Glass manufacturing

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 1

Contents
• Introduction
• General properties of glass
• Raw materials of glass
• Glass manufacturing
• Melting
• Pot furnace
• Tank furnace
• Chemical reactions
• Forming and Shaping
• Annealing
• Finishing
• Types of glasses
• Properties of different types of glasses

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 Indian Container Glass Industry –Demand , Supply Scenario
Surplus capacity & lower
demand led to lower
capacity utilisation
000 MT per annum

 Till FY 12, supply to demand was Matching.

 Capacity addition by all key players between 2010 – 12 & sluggish demand have lead to
low capacity utilization thereafter.
(source : KPMG,BDB)
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 INDIA - Import – ExINDIA - Import – Export Data for Glass
Bottles
Import port Data for Glass Bottles
[Link] import annually ~ 31,000 MT
[Link] Lanka and China contributes to ~77 % of
total imports by weight and ~50 % of total
imports by value
3.~ 98% of total imports from Sri Lanka were
liquor bottles
[Link] containers having capacity of < 51 ml
contributes to > 70% of total imports from China.
[Link] transportation time & freight cost make
glass bottle import highly unviable & uneconomic.

Export
[Link] export from India ~ 2,85,000 MT
 Currently
[Link] exporting
new countries – USA
glass bottle rate &is ~African
Rs.
countries.
29,000/MT in USA & Rs. 38,000/MT in
Europe making import uneconomic &
export lucrative for Indian glass industry.

 More export will lead to increased revenue

& full capacity utilisation.

(source : BDB Market Research Report 5

2016)
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 Introduction
When silica or quartz is heated up to 16500C it melts to a colourless liquid which on cooling gives
glass. This fused mass is highly sensitive to temperature change therefore it requires special heat
treatment so that ordinary glass can be manufacture which is much stable to temperature change.
The glass of various commercial qualities is prepared by heating sand or quartz along with metal
oxide or carbonates.
“Glass is an amorphous, hard, brittle, transparent or translucent, super-cooled
liquid, obtained by fusing a mixture of a number of metallic silicates, most
commonly Na, K,Ca and Pb”. It possesses no sharp melting point, crystalling
structure and definite formula
Represented as xR2O . yMO . 6SiO2

R = monovalent alkali metals like Na,K

M = Divalent metals like Ca, Pb,Zn, etc
x & y = whole numbers
• Approximate composition of ordinary glass(Soda lime glass) is
Na2O . CaO . 6SiO2
• In some glasses, SiO2 may be replaced by Al2O3 . B2O3 . P2O5 , etc
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General Properties of glass
 Amorphous Solid
 No definite melting point
 Very brittle
 Softens on heating
 Can absorb, reflect and transmit light
 Good electrical insulator
 Affected by alkalis
 Not affected by air,water,acid or chemical reagents . But soluble in HF which
converts into SiF4
 Possesses high compressive strength and since it doesn’t have any crystalline
structure , no slippage between planes can occur
 Light in weight because it has homogeneous internal structure similar to
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liquids
Raw materials of glass
Sl.N Name of the Source of the element Name of the
Glass Components o element glass produced

1 Sodium (Na) Na2CO3,Na2SO4 Soft glass

2 Potassium (K) Potash, K2CO3,KNO3 Hard glass

3 Calcium (Ca) Lime, limestone Glass with

high RI
4 Barium (Ba) BaCO3 Glass with
high RI
5 Lead Litharge, red lead Flint glass
6 Zinc Zinc Oxide Heat & Shock
proof glass

7 Borate Borax, boric acid Heat & shock

proof glass

8 Silica Sand, quartz

Colors Ferric Salt
Yellow
Green Ferrous and chromium
Blue Cobalt salt
Melting : Chemical reactions

• Cullet melts at relatively low temperature and assists in melting of rest of

the charge
• During the melting process following reactions occur

CaCO3 + SiO2 CaSiO3 + CO2

Na2CO3 + SiO2 Na2SiO3 + CO2

• The molten mass is heated till its free from air bubbles
• For colored gases desired pigment is added
• The molten mass is then cooled at about 800oC at later point of time

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 12

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Glass Manufacturing

Manufacturing of glass consists of following high level steps

1. Melting

a. Pot furnace

b. Tank furnace

2. Forming and shaping

3. Annealing

4. Finishing

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 14

Melting

• Raw materials in proper proportions (sand, soda ash

and lime stone ) are mixed and finely powdered
• The homogenous mixture known as Batch is fused with
some broken glass , called “Cullet” in any of the two
types of furnaces
• The homogeneous mixture is melted either in
a. Pot furnace or
b. Tank furnace
• The batch melts and fuses at 1800oC

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 15

Melting: Pot furnace

Figure showing Pot furnace

 Two types of pots are used
a. Open crucible type pot
b. Closed covered type pot
 Generally closed covered type pot is used
C D A B
 Pot is placed in a circle around a central
Hot Air
opening in its bottom
 Heated by burning producer gas and air
 Roof of the pot is constructed with
Hot Gases
refractory material which also reflects the
heat
 Also called as batch process

