Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Chemical Engineering

STAINED GLASS

HISTORY

The making of stained-glass windows has hardly

changed since the 12th century. A stained-glass window
consists of pieces of colored glass held together in a latticed
web of lead. The glass has previously had details of faces,
hands and drapery painted and fired on to it in black or
brown paint. About the year 1300, yellow stain was
discovered; this had the ability to turn white glass yellow or
blue glass green, and was extremely useful in the highlighting
of hair, haloes and crowns.

Stained glass continued to flourish in England until the

Reformation of the Church in the 1540s when changes in
Lady Chapel of
religious outlook undermined the need for sacred art. Ely Cathedral
c1340-1349
Although colored glass continued to be made in the
17th and 18th centuries, the craft declined and skills
were lost. Only in the 19th century was there a serious
attempt to rediscover the techniques of the medieval
glazier. Men like the antiquarian Charles Winston, and
the architect A W N Pugin helped to re-establish the
scholarly principles for a Gothic Revival of stained
glass. As a result of Winston's technical experiments of
15th-century roundel
the 1850s, the quality of colored glass approached that of Reynard the Fox
of the medieval glaziers. Today almost all parish churches and cathedrals
contain Victorian windows. Their quality and craftsmanship are now widely
recognized.

Glass Industry 1
 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

USES AND APPLICATION

Church Designs Bottles and Cups

Architectural Design

RAW MATERIALS

The raw materials that go into the

manufacturing of clear float glass are:

SiO2 Silica Sand

Na2O Sodium Oxide from Soda Ash
Silica Sand
CaO Calcium oxide from Limestone
/ Dolomite
MgO Dolomite
Al2O3 Feldspar

Glass Industry 2
 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Transparent glass Ordinary soda-lime

glass appears colorless to the naked eye
when it is thin, although iron oxide
impurities produce a green tint which
becomes evident in thick pieces or can be
seen with the aid of scientific instruments.
A number of additives are used to reduce
the green tint, particularly if the glass is to
Pigments
be used for plain window glass, rather than
stained glass windows. Additives that reduce the green tint include manganese
dioxide which produces sodium permanganate, and may result in a slightly
mauve tint, characteristic of the glass in older houses in New England, US.
Selenium has been used for the same purpose.

Green glass

While very pale green is the typical color of

transparent glass, deeper greens can be achieved
by the addition of Iron (II) oxide which results in a
bluish-green glass. Together with chromium it gives
glass of a richer green color, typical of the glass
used to make wine bottles. The addition of
Chromium yields dark green glass, suitable for
flashed glass. Together with tin oxide and arsenic it
yields emerald green glass.

Glass Industry 3
 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Blue glass

In medieval times, blue glass was made by

adding cobalt, which at a concentration of 0.025
to 0.1% in soda-lime glass achieves the brilliant
blue characteristic of Chartres Cathedral. The
addition of Sulphur to boron-rich borosilicate
glasses imparts a blue color. The addition
of copper oxide at 2-3% produces
a turquoise color. The addition of nickel, at different concentrations, produces
blue, violet, or black glass.

Red glass

Metallic gold, in very small concentrations

(around 0.001%), produces a rich ruby-colored glass
("ruby gold"); in lower concentrations it produces a
less intense red, often marketed as "cranberry glass".
The color is caused by the size and dispersion of gold
particles. Ruby gold glass is usually made of lead
glass with tin added.

Pure metallic copper produces a very dark red, opaque glass. Glass
created in this manner is generally "flashed" (laminated glass). It was used
extensively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and exploited for the
decorative effects that could be achieved by sanding and engraving.

Selenium is an important agent to make pink and red glass. When used
together with cadmium sulphide, it yields a brilliant red color known as
"Selenium Ruby".

Glass Industry 4
 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Yellow glass

Silver compounds (notably silver nitrate) are

used as stain applied to the surface of glass and
fired on. They can produce a range of colors
from orange-red to yellow. The way the glass is
heated and cooled can significantly affect the colors
produced by these compounds. The chemistry
involved is complex and not well understood.

The addition of Sulphur, together with carbon and iron salts, is used to
form iron polysulphides and produce amber glass ranging from yellowish to
almost black. With calcium it yields a deep yellow color.
Adding titanium produces yellowish-brown glass. Titanium is rarely used on its
own and is more often employed to intensify and brighten other additives.
Cadmium together with Sulphur results in deep yellow color, often used in
glazes. However, cadmium is toxic.

Uranium (0.1 to 2%) can be added to give glass a fluorescent yellow

or green color. Uranium glass is typically not radioactive enough to be
dangerous, but if ground into a powder, such as by polishing with sandpaper
and inhaled it can be carcinogenic. When used with lead glass with a very high
proportion of lead, it produces a deep red color.

Purple glass

The addition of Manganese gives an amethyst color. Manganese is one of

the oldest glass additives, and purple manganese glass has been used since

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 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

early Egyptian history. Nickel, depending on the

concentration, produces blue, or violet, or even black
glass. Lead crystal with added nickel acquires a purplish
color.

White glass

Tin oxide with antimony and arsenic oxides produce an opaque white
glass, first used in Venice to produce an
imitation of porcelain. White glass was
used extensively by Louis Comfort
Tiffany to create a range of opalescent,
mottled and streaky glasses.

Glass Industry 6
 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Stage 1- Melting & Refining:

Fine grained ingredients closely controlled for quality, are mixed to make a
batch, which flows into the furnace, which is heated up to 1500 degree Celsius.

Equipment Used: Melting Furnace

Stage 2 - Float Bath:

Glass from the furnace gently flows over the refractory spout on to the mirror-
like surface of molten tin, starting at 1100 deg. Celsius and leaving the float
bath as solid ribbon at 600 deg. Celsius.

Equipment Used: Floating Line

Stage 3 - Annealing:
Despite the tranquility with which the glass is formed, considerable stresses
are developed in the ribbon as the glass cools. The glass is made to move
through the annealing lehr where such internal stresses are removed, as the
glass is cooled gradually, to make the glass more prone to cutting.

Equipment Used: Continuous Annealing Lehr

Stage 4 - Inspection:
To ensure the highest quality inspection takes place at every stage.
Occasionally a bubble that is not removed during refining, a sand grain that
refuses to melt or a tremor in the tin puts ripples in the glass ribbon.
Automated online inspection does two things.

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 Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

It reveals process faults upstream that can be corrected. And it enables

computers downstream to steer round the flaws. Inspection technology now
allows 100 million inspections per second to be made across the ribbon,
locating flaws the unaided eye would be unable to see.

Stage 5 - Cutting
Diamond steels trim off selvedge stressed edges- and cut ribbon to size
dictated by the computer. Glass is finally sold only in square meters.

Equipment Used: Glass Cutter

PLANT LAYOUT

Glass Industry 8