GLASS MANUFACTURING Brief history of glass making The very first glass making occurred naturally in the form

of obsidian formed during volcanic eruption. *obsidian acid or granitic glass formed by rapid cooling of lava without crystallization 5,000 BC - man made glass was accidentally discovered when the heat from fires melted the basic ingredients of glass.

Ingredients for making glass 1. Sand or Silica - The main ingredient of glass making is Silica, which as a very high melting point of over 2,000 deg C. 2. Sodium Carbonate - Sodium Carbonate lowers the melting point of Silica to about 1,000 deg C and is therefore added to make the process more efficient. The Sodium Carbonate will, however, cause the finished glass to be water soluble which is not desirable in glass making. Sodium Carbonate was originally found in the ash of certain plants soda ash but is now commonly produced from table salt. 3. Lime or Calcium Oxide- Calcium Oxide is extracted from limestone and counters the effects of the Sodium Carbonate making the glass non-soluble in water. 4. Glass Cullet - Glass cullet is also added to lower the melting point of the mixed ingredient, making the process more efficient. Other Additives A number of different ingredients can be added to the glass to change the properties of the finished product, for example: Lead to make leaded or crystal glasses. The lead has better reflective properties and therefore the glass seems to sparkle. This kind of glass also lends itself to be cut to form decorative patterns on the glass. Boron this changes the thermal and electrical properties of the glass and is used to make Pyrex glassware which can withstand extremes of heat and cold. Lanthanum Oxide this has excellent light reflective properties and is used to make high quality lenses in glasses. Thorium Oxide was formerly used but due to its radioactivity this is no longer the case.

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Iron used to absorb infrared energy in, for example, heat absorbing filters in movie projectors. 5. Colour Additives A range of additives can be used to make glass into different colours. Although glass appears to be clear it is actually green. It is extremely difficult to make completely clear glass. Metals and oxides can be used to colour glass. Flat glass production 1. Colburn Process - Sheet glass is being pulled out horizontally which allows to have a longer gradual cooling span for producing soft and sticky glass sheets 2. Fourcourt Process - sheet glass is being pulled out vertically in a tall building, which makes the cooling span short, producing very solid and fragile glass sheets 3. Floating Process - An innovative flat glass production process invented by Alastair Pilkington (in 1950s) of the United Kingdom. This process is used throughout the world

Melting & Refining The Float Bath Coating Annealing Inspection Cutting

Making glass bottles and containers 1. Glass Blowing - a hollow blowing-iron or pipe is dipped into a pot containing molten glass and the glass is gathered at the end of the pipe by rotating it, similar to gathering treacle onto a spoon. The collected glass, known as the gather, cools to about 1000C and is marveled (rolled on an iron slab) to form a parison. The parison is then manipulated by allowing it to elongate, re-heating it and blowing air into it to bring it into a shape that resembles the final article. It is then placed in an iron or wooden mould, which is kept wet by water, and the glass is blown to the final shape of the interior of the mould. There is no contact between the glass and the mould, due to the water which forms a cushion of steam. During the blowing the pipe is rotated continuously, preventing mould joints or other mould imperfections appearing in the glass. 2. Automatic Process
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a. Press & Blow Method - Firstly a parison or pre-form is made. This is then put into a mould and blown so that it is pushed against the surface of the mould to form the finished shape. B. Blow & Blow Method - The molten gobs of glass are firstly poured into a mould and the neck formed. The rest of the parison is formed by blowing the liquid to the edges of the mould. This is then removed and put into another mould to be blown into the finished shape as with the Press & Blow method. Other major manufacturing processes of special type glasses: 1. Fusion Process - this process enables to produce sheet glass by not touching impurities contained in the material of a melting chamber. Therefore the products are maintained at very high physical reliability. 2. Down Draw Process - This process is good for volume production of thin glasses 3. Re-Draw Process - This process is a secondary processing rather than a production process. The Down Load process referred to in the above requires highly advanced techniques as well as sophisticated facilities; therefore, this process features to pull out horizontally thicker glasses of 1.0 mm to 2.0mm by giving heat. Glass production processes which do not employ heat melting: 1. Sol Gel Process - This process features to produce glass from a solution using sol gel change. - This process enables to produce glass at a lower temperature than conventional solution process. Since solution is not required to be heated at a very high temperature where crystallization occurs, a new composite glass can be produced which could never be produced by the conventional processes. 2. Vapor Phase Deposition Process (CVD Process) - This is a kind of quartz crystal glass production process developed by Corning Glass Works. At this point in time, a conduction loss of optical fiber of 0.2dB/km (Optical attenuation is one hundredth for 100 km) is accomplished. REFERENCES:
http://www.osgco.com/eigo/e_glass.htm http://www.britglass.org.uk/glass-manufacturing ME-556 Industrial Processes Page 3