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 Melting: Tank Furnace
Fuel gas and air being
 The “batch” is melted in the tank using heated by hot checker
work
Burning fuel gas

producer gas and air Molten gas

 It follows “regenerative system of heat

A B C D
economy”
 Air and fuel is passes through A & B
Air Fuel gas Fuel gases
 The burnt gases are deflected by the roof
Figure showing tank furnace
and “batch” gets melted
 Hot waste gas escapes through firebricks
C&D
 The direction of the fuel gas & air is reversed through C & D , which absorbs the
heat of the waste gas and burns
 The waste gas now escapes through A & B
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State of art Manufacturing Facilities
Batch Forehearth &
Furnace
House Distributors

Cold End Inspection Packaging

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Forming & Shaping, Annealing and
Finishing
 Molten gas is converted to desired shape by blowing or moulding or pressing
between rollers - “Forming and Shaping”
 Articles are then cooled gradually at room temperature. - “Annealing”
The longer the annealing period better the quality of glass
 After annealing, the articles are subjected to cleaning, polishing, cutting, sand
blasting etc., - “Finishing”

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 20

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Types of glasses

1. Soda-lime or soda glass

2. Potash lime or hard glass
3. Lead glass or Flint glass
4. Borosilicate glass or Pyrex glass or Jena glass
5. Alumina silicate glass
6. Optical or Crookes glass
7. Glass wool
8. Quartz glass
9. Opal glass

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Soda-lime (or) Soft glass

Raw Materials
•Silica
•CaCO3
•Soda ash

Properties
•Low cost
•Resistant to water
Composition •Attacked by acids
Na2O . CaO . 6SiO2 •Melts easily
•Moulded easily to any shape
•Poor thermal & chemical resistance

Uses
Window glasses, electric bulbs, bottles, jars, table wares etc.,

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Potash-lime (or) Hard glass

Raw Materials
•Silica
•CaCO3
•K2CO3

Properties
•High Melting point
Composition
•Not attacked by acids, alkali and other solvents
K2O . CaO . 6SiO2
•Costlier than soda-lime glass

Uses
Combustion tubes, chemical apparatus

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Lead glass (or) Flint glass
Raw Materials
•Silica
•Lead Oxide
•Potassium Oxide

Properties
•Bright, lustrous and possesses high specific gravity
•Expensive to manufacture , than ordinary lime-soda glass
Composition
•Lower softening temperature than soda-lime glass
K2O . PbO . 6SiO2 •Higher refractive index and excellent electrical properties

Uses
•High quality table wares, optical lenses
•High dense glasses are used for windows to protect from X-
rays and gamma rays

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 Pyrex-glass (or) Jena glass

Raw Materials K 2O 3 %
Al2O3 3 %
•Silica Na2O 0.5 %
B2O3 13 %
•Small amount of alumina
•Some oxides

Properties SiO2 80.5 %

•Substitution of alkali (Na2O) and basic alkaline

earth oxides(CaO) of the soda glasses by boron
and aluminium oxides results in low thermal co-efficient Composition
•High softening point and excellent resistivity(shock proof)
•High chemical resistance

Uses
Industrial pipeline for corrosive liquids, gauge glasses,
superior laboratory apparatus etc.,

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 34

 Alumino Silicate glass

Raw Materials CaO 5 %

MgO 9 %
•5 % more of alumina Na2O + K2O 1 %
B2O3 7 %
•Addition of alumina makes glass heat resistant

Properties Al2O3 23 %
•Exceptionally high softening temperature SiO2 55 %
•Chemically durable
•Resistance to hydrolysis
•Affected by moisture due to high surface area
Composition

Uses
•High pressure mercury discharge tubes, chemical
combustion tubes, specific domestic equipments
•Fibre glass

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 35

Optical, Quartz and Opal Glass
Optical glass Quartz glass Opal glass

Raw Material Raw Material Raw Material

•Phosphorous and lead silicate •Crystalline silica fused at •NaF (or) CaF2 (or) Ca3(PO4)2
together with small amount of 1900oC (or) SnO2
cerium oxide
Properties Properties
•Outstanding resistance to •Translucent white or milky
Properties thermal shock and chemicals glasses
•Low melting point Uses •Transparent when in liquid
•Soft •Special lab-ware •Opaque when cooled
•Chemical-resistance •Crucibles
•Durability lesser than ordinary •Reaction tubes
glasses
•Absorbs UV light

Uses
Optical lenses

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 36

Glass wool

• Fibrous wool-like material, composed of

intermingled fine threads (or) filaments of glass
• Alkali free
• Glass filaments are obtained by forcing molten
glass through small orifices which measures about
0.0005 to 0.0007 mm in diameter
Properties
•Very good fire-proof and heat proof
•Very low electircal conductivity and thermal conductivity
•Resistance to water and most chemicals
•Tensile strength is 8X of steel
Uses
•Heat insulation purpose
•Electrical and sound insulation
•Filtration of corrosive liquids like acids
•Manufacturing fibre-glass, by blending with plastic resins

(C) Dept of Applied Chemistry - SVCE 37