Glass International February 2019

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February 2019—Vol.42 No.2

COMPANY PROFILE: ARDAGH CULLET COUNTRY PROFILE: PIRAMAL GLASS INSIGHT REFRACTORIES I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A GLOBAL REVIEW OF GLASSMAKING

Glass International February 2019

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To make glass better, put us in the mix.

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Contents

www.glass-international.com Editor: Greg Morris Tel: +44 (0)1737 855132 Email: gregmorris@quartzltd.com Editorial Assistant: Sheena Adesilu Tel: +44 (0)1737 855154 Email: sheenaadesilu@quartzltd.com Designer: Annie Baker Tel: +44 (0)1737 855130 Email: anniebaker@quartzltd.com

February Vol.42 No.2

Sales Director: Ken Clark Tel: +44 (0)1737 855117 Email: kenclark@quartzltd.com

2

Editor’s Comment

Sales Executive: Manuel Martin Quereda Tel: +44 (0)1737 855023 Email: manuelm@quartzltd.com

2

International news

Managing Director: Steve Diprose

9

Company profile: Ardagh Group Ardagh’s cullet approach reaches fruition after 10-year masterplan

9

Subscriptions: Elizabeth Barford Tel: +44 (0)1737 855028 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034 Email: subscriptions@quartzltd.com Published by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000. Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034.

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Official publication of Abividro the Brazilian Technical Association of Automatic Glass Industries

Member of British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation

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17

Recycling: Arup Rethinking the life cycle of architectural glass

22

Company profile: Piramal Glass Piramal’s digital transformation

26

Company profile: Pavisa Pavisa enters the French market

31

Case study: CIRCE Verallia project for ‘greener’ glass

34

Packaging launch: Stölzle Stölzle Flaconnage taps into the emerging rum market

36

History Forensics and Fibres

38

Refractories: P. Carlo Ratto An update of the global fused-cast refractory market

41

Refractories: Ruth Engel Refractory challenges in furnaces

46

Refractories: Sefpro Solutions for greener glassmaking

48

Refractories: Refel Start-up surface blistering

50

Refractories: DSF The evolution of mullite regenerators

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Chief Executive Officer: Paul Michael

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1 Glass International February 2019

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International News

2018 DIARY

GREG MORRIS, EDITOR WWW.GLASS-INTERNATIONAL.COM

February 2019—Vol.42 No.2

March COMPANY PROFILE: ARDAGH CULLET COUNTRY PROFILE: PIRAMAL GLASS INSIGHT REFRACTORIES I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A GLOBAL REVIEW OF GLASSMAKING

Glass International February 2019

FRONT COVER IMAGE: www.forglass.eu

JUMP! TO A BETTER FUTURE WITH US!

www.glass-international.com

Defying Dry January

How was Dry January for you? Did you manage to resist temptation for an entire month?

Dry January is a public health campaign in the UK that urges people to abstain from alcohol for a month. It is an opportunity to refrain after the excesses of the festive season in December.

An estimated 4.2 million people took part in the UK this year and overseas countries are also starting to participate.

I am not one of them though.

Not because I am partial to a drop of the strong stuff.

No, my worry is what impact this has on glassmakers of packaging glass.

Alcohol and glass are intrinsically linked. Surely if such a large number of the population decides to give up drinking this will have a detrimental impact on glass?

By taking part in Dry January am I inadvertently harming the sector I report on?

Despite my niggling concerns, the industry is still thriving.

Business is booming partly because of the backlash against plastic.

As you would expect, the plastic industry has reacted to this with a range of environmental initiatives.

Coca-Cola claimed glass is worse for the environment than plastic. The accusation was quickly rebutted but it highlights the work the plastics industry has done to change public perception.

Glass is easily recyclable and doesn’t deteriorate no matter how many times it is recycled.

Unlike Dry January, I’ll drink to that.

www.forglass.eu GI Cover feb.indd 1

04/02/2019 16:26:14

Qatar factory signs EPC contract Gulf Glass Factory has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Falorni Gianfranco for Qatar’s first container glass plant.

Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) owns 50% of Gulf Glass Factory and its CEO, Mr. AbdulRahman Abdullah Al Ansari, who is also Chairman of Gulf Glass Factory, signed the agreement with Mr. Riccardo Scarselli, CEO of Italian company Falorni Gianfranco.

The project will focus on the production of glass containers used in the packaging of water, soft drinks, dairy products and various foodstuffs as well as medicines and perfumes.

Design capacity of the plant in the first phase will be 200 tonnes/day through one furnace.

A second furnace will be built in the second phase of the project, which will raise the production capacity to about 450 tonnes per day.

The total cost of the first phase of the project is QR 238 million ($65.3 million) and is expected to reach QR 300 mil-

lion ($82.4 million) at the end of the second phase.

Natural gas is the main source of energy in this process. The project will be based on local sand available from QIMC’s sand washing plant.

Tests were carried out on local sand which proved its quality and suitability to produce glass containers.

The project will have a positive impact on the industrial sector in Qatar and will contribute to the development of the growing food & beverage sector which includes: mineral water, soft drinks, juices, dairy products, packaged foods (pickles, oils, sauces, jams, honey, etc.).

The food industry is gaining special importance from the Government and is expected to be one of the most important components of the national economy in the near future.

The project will satisfy the local needs of glass containers, which are currently imported from outside sources at high costs, in addition to exporting a some of its products to neighbouring Arab markets.

13-14 Celsian Redox-fining-quality Training session dedicated to understanding (the link between) redox, fining and glass quality.

Manchester, UK www.celsian.nl/subscribe/ 26 An introduction to glass One day course delivered by Glass Technology Services for newcomers to the industry.

British Glass, Sheffield, UK www.britglass.org.uk

April

2-5 Mir Stekla Annual exhibition for companies involved in all aspects of glassmaking.

Moscow, Russia www.mirstekla-expo.ru/en/ 16-18 Glass failure analysis Three-day course to understand the mode of failure.

GTS, Sheffield, UK www.glass-ts.com/glassfailure-analysis

May

14-15 Glassman South America Combined exhibition and conference focusing on the latest developments in the container glass industry.

Sao Paulo, Brazil www.glassmanevents.com 22-25 China Glass China Glass covers almost all fields pertinent to glass production, representing contemporary development of the industry.

Beijing, China www.chinaglass-expo.com

June

05-06 Furnace Solutions Two-day annual training day and conference focused on furnaces in glassmaking.

Stoke-on-Trent, UK www.furnacesolutions.co.uk

Be first with the news!

VISIT: www.glass-international.com for daily news updates

2 Glass International February 2019

February news.indd 1

11/02/2019 09:29:05

International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Bolivian glass container factory set to start

Syrian container glassmaker Modern Company for Glass Industries (MCGI) has invested in a new furnace.

