Glass Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process of glass consists of three main stages The first one is the making of raw materials which involves gathering silica lime and soda.
The second phase is melting In this stage a mixture of raw materials is heated to create molten glass that can be manipulated in order to form the desired shapes The third phase is forming and finishing where the molten glass is transformed into a wide range of products using different techniques.
Table of Contents
Glass Manufacturing Process
1- Collection of Raw Materials
The first step in the glass manufacturing process is collecting the raw materials needed to make Cullet these materials include sand soda ash (sodium carbonate) limestone,
and also Cullet is a recycled crushed glass that can be used as an alternative for raw materials.
Materials are extracted from the earth including sand soda ash limestone and feldspar,
The raw materials are crushed and ground into a fine powder before being added to
molten quartz in order to create Cullet,
This process is known as “fusion”.
2-Preparation of Batch
In the preparation of Cullet batch dross (impurities) is removed by skimming it off with a metal hook
A small amount of hydrated lime is added to the batch in order to retard the oxidation process ,
The ingredients are thoroughly mixed in water and then transported from storage tanks via pumps to the mixing head
at the furnace top where they will be poured into the forehearth.
When the batch is prepared it will be drawn off and filtered
The filter is a cloth bag that prevents any large pieces of Cullet from being drawn into the column,
and is usually placed at the bottom of the column.
3-Melting in Furnace
he molten glass is now ready to leave the furnace at temperatures of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit ,
or more During this step most of the impurities resident in the raw material are removed.
Cullet is melted in the furnace at high temperature This stage is more important than any other ,
with respect to the quality of Cullet and the appearance of finished product.
4- Fabrication
Cullet blanks are fabricated into a variety of shapes and sizes by rolling spinning or pressing.
The next step in the glass making process is to cut grind and polish the block of Cullet into a finished product In most instances this includes producing rectangular sheets of varying sizes that are used for windows or other types of building materials ,
The manufacturing process also involves cutting thinner blocks and sheets in order to produce panes of glass ,
that can be used in things like skylights and windows As you can imagine there are many steps involved when it comes to actually fabricating the Cullet into something usable
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