace melting system in
which raw material are fed into one end of the furnace and the
molten glass passes through the refining zone into a narrow
canal that connects the furnace with the bath. Rate of flow is
controlled by automatically raising or lowering a gate that
spans the canal. The molten glass is conducted onto and along
the surface of the pool in a non oxidizing atmosphere under
closely controlled temperature conditions. The controlled
heating melts out all irregularities and produces a glass with
both sides flat and parallel. The glass is cooled down while still
on the molten metal until the surfaces are hard enough to enter
the lehr without the lehr rollers spoiling the bottom surface.
 WIRED & PATTERNED GLASS
• In patterned glass manufacture, the molten glass flows
over the lip of the furnace and passes between metal
rolls on which a pattern has been engraved or
machined. The rolls form the glass and imprint the
pattern in a single operation. Such glass diffuses the
light which recommends its use in rooms, doors and
shower enclosures. Such glass can be reinforced with
wires during the initial forming for special safety
needs.
BLOWN GLASS
• Glass blowing is one of the most ancient art to shape molten
glass. Modern demands require more efficient methods of
production. The machine making of bottles is only a casting
operation that uses air pressure to create a hollow. Several types
of machines produce parisons, partly formed bottles or bottle
blanks.
• One is suction feed type used in bulb and tumbler (any container
with a rounded bottom) production.
• Other is gob feed type which is applied in all types of ware made
by pressing, blowing or a combination of press and blow.
 BLOWN GLASS
• In the suction feed type glass contained in a shallow circular
revolving tank is drawn up into molds by suction. The molds
then swing away from the surface of the glass, opens and drops
away, leaving the parisons sustained by the neck. The bottle
mold next rises into the position around the parison and the
blast of compressed air causes the glass to flow into the mould.
The latter remains around the bottle until another gathering
operation has been performed.
• The gob-feeder represents one of the most important
development in automatic glass working. In this operation the
molten glass flows from the furnace through a trough at the
lower end of which is an orifice. The glass drops through the
orifice and is cut into the gob of the exactly desired size by
mechanical shears. It is delivered through a funnel into the
parison mold which starts the formation of the bottle in an
inverted position.
GLASS TUBING

• It is manufactured by a process called Danner Process. In

this process the molten glass flows onto the top end of a
revolving, hollow clay rod inclined at 30 degrees. Air is
blown through it and the glass on the rod slowly flows
towards the bottom end where it is pulled off to form a
tube. A pair of belts grip the tubing and draw it at a
uniform speed. The diameter and wall thickness are
controlled by the temperature, speed of drawing and
volume of air that is blown through the rod. Tubing does
not require annealing.
 ANNEALING
• To reduce strain, it is necessary to anneal all glass objects
whether they are formed by machine or by hand molding
methods. Annealing involves two operations:
• (1) 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 and (2) cooling the mass to room
temperature slowly enough to hold the strain below this
maximum.
• The lehr, or annealing oven is nothing more than a carefully
designed heating chamber in which the rate of cooling can be
controlled so as to meet the foregoing requirements.
• Nowadays engineers have produced continuous annealing
equipments with automatic temperature control which permits
better annealing at a lower fuel cost and with less loss of
product.
FINISHING
• All types of annealed glass must undergo certain finishing
operations which though relatively simple are very
important.
• These include cleaning, grinding, polishing, cutting,
enameling, grading and gagging. Although all these are not
required for every glass object but one or more is always
necessary.
REFERENCE MATERIAL FOR STUDY

• Shreve’s Chemical Process Industries (5th Edition)

• Chapter 20 (Glass Industries)
• Pg no. 193 to 207