The 145-tonne furnace is due for commissioning at the end of April and will increase the glassmaker’s capacity to 255 tonnes per day.

The investment also includes two new complete

production lines, palletizing solutions and latest technology inspection machines to enhance the plant’s production facility.

The glassmaker is located in the Hasyaa Industrial Zone near the city of Homs, Syria.

The glassmaker continuously produced glass despite the horrific conflict in the country

in previous years.

MCGI chairman Mr. Aiman Raslan said the glassmaker never stopped production despite the conflict.

“Not once did we consider stopping production. It has been very tough, particularly about three or four years ago, but we are all very passionate about our glassmaking.”

O-I Australia furnace rebuild O-I Australia appointed Dominion Industry for a major furnace rebuild.

Dominion was tasked with the complete removal and refractory replacement of O-I’s main melter, regenerators, refiner, forehearths and associated distribution channels.

The main melter crown has

a supersized brickwork arch, with a span of more than 7m and a length of 22m.

It required the installation of 35,000 bricks and fabrication of specialised engineered arch centres and scaffold systems to support the 160 tonnes of material and personnel.

The regenerator housings

were 12m high and 15m long, with approximately 200,000 bricks removed and replaced.

The regenerator crowns were also installed as a brick arch with internal crown formwork.

An infill checker pack was installed in both regenerators using 75,000 special-shaped bricks.

Ardagh Glass to close Illinois site Ardagh Group has decided to close its Lincoln, Illinois, USA glass container production facility with the loss of 150 jobs.

The site will close on or after April 30, 2019.

Its customers will be serviced from other Glass - North America facilities.

It described the closure as a ‘footprint adjustment’ and said that, combined with its ongoing focus on cost reduction, it aims to enhance its competitiveness, as well as optimise the effectiveness of its capital investments.

The container glass manufacturer closed its Milford,

MA, facility in March last year while its Ruston, LA plant furnace was placed on a six-month down time in July last year.

It said it would focus its efforts on pursuing growth opportunities in stronger performing end markets, such as wine, spirits and food.

Wiegand-Glas chooses Sorg furnace SORG has been awarded the contract for the planning, delivery, construction and commissioning of the first glass melting system in Wiegand-Glas’s Schleusingen plant.

The melting furnace is a gas-

heated regenerative endport furnace with a melting capacity of up to 450 tpd for flint and lightgreen glass.

Four forehearths will be connected to the melting furnace by means of a Sorg STW distributor.

According to the production machine configuration, Sorg will equip two Sorg 340S+ and two Sorg STF forehearths.

The melting furnace and the four forehearths are particularly optimised for the needs of Wiegand-Glas.

Graphoidal’s Thai Malaya Glass installation

UK lubrication specialist Graphoidal has installed its auto swab system in Thailand.

The company completed an installation at Thai Malaya Glass in January.

PSR management changes

UK-based Parkinson-Spencer Refractories has made some management changes.

After 44 years at PSR, 33 of them as Managing Director, David Parkinson has stood down in favour of his son Simon Parkinson who took over as Managing Director on January 1.

David’s daughter Joanne Parkinson is Commercial Director and Company Secretary. Simon and Joanne are the eighth generation to manage the company since it was founded in 1800 by Caleb Spencer. David Parkinson retains a part time position as Chairman.

Zedmex success

Refractarios Zedmex has celebrated its upcoming product line and second certification in Monterrey, Mexico. The refractory and ceramics manufacturer will launch a line of products for glass contact applications.

The product line will launch this year and include refractory ceramic materials and channels and feeders.

www.glass-international.com

Syria’s MCGI furnace investment

Bolivian glass container factory Envibol has started cold tests.

The tests will last for a month and if all goes well the geroup will then fire the furnace.

Envibol’s production capacity is 37,000 tonnes per year.

Depending on the size and type, the factory can produce more than 60,000 containers per day.

The first product line is expected to be bottles for honey and jams. .

3 Glass International February 2019

February news.indd 2

11/02/2019 09:29:15

International News

Top 10 stories in the news Our most popular news over the past month, as determined by our website traffic All full stories can be found on our website, www.glass-international.com/news � 1.

Gallo Glass relies on Siemens automation solutions � 2. Ardagh to close Lincoln, Illinois container glassmaking site � 3. Arc International asks staff to work more to avoid filing for bankruptcy � 4. FEVE discover millennial beauty fans prefer glass � 5. O-I selects Dominion Industry for furnace rebuild � 6. Wiegand-Glas chooses Sorg glass melting furnace for Schleusingen plant � 7.

Schott to invest €300 million in pharmaceutical packaging business � 8. Fives secures US container glassmaker order � 9. Qatar’s Gulf Glass Factory signs EPC contract � 10. Glaston Corporation acquires Bystronic glass for €68 million

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Vetropack appoints Zippe for Kremsmünster plant Austrian container glass manufacturer Vetropack has appointed Zippe Industrieanlagen for engineering work at its Kremsmünster plant.

Zippe executed adjustments and extensions in the batch plant area with three container scales and seven screw conveyors.

In the cullet return area it supplied three new scraping conveyors as well

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February news.indd 3

as five new vibratory trays and three new conveying belts, among others.

Besides the mechanical supply, the order also comprised the adjustment of the respective control systems.

Vetropack completed the reconstruction of one of the plant’s furnaces in the second half of 2018 to 240 tonnes a day.

The complete commis-

sioning was realised in November 2018.

Vetropack supplies the domestic beverage and food industry. The company develops individual, customer-specific glass packaging upon request.

Zippe has decades of experience in the reconstruction and extension of batch plants.

Glaston to acquire Bystronic glass for €68 million Glaston Corporation has signed an agreement to acquire the Bystronic glass Group.

The globally operating machinery, systems and services provider for the processing of flat glass is currently owned by Swiss industrial holding company Conzzeta.

Bystronic glass has a range of products, complementary to Glaston’s, for

the Architectural, Automotive and Display markets.

Glaston said it will now be a major player in the glass machinery business.

It will provide a product range including tempering, bending and laminating through insulating glass manufacturing and glass handling to automotive and display glass.

Pictured: Arto Metsänen, Glaston President and CEO

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11/02/2019 09:29:26

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Vidrala powers plants with wind energy

Vidrala is now powering its two Portuguese container glass plants with 100% renewable energy.

The Spanish container glass manufacturer said its Santos Barosa Vidros site in Marina Grande was certified as being 100% renewably powered in 2018.

Its Gallo Vidro site, also located in Marina Grande, can also now boast the accolade.

Both factories are supplied with renewable energy by Acciona through its electric energy sales subsidiary Acciona Green Energy Developments.

FEVE: millennials prefer beauty products in glass

A survey by the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) has found out that three in four of European millennials would opt for products in glass over any other packaging material.

77% of the 2,030 consumers surveyed thought that glass was the best packaging material for beauty, perfume and medical products.

Michael Delle Selve, Senior Communications at FEVE, said: “These results show that there is a genuine appetite among sustainabilityconscious consumers for more beauty products packaged in glass.”

www.glass-international.com

British Glass responds to plastic claim

British Glass has rebutted a claim by Coca-Cola that glass could be more damaging to the environment than plastic.

Dave Dalton, Chief Executive at British Glass, said: “Recycling glass is straightforward, unlike recycling many other packaging materials. A glass bottle is re-melted back into a glass bottle. And glass doesn’t deteriorate no matter how many times it’s recycled.”

Glass is infinitely recyclable back into new bottles and jars.

Glass can go directly into the local recycling infrastructure.

Zippe Industrieanlagen receives large order from Wiegand-Glas Zippe Industrieanlagen has received a further large order from Wiegand-Glas.

The project comprises a new batch and cullet house as well as two cullet return systems for the Wiegand-Glas plant in Schleusingen, Thuringia, Germany.

The new Zippe batch house at the Wiegand-Glas plant in Steinbach am Wald was put into operation recently. Zippe has now also received the follow-up order for the plant in Schleusingen (pictured).

Directly connecting to the existing production site, two new furnaces will be built for

the Schleusingen plant.

Zippe was granted the turnkey execution of the required batch and cullet house installation as well as two cullet return systems.

A project to supply the

Fives secures US order

Fives has secured an order with a US container glassmaker for a complete forehearth system.

The glassmaker is based on the east coast and is a producer of soda lime glass for the container market.

The system will be standard BH-F technology, known to be reliable, energy efficient, and

that produces high standard quality glass.

The works should take place this summer. The benefits of this technology is the reliability of the proven design, that fits the high glass homogeneity requirements of the customer, with a good energy efficiency.

Heye relies on motion control from Siemens Heye International has been working with Siemens to exploit the opportunities of digitalisation in a glassworks.

Heye’s offer to a glassworks is based on three areas: Smart data, smart machine control and smart process control, which includes the Heye servo drive control unit.

This coordinates the interaction between twin motor shears, servo plungers, and other components so that a range of heavy glass drops can be cut in a fraction of a second and distributed to stations in the

individual section machine.

The machine produces high-volume goods such as drinks bottles and consists of individual, independent production modules.

The motion control is provided by Siemens control technology. Motion control is produced by a Simotion D4352 which controls a scalable number of axes.

A Simatic Comfort Panel TP1200 provides simple operation as well as management and creation of reproducible motion profiles.

first melting furnace will be operational at the beginning of 2020, followed by a second line shortly thereafter.

The scope of supply involves complete steelwork as well as training plant personnel.

It is the first time Fives has worked with the customer.

Fives will manage the Design, Engineering, Procurement, Supervision of Construction and Commissioning of the forehearth system.

The work will take place this summer.

Motion control and HMI (Human Machine Interface) are engineered in the TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) engineering framework portal.

6 Glass International February 2019

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11/02/2019 09:29:28

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Company profile: Ardagh cullet

Ardagh’s cullet approach reaches fruition after 10-year masterplan It has been 10 years since the creation of Ardagh Group’s cullet task force.

Its aim was to maximise the quality and availability of cullet throughout the glassmaker’s European plants. Greg Morris spoke to Hans Hilkes about the organisation’s novel approach to cullet.

The Ardagh cullet team today: From left to right, � Peter West, Manager Best Practice Batch & Furnace � Wolfgang Cieleback, Manager Glass Technology (Nienburg) � Sven-Roger Kahl, Manager Furnace Operations and Innovations � Henrik Eriksson, Manager Glass Technology (CTS) � Hans Hilkes, Supplier Quality Manager � Brendan O’Meara, Cullet Process Engineer � James Byrne, Global Category Manager Glass Raw Materials � Koos Oostland, Quality Director

John Sadlier, Chief Procurement Officer for Ardagh, is not in the picture but is part of the team.

senior management, we’ve pushed ourselves to think outside the box.

“I’m convinced Ardagh Group is leading the way in terms of cullet. The main difference between us and others is that we have a central, team-based approach.

“The nice thing is that plant managers always used to complain about quality of cullet. Now they complain about availability and that is because the quality has improved.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

O

ver the past 10 years, Ardagh Group has transformed its approach to cullet.

The container glassmaker has reaped the rewards of a task force, which it formed in 2009, devoted to improving the quality and availability of the cullet used in its European furnaces.

The cullet group has analysed every aspect of the company’s approach to cullet, taking in its suppliers, individual plants, monitoring systems, specifications and procurement, among others.

In the succeeding 10 years, it has devised a cullet database for all 20 of its European plants and formulated a single group-wide approach to dealing with cullet. It has also organised regular cullet conferences, where suppliers and the glass manufacturer discuss the latest issues and opportunities in the sector.

Its dedicated approach has seen an improvement in the quality of cullet delivered by its suppliers, contributing to an improvement in the quality of its final products.

Its Supplier Quality Manager, Hans Hilkes, a member of the cullet task force since its foundation, said: “The reason for our success is that we haven’t followed the usual methods but, supported by

9 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Ardagh cullet

Procurement, they began to define their approach.

Staff, suppliers and its customers all had to be informed about the new centralised approach, to learn how it would work and, in some cases, change their established working practices. But first Mr Hilkes and his team had to form a plan of how they would approach the task. They used a Total Quality Management standard to formulate their goals, including auditing suppliers to ensure they delivered cullet to an approved specification.

The group also wanted to develop a cullet quality monitoring system, to assist procurement in ensuring that current and future cullet requirements were met, as well as to work with its glass plants to address any cullet issues.

Suppliers “The benefits in terms of energy usage and sustainability are recognised by Ardagh Group, our customers and by end consumers.”

� Mr Hilkes at Ardagh’s cullet conference in Amsterdam last year.

www.glass-international.com

Group approach In 2009 awareness of cullet was on the rise and customer expectations were increasing, so Ardagh Group’s management decided to re-invigorate its approach to cullet by forming a Cullet Process Map and Cullet Task Force to investigate.

Mr Hilkes said: “The awareness of cullet has increased in my time in the industry, partly because customers want improved quality cullet.

“Ten years ago, suppliers would accept 100 breakages in every 1 million bottles, five years later it was 10, now only one or even none at all. It has been a dramatic change.”

Cullet – the broken or waste glass that is recycled for use in glassmaking - is extremely important.

The organisation’s approach had previously been one where domestic cullet suppliers would be in contact with an individual plant’s batch and furnace departments.

This ‘local’ approach had worked well, but Ardagh’s expansion to become a pan-European glass manufacturer meant that it required a complete centralisation of its cullet process across all of its plants.

Mr Hilkes, who has worked with Ardagh Group since 1999, was among those assigned to the task because of his extensive knowledge of cullet.

He said: “For us cullet is a high-level quality raw material – we use 70, 80, sometimes 90% in our furnaces. It is not waste as some people think. It is important and brings many benefits.

“More cullet use means less energy is used, fewer virgin raw materials are used and it drives sustainability - it means glass does not end up in landfill.”

The task facing Hans was huge. Ardagh Group runs 20 European plants across eight countries and has a total of more than 40 cullet suppliers. Cullet Process Engineer, Ed Purtill, was soon added to the team and, together with Quality Management and

“I guess you could say I have lived and breathed cullet for the past 10 years. It has been an enjoyable time.

There is nothing as nice as doing something new with the possibility of creating lasting

”

change.

Hans Hilkes, Ardagh Glass

Critical to the success of the project was ensuring that suppliers delivered a consistent standard of cullet throughout Ardagh’s plant network.

The team defined a cullet specification valid for all Ardagh plants and products, replacing the previous system where cullet specifications had differed from country to country, and sometimes from plant to plant in the same country.

This required agreement on an acceptance level on contaminant levels, as well as specification values, such as the average levels over 10 deliveries.

Mr Hilkes and the team devised a cullet audit form which provided suppliers with a checklist of requirements. They also defined a standard testing method for cullet deliveries, with measurements taken of each plant delivery. Failure to meet these pre-set specifications led to rejection of deliveries.

“Suppliers now accept what we do, but at first it was difficult, because a lot of plants did not measure any cullet. When you start measuring you start rejecting and suppliers are never happy with that. We had a lot of discussions.”

In some cases, it also meant having difficult conversations internally to ensure that standards were met. Some staff were asked to change their established job procedures to ensure these measurements and testing took place.

“The main thing was that we had to show people that they would benefit from the new approach. If they see it as something that has to be done just to please others, it will not work,” said Hans.

Mr Hilkes and the team have always had the support of senior management.

“One of the main drivers of success is the commitment from across the glass packaging business and the wider Ardagh Group to this initiative.”

Besides Hans and Ed who were responsible for the day to day cullet business, a larger group was formed consisting of experts on cullet and glass furnaces, drawn from different regions.

This group meets once a year and is a ‘think tank’ to debate and devise standardised group Continued>>

10 Glass International February 2019

Company profile Ardagh.indd 2

12/02/2019 12:32:06

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Company profile: Ardagh cullet

ALIGNED APPROACH In Germany the BV Glas association has aligned its approach with that of Ardagh. Its cullet specification and cullet recycler audit programmes are fully in line with the Ardagh approach. Supplier audits are conducted jointly by the glassmaking industry, which means that audit teams can exist of staff from different packaging companies.

Mr Hilkes would welcome the German approach being replicated all over the sector because it would benefit all.

“For me we are all in this together, not only Ardagh Group and its cullet suppliers but our competitors as well.”

RECYCLING RATES

www.glass-international.com

Hans is a firm believer that more needs to be done to improve recycling rates in Europe.

He believes there needs to be a standard best practice definition rather than a mixture of systems such as bottle banks and multi recycling facilities (MRF) in Europe.

“For example, a bottle bank gives a yield of 80-90%, while an MRF gives 50-60%.”

Initiatives should be taken to encourage consumers to recycle more by informing them on what is recyclable and where to dispose of it.

Inner city collection systems and community collection schemes should also be discussed.

approaches, with the objective of improving cullet quality.

Another result of the new approach has been the formation of cullet laboratories in each facility and the appointment of at least one cullet specialist in each plant.

“We had to demonstrate to suppliers and customers how committed we were to achieving our goals in this area, and now have established facilities in every plant,” said Mr Hilkes.

A colour chart to define each cullet colour type was also agreed by team members and has been placed in every plant.

The chart is referred to if there is a disagreement about a particular cullet colour.

Cullet database Mr Hilkes’ proudest achievement is the development of a comprehensive cullet database, which can be monitored and updated by staff at each of Ardagh Group’s plants.

The database comprises of detailed cullet data from each plant. It enables live trend monitoring of cullet quality on issues such as pollution and

� Above. The cullet colour chart has been placed in every plant in Ardagh’s European network.

� Mr Hilkes.

“The nice thing is that plant managers always used to complain about quality of cullet. Now they complain about

”

availability and that is because the quality has improved.

colour as well as a range of other factors. In 2018 alone there were 36,000 entries while 1.6 million tonnes of cullet were checked.

“An enormous amount of work went into it.

12 Glass International February 2019

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“We are now at the stage where we just update the system but there were a lot of elements that we had to tackle initially such as contaminants, specification, colour specification, pollution, grain size, everything.”

The database has helped to improve cullet quality internally while it has also helped suppliers filter out unwanted inorganics.

Customers A substantial part of Mr Hilkes’ role was to also explain to key customers about the new process.

“We explained how we work and highlighted the situation on cullet and quality and the challenges for the industry. We showed them an example of bad cullet and what impact it can have on the furnace and products.

“They appreciated our commitment and it helped to give them an understanding of the glassmaking process.”

The task force also focused on giving continued support to its plants and suppliers. The team shares essential information on a regular basis and data from cullet tests is sent to suppliers each week. A thorough internal cullet quality report is produced each month. Every quarter the team issues a cullet newsletter which details trends of cullet use within Ardagh Group, best and bad practices, as well as general information.

Mr Hilkes said: “I had never embarked on such a project before over such a long period of time. But you can only do something like this when have the support of the people behind you.”

Conference One of the supporting elements of the new approach was Ardagh Group’s Cullet Conference. The concept has been a tremendous success and visitors to the conference have grown from 50 at the initial event in 2011, to 88 in 2018.

It gives suppliers, the glassmaker and customers the opportunity to discuss the latest trends in the sector and to overcome any challenges. Last year, Ardagh Glass CEO, Johan Gorter, opened the conference, explaining the company’s view on sustainability.

“The conference was conceived to communicate to our suppliers that we, as Ardagh Group, want more than a standard supplier-customer relationship.

“We wanted to show them not only what we want to achieve, but also what we have to offer, and how we can work in partnership together to meet our goals.

“We seek cooperation in our mutual interests to drive continuous improvement and to achieve a win-win situation for all of us. We are in this together and therefore need each other.”

Its cullet approach is now well-established in Europe and the next step is to implement it in its US plants.

Work has already begun and there is a dedicated cullet specialist overseeing the project.

While the project is almost completed, Hans still has ideas on areas for improvement, such as the introduction of suction systems to remove organics from cullet. But for now, he is happy to oversee the new approach to cullet.

He states: “I guess you could say I have lived and breathed cullet for the past ten years. It has been an enjoyable time! There is nothing as nice as doing something new, with the possibility of creating lasting change.” �

*Supplier Quality Manager, Ardagh Group, Dongen, The Netherlands www.ardaghgroup.com

Company profile Ardagh.indd 4

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GLASS SERVICE

A Division of Glass Service

Recycling

Rethinking the life cycle of architectural glass Graeme DeBrincat* and Eva Babic** from Arup describe a new network to enable recycling of flat glass back into the float line and back into architectural glass. collected. The key requirement is to keep the post-consumer glass contamination free during the deconstruction and collection process.

developed an understanding of the current recycling logistical structure and typical refurbishment construction process and supply chain. Arup has investigated the processes required to write a robust specification for the recycling of construction flat glass in refurbishment projects.

Designs and specifications for new façades should follow guidance to maximise the potential of glass to be recycled. This can drive the increase of waste construction flat glass recycling.

Raw material use For every one tonne of recycled glass cullet used in the manufacture of float glass, 1.2 tonnes of raw material is saved[4].

This reduces requirements for mining and quarrying, as well as the associated processing and transportation.

Energy use As cullet melts at a lower temperature than raw materials, for every 10% cullet added to the furnace, 3% less energy is consumed. British Glass has described this as 300kWh of energy saved for every one tonne of cullet used[4]. � Fig 1. Model of the construction glass recycling industry network.

The flat glass industry has started to explore the development of end-of-life building glass collection, sorting and recycling and is ready to use more recycled glass in its manufacturing process, and therefore save raw materials, energy and reduce CO emissions[3] and to contribute towards creating a circular economy.

Through this research, Arup has

CO2

A reduction of CO2 emissions of 250300kg is realised for every tonne of cullet added to the furnace[4].

Landfill And of course, by recycling construction glass in a closed loop cycle, the amount of materials sent to landfill and its associated disposal costs are reduced.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

A

ccording to the European Commission, construction and demolition waste (CDW) is one of the largest by mass and most voluminous waste streams generated in the EU. It accounts for approximately 25%30% of all waste generated and consists of numerous materials, including concrete, bricks, gypsum, wood, glass, metals, plastics, solvents, asbestos and excavated soil, many of which can be recycled[1].

In the construction industries, glass is used for a range of products including internal partitions and display cases, but primarily it is used as architectural glass in windows and glazing systems of all building types and across all sectors.

Glass is also utilised in photovoltaic panels applied to buildings and infrastructure projects.

A Deloitte sustainability study showed that despite its recyclability, end-of-life building glass is almost never recycled into new glass products[2]. Instead, it is often crushed together with other building materials and put into landfills or recovered to low-grade fill applications.

Glass is an inert material that has the potential to be recycled in a closed- loop system indefinitely. Coupled with the short service life of insulating glass units (double and triple glazing) there appears to be a disparity between the material’s potential and its current utilisation.

Supported by Arup’s internal research and development funding stream, Graeme DeBrincat and Eva Babic have researched why end of service life construction glass ends up in landfill or downcycled. They propose considerations for new design opportunities as well as describe a new network to enable recycling of flat glass back into the float line and back into architectural glass.

The UK has more than 200,000 tonnes of glass available for recycling, if correctly

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Environment Recycling

� Fig 2. The same model could be replicated with similar collection and manufacturer transportation distances across the UK.

www.glass-international.com

Change to the existing process It is likely that in the next few years, the construction and demolition industry will need to become more resource efficient and circular in its practices.

For example, the UK government has recently set a target to work towards ‘zero avoidable waste by 2050’. A change is already being seen in the way buildings are refurbished and demolished.

The idea of buildings as material banks is seen as attractive economic and sustainable opportunity.

The construction and demolition industries must continue to refine and alter their processes to overcome the challenge of contamination of glass cullet in order to increase the availability of quality cullet for the re-melt process.

We see the refurbishment industry, particularly projects of domestic window glazing replacement and commercial building glazed façade upgrades, as an

ideal opportunity to increase construction glass closed-loop recycling.

Another example of where a major change will be required is photovoltaic panels.

The wide-scale adoption of photovoltaic solar panels in the construction industry is part of the global drive to move away from carbon intensive forms of energy production.

PV panels consist of 76% to 89% (by weight) of glass, depending on the technology used to construct them[5].

Current life expectancy of solar panels is about 30 years and they tend to use toughened glass, which is difficult to cut or process for re-use and it is therefore likely that recycling of the glass may be more suitable than re-use at the end of service life.

As these panels are decommissioned and replaced in the future, there will be a source of glass available for recycling in addition to glass available from refurbishment and demolition of buildings.

the glazing units, removing frames and spacer bars for commercial gain from the materials resale value.

A broker coordinates the cullet materials available from a number of small collectors. The broker has connections with the float glass manufacturers and the experience and business acumen to develop this relationship and gain the best financial rewards for larger quantities of high quality cullet from a number of collectors.

The broker can organise, arrange transportation and gain best economies by using backhaul opportunities from the float manufacturers glass delivery logistical systems. In the observed model, the transportation distance between collector and float glass plant is in the order of 200 miles.

Figure 2 shows that the same model could be replicated with similar collection and manufacturer transportation distances for a similar network in various locations of urban development across the UK, including London and the south east, a major centre of construction activity in the demolition and refurbishment sectors.

As transportation distances between main populations and glassmanufacturing plants does not vary greatly across much of the developed world, this network arrangement could be replicable across the globe.

The network

Design for recycling

The growth of the construction glass recycling industry requires a new network to develop. Through our research for a future pilot project located in Glasgow, Arup has observed that this network is already organically growing in the central belt of Scotland.

This structure has the potential to be expanded and duplicated around the UK, creating a sustainable industry that can supply the demand of high quality glass cullet to the glass float lines in northern England.

The model, simplified in Fig 1, is suitable for global adoption but must be based on local coordination.

The developing network in the central belt of Scotland has a number of sites, which include building refurbishment and demolition projects from all sectors, each of these include a design team, contractor and client. A small number of collectors are active who are willing to collect and transport the glass units in the order of 50 miles to break down

It is our responsibility as designers and engineers to consider circular economy principles and material selection from the very beginning of the design process on our projects.

This will require a change in how we work, what materials we choose and how we influence our client’s choices in material decisions.

It will also require research and innovation to find materials and methods of construction to enable reuse or recycling of all the major components.

Changing how components are connected, to enable easier disassembly without damaging them, use of dissolvable bonders and use of lime mortar in masonry construction, are just a couple of examples of a more circular approach being advanced in building design.

Continued>>

18 0 Glass International February 2019

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53035 MONTERIGGIONI (SI) ITALY - Strada di Gabbricce, 6 Tel +39 0577 304730 ifv@fonderievaldelsane.com

www.fonderievaldelsane.com

Environment Recycling

� Fig 3. The Burrell Collection Building in Glasgow.

Glass process

Recyclable to float line

Notes

Annealed glass

Yes

Readily recyclable

Cutting and edge processing

Yes

No effect on recyclability

Laminating

Limited

Current methodology for delaminating reduces quality.

Requires improved delamination processes to ensure stays in closed cycle level.

Current methodology means laminated glass goes to container glass or mineral wool

Heat strengthen

Yes

No effect on recyclability

Toughened (or tempered)

Yes

No effect on recyclability

Heat soak tested

Yes

No effect on recyclability

Glass coating (hard and soft)

Yes

No effect on recyblability

Ceramic printing and fritting

No

Current methodology does not allow for recycling of ceramic printed glass

Insulated glass units

Yes

Requires removal of the spacer bars and edge seals, limitations on processing of individual panes as noted above

Low iron glass

Yes

Specifying low iron glass may require float manufacturers to reduce the recycled glass content to ensure a clear product is achieved.

Further discussion with glass supplier on a project basis is required.

www.glass-international.com

� Table 1. A summary of typical glass processes and their effect on the recyclability of the glass for consideration during the design process.

The glass design equivalents would be to design out the use of laminate glass units or ceramic frit, which both make glass recycling challenging or impossible right now.

Ceramic fritted glass cannot be recycled, and the process of delamination currently applied in the UK tends to crush the glass in to small particles, which cannot be used as cullet in float glass manufacture.

This suggests designers need to review the current trend of laminated glass in double-glazed units, which are often required to achieve the technical performance specified of modern building façades.

Alternatively, we can approach the challenge from the other side, and through research and technical development find better ways to delaminate glass altering the interlayers or upgrading the delamination process.

To promote and actively influence the industry Arup, with its refurbishment clients, is exploring opportunities to include the requirement for glass recycling into specifications on our projects.

A summary of typical glass processes and their effect on the recyclability of the glass for consideration during the design process is outlined in Table 1.

Pilot Project Building on this work and earlier practical projects such as the Lloyds building and Verde SW1, Arup is carrying out a fullscale pilot on the refurbishment of the Burrell Collection Building in Glasgow.

Approximately 3000m2 double glazed units are to be removed from the public building. This project will work with partners in the construction and glass industry to monitor all aspects of the glass removal, recovery and recycling to gather real world data on the practicalities and economics of the glass recycling process to further inform future projects and develop improved recovery networks for construction glass. It will be captured, explained and promoted in a short video and is currently underway with the glazing subcontractor appointed and refurbishment works progressing.

Conclusion Glass is an inert material that has the potential to be recycled in a closed-loop system indefinitely.

Coupled with the short service life of insulating glass units (double and triple glazing) there appears to be a disparity between the materials potential and its current utilisation.

Using recycled glass to make new glass products generates significant energy and

CO2 savings, and contributes towards creating a circular economy.

The full Arup report is available from its website www.arup.com/perspectives/ publications/research/section/rethinking-the-life-cycle-of-architecturalglass. �

References 1 European

Commission,

Construction

and

2016.

demolition

Waste. waste.

[online] Available at: <http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/waste/construction_demolition. htm> [Accessed on 21 February 2018] 2

Hestin M., de Veron S., Burgos S., 2016.

Economic study on recycling of building glass in Europe. Deloitte Sustainability.

3

Glass For Europe, 2013. Recycling of end-

of-life building glass.

4

Glass Technology Services, 2008. UK Glass

Manufacture; A Mass Balance Study.

5

Green Match, 2017. The Opportunities

of Solar panel Recycling. What Happens to PV Panels When Their life Cycle Ends. [online] Available at: <https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/ blog/2017/10/the-

opportunities-of-solar-

panel-recycling> [Accessed on 21 February 2018]

*Senior Engineer, **Façade engineer, Arup, Glasgow, Scotland, UK www.arup.com

20 0 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Piramal Glass

Piramal’s digital transformation

Why did you decide upon this digital technology for your manufacturing operations?

Piramal Glass is committed to continuously adding value to its customers. Although we are a B2B company, we want to provide our customers, many of them millennials, a B2C experience.

Real-time visibility, anytime/anywhere service, faster delivery and quality products are the benefits our customers will gain from our Digital Transformation programme.

For our manufacturing operations, there has been a clear need for real-time visibility of operations to improve operational efficiency. Glass manufacturing is a complex process with many interacting variables.

With digital technologies such as IoT and AI, we are combining science with the art of glass manufacturing to produce high-quality products.

www.glass-international.com

Where in the glass plant is the technology deployed?

We have developed a custom developed platform, called RTMI (Real-Time Manufacturing Insights), which leverages digital technologies to enable real-time monitoring and advanced insights for end-to-end plant operations.

By retrofitting advanced sensors on production lines and integrating with existing equipment, we are able to provide a real-time process view on PCs and smartphones. The smart workflows, customisable dashboards and real-time notifications provide actionable insights to our furnace, production and quality personnel.

We have also implemented a cloud-based energy management system that integrates with advanced meters to provide real-time view and advanced analytics for electricity, natural gas and compressed air consumption.

In addition, we have implemented computer vision and AI to enhance inspection, safety and worker effectiveness. We are also piloting voicebased technology to improve the quality process.

How long did it take to implement the technology across all plants?

We initiated a pilot of RTMI on three production lines and started monitoring the results.

Based on the quality of insights we were getting, coupled with feedback from the users, we decided to enhance RTMI with powerful features and scale it out to 46 production lines across our plants in India (Kosamba, Jambusar), Sri Lanka and USA. This massive exercise was completed within a rapid timeline of six months.

� Bottle forming machine at the Kosamba plant.

� Piramal Glass Director, Mr. Vijay Shah.

� Decoration at Kosamba.

Was much staff training required?

Change is a key in any business transformation initiative. For RTMI, we had involved the plant personnel right from the conceptualisation phase which resulted in a strong buy-in for the system.

While the system was designed to be intuitive and interactive, we had developed an extensive training programme, combining classroom and hands-on training to educate the plant personnel on using the system. So far, we have imparted about six hours of RTMI-focused training for more than 1000 plant personnel and we will continue to do so, on a regular basis as we enhance the system.

You have deployed the technology across all four of our plants. What was the thinking behind this?

The benefits of RTMI were visible from our initial pilot. Since we had developed RTMI to be a scalable and configurable solution, we wanted to reap the benefits across all four of our plant

22 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Piramal Glass

Mr. Vijay Shah, Director at Piramal Glass and Executive Director of Piramal Enterprises discusses the recent investment in the glassmaking group of Microsoft digital technology.

ďż˝ Bottles on the production line at Jambusar.

locations. In addition, there was demand from plant personnel to implement this quickly so as to get real-time visibility and reduce the paperbased processes that they were following earlier.

Is there an emphasis on digital technology within the group?

What benefits have you seen so far?

With digital transformation, our goal is to create a compelling experience for our customers and optimise our operational efficiency.

Based on our roadmap, we have invested in numerous digital initiatives in areas of Smart Manufacturing (Industry 4.0), Smart Supply Chain, Connected Workplace and Customer Delight.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

About two years ago, we made a strategic decision to become a digital leader in the industry and hence, we undertook various initiatives to move in this direction. Firstly, we hired a Chief Digital Officer whose role was to transform Piramal Glass and its various divisions by leveraging digital technologies. We have an enterprisewide digital strategy with a clear roadmap of prioritised initiatives. Our investments in digital and automation initiatives have been successful and are yielding the envisioned benefits.

We have plans to drive digital-led business transformation, by enhancing collaboration and innovation, improving organisational agility and focusing on customer-centricity.

With our objective of becoming a global leader in glass packaging, we are committed to being future-ready by investing in digital and automation technology.

23 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Piramal Glass

What do you consider to be Piramal’s strengths? Who are your customers and geographically where are your markets?

With RTMI, we improved our production efficiency by 1% within eight months. With more streamlined and paper-less processes, we have improved productivity of plant personnel by 10%.

With technology upskilling of our workforce, there has been a major cultural change, resulting in an innovative and agile organisation.

Piramal Glass is a global specialist in design, production, and decoration of premium glass packaging. We are the largest speciality glass player in Asia and have been the fastest growing glass packaging company in the world for more than a decade.

Some of our key strengths are – � Quick adaptability and responsiveness to market changes due to our skilled workforce, comprehensive processes & advanced equipment. � Our capacity of 1375 TPD helps us to satisfy immediate increase in any customer’s requirement. � We have presence in all corners of the globe and across multiple product segments such as cosmetics, perfumery, speciality food and beverages as well as pharmaceutical. This helps in booking capacity irrespective of ups and downs of a specific segment. � We deliver the best ratio of ‘quality to price’ among all glass players. � Being a part of a large conglomerate, we have the financial strength to invest in capacity increases and technology upgrades. � Every year we introduce 50 new designs of nail polish and 25 new designs of perfume as standards for mass market. This helps us to maintain our supremacy the in mass market. � We have local offices across the globe which helps us to remain close to our customers despite the manufacturing base being in India.

Do you think your customers would have seen any benefits from the new technology?

Absolutely! Most of our digital initiatives positively impact the customer’s journey. Our Smart Manufacturing and Smart Supply Chain initiatives enable better predictability of our planning, production and logistics. Our Connected Workplace initiatives including innovation management, e-Learning and AI-based Chatbot’s enable upskilled and satisfied employees to service our customers. As a part of our Customer Delight initiatives, we have rolled out product catalogue apps and augmented reality tools for customers to conceptualise new designs.

In order to be closer to our customers, we are also in the process of implementing highly interactive collaboration tools to enable new product development. Ultimately, we would like to create an amazing experience for our customers!

In your opinion, will more glass plants implement this digital technology?

Piramal Glass has been an early adopter of digital technologies, and we started investing in it two to three years ago. Digital, Smart Manufacturing & Industry 4.0 technologies have now reached an inflection point and it is imperative for glass companies to invest in these areas to remain relevant. We believe that, in the next three to five years, the competitive advantage of a business in any industry will be driven primarily by innovations in Artificial Intelligence.

Do you anticipate further digitalisation within your plants in the future?

www.glass-international.com

Absolutely! While we are one of the digital leaders in the glass industry, there is still a huge scope for digitalisation at our plants. We already have a roadmap in place and are working aggressively to implement these in all our plants over the next one to two years.

Was Microsoft already active in the glass manufacturing industry ?

Microsoft has made available for us its IoT and AI platforms along with its ecosystem of partners, who have manufacturing technology expertise that allows rapid deployment of highly scalable cloud-based applications.

We also have an ecosystem of partners, including start-ups and data scientists, which work with our plant experts to build customised solutions relevant for the glass manufacturing industry.

� Jambusar furnace.

While we have customers across 40 countries, our key markets are Europe and USA. Some of the brands that we service are Dior, Yves Rocher and Calvin Klein in the Cosmetics and Perfumery sector. Pfizer, Merck and Mylan in the Pharmaceutical sector; and Diageo, Bacardi and Smuckers in the Speciality Food and Beverage sector.

Do you anticipate the production of glass to grow in India in future years?

Yes, production of glass will invariably increase in India in the future. India is the largest unexplored market for perfume. According to studies, there will be massive growth in the perfume industry in Asia, especially in India.

Owing to the growing need for personal grooming coupled with the increase in spending in beauty and wellness products, the perfume industry will see substantial demand in India.

With global cosmetics companies that will come to India to tap into this large market, there will be an increase in demand and a subsequent increase in production of glass in India. �

Piramal Glass, Mumbai, India www.piramalglass.com

24 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Pavisa

Pavisa enters the French market It’s been six months since premium glass manufacturer Pavisa formed a French subsidiary in Paris. The Mexican glassmaker formed Pavisa France to address the region’s needs. Greg Morris spoke to Pavisa France’s President, Arturo Franco.

F

� Pavisa uses three glass manufacturing processes: manual, semi automatic and automatic.

“Most projects are sophisticated so we need to be close to clients and to deal with their enquiries

”

rapidly

www.glass-international.com

amily-owned Mexican glassmaker Pavisa has been manufacturing glass for nearly 70 years.

It prides itself on the fact it is one of a few glassmakers which uses three glass manufacturing processes: manual, semi-mechanised and automatic.

Until recently the group, based at Naucalpan just outside Mexico City has predominantly served the domestic and US markets. But last year it spotted a gap in the market and formed the Pavisa France subsidiary to serve the European market.

The group is headed by well-known industry veteran Arturo Franco, perhaps best known for his time as general manager of French semi-automatic glassmaker, Waltersperger.

He said: “Pavisa is a partner of choice for luxury brands because the family-owned company offers automatic, semi-automatic and hand-blown manufacturing.

“We feel Europe is an interesting market. The premium perfume market is dominated by French brands with about 50% of the global market.

Similarly, in the spirits market a lot of big brands are based in Europe.

“We want to bring our innovation capacity and our flexible production tools to the international market. Our goal is also to support local customers in global markets, and global players newly established at the local level. Since we employ all three manufacturing processes for hollow glass, Pavisa can meet all the needs of prestigious customers, with very attractive pricing.”

26 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Pavisa

Design and development Mr Franco is fluent in Spanish and French and, with an office in Paris, will ensure Europeans will not have to encounter the seven-hour time difference between the region and Mexico.

He will help facilitate the design and development of glass projects.

“Most projects are sophisticated so we need to be close to clients and to deal with their enquiries rapidly.”

The company has a similar entity in the USA, which has been a success. From its early foundations it has grown to employ five people, which includes a designer and sales staff. There are similar plans to grow the Paris office if the subsidiary takes off.

The company will focus on the French market to begin with but believes there is huge potential in perfume and spirits in Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. Mr Franco said: “We believe this is a market for Pavisa because Pavisa is a premium positioning company due to its manual and semi-automatic capacity.”

Pavisa’s positioning is one of the most unique in the world, Mr Franco believes.

It was founded in 1952 and specialises in premium packaging. The glassmaker’s business has been focused on the domestic and US markets in the tequila segment, including the Patron (Bacardi group) and Don Julio (Diageo) brands, mezcal, bourbon and rum.

Today it employs approximately 100 glassmakers at its plant near Mexico City to craft manual glass.

The handmade glassware pieces and sculptures are sold through its Nouvels Studios brand throughout the world.

For its semi-automatic process, it has four furances with a total capacity of 40-tonnes. In addition it has 20 machines and 20 robots all at the same location.

On top of this it has a 300t/day, three-furnace capacity, which uses the automatic process.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

Pavisa’s positioning

27 Glass International February 2019

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Company profile: Pavisa

Its decorative business, located 40km away from its main plant, specialises in the finishing of glass.

The site contains three Kammann K15 screen printing machines as well, two hot stamping machines, two spray painting lines, a frosting line and a labelling line. Its decoration capabilities are available to its European customers.

Offering For its French customers, glass will be sourced from Mexico and delivered to customers.

Mr Arturo said: “Pavisa is already doing some exceptional things in semi-automatic such as 10kg bottles and a 60 litre champagne bottle made manually. There are some good automatic glassmakers in France but none have these capacities in semi-automatic or manual.

“The perfume and spirits markets are now experiencing strong growth and premiumisation.

It is a trend that will amplify in the future.

Containers will be more sophisticated and in smaller quantities so the semi-automatic process will be required. There is plenty of potential, I am convinced of it.”

Mr Franco has already met a number of customers interested in Pavisa’s offering.

“Many of them are interested in the flexibility and quality because there is no similar offering in Europe.This is a unique project because it is not known for a Mexican company to do this in

Europe. It shows the ambition of the company and its owner.”

The company is also open to partnerships in Europe either in glass or decoration production.

Mr Franco has settled quickly into his new role at Pavisa after spending eight years at Waltersperger, based in Blangy-sur-Bresle in Normandy, France There he became acquainted with the big brands of the industry such as Bvlgari and L’Oreal. He started working for Waltersperger in 2010 shortly after the financial crisis of 2008. Things initially went well and he helped secure contracts with the likes of Dior and Chanel and the portfolio of orders grew. But things turned sour after a new furnace was installed, which did not refine the glass very well. It led to a dispute with the supplier and a four-year legal case. A deal was reached where an amount of money was paid to suppliers and staff.

The group was then sold to an investment banker and his wife before Mr Franco left in March 2018.

He joined Pavisa the following month and was immediately impressed by the group’s thinking.

“It’s a growing company – it had 20% growth in 2018. Pavisa is a very good company, very open and uses the latest technology. If they don’t have it now they try to catch it. They have the know- how, the ability and flexibility.” �

Pavisa France, Paris, www.pavisa.com.mx/en/ Email arturo.franco@orange.fr

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Case study: Furnace efficiency

Spanish project for ‘greener’ glass A collaboration involving Verallia’s Zaragoza plant with the CIRCE research group and the local university developed new tools to reduce energy consumption in its furnaces. Greg Morris visited CIRCE to find out more.

� Ana Isabel González Espinosa (inside left), Carmen Bartolomé Rubio and Cristina Gonzalo Tirado and Dr Miguel Gil, Fuels and

A

trio of Spanish organisations have worked together for the past four years to produce more environmentally friendly glass.

The e-Glass project saw them developing technology to supervise combustion and efficiency in regenerative heat exchangers inside glass furnaces.

The results achieved show that the technology developed can help lower energy consumption and emissions by 3%. This also reduces operating and maintenance costs, which means a considerable improvement in the competitiveness of the business.

e-Glass project Verallia’s Zaragoza plant in Spain has been involved in a project with two local organizations to produce more environmentally friendly glass.

The four-year project saw Verallia Zaragoza working with the Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE) based in the Spanish city and the local university.

The aim was to develop technologies focused on improving the efficiency, control and maintenance of the plant’s regenerative glass furnaces.

The three CIRCE staff members assigned to the task were Dr Cristina Gonzalo Tirado, Dr Carmen Bartolomé Rubio and PhD Ana Isabel González Espinosa.

Verallia had previously worked with the CIRCE organisation in other projects but it was the first time the three staff members had worked with the container glassmaker.

The e-Glass project took place between 2014 and 2018 and its objective was to improve the glassmaker’s efficiency, by reducing fuel consumption and, consequently, reduce gaseous emissions.

Each CIRCE staff member was assigned a specific task.

Dr Gonzalo Tirado was required to formulate a system based on technologies and methodologies for cleaning slag in regenerative heat exchangers.

Dr Bartolomé Rubio was tasked to design a system to constantly measure

gas emissions at the outlet of the melting furnace as a way to reliably control efficiency.

Dr González Espinosa was asked to create a digital flame image processing system to monitor combustion more closely, detect malfunctions and create predictive models to identify new and improved operating points.

All three of them had experience in the combustion process and in heavy industry. Working in a glass plant was a new experience for each of them and provided a learning curve about how the material is made.

Heat exchanger cleaning tool Dr Gonzalo Tirado has expertise in heat exchangers. She had developed models to calculate energy efficiency and had experience of image processing for these applications.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

Technology Group Director.

31 Glass International February 2019

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Environment Case study: Furnace efficiency

Flue gas monitoring

CIRCE’S BACKGROUND

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CIRCE was formed in 1993 originally as a support centre for a carbon power station where CIRCE was involved in activities related to the improvement of the combustion process. It later widened its focus to the investigation of biomass combustion and cocombustion, including activities related to the optimisation of combustion equipment.

It was also focused on energy intensive industries where the combustion processes are used to provide energy resources. The group carries out the monitoring and simulation of their thermal systems and had worked in projects such as TOPREF, EDEFU and NIWE. The experience of its Fuels and Combustion Technologies Group in the combustion process helps industries to improve combustion efficiency.

In parallel, it also has experience in the acquisition and processing of images for different applications, such as flame diagnosis and the characterisation of biomass particles. These technologies were extrapolated to Verallia’s problems.

It also has experience working with heat exchangers and the problems associated to the fouling and cleaning of heat exchangers.

The organisation will move to new headquarters in Dinamiza Business Park in Zaragoza at the end of February (pictured above).

Since 2009, it has had a permanent delegation in Brussels to facilitate participation in European R+D+i projects, as well as interaction with the main networks and European agencies in the energy sector.

Of the Zaragoza plant she said: “The heat exchangers would get clogged and it was necesary to develop a tool to obtain information on where to focus the cleaning tasks.

“We developed an image based tool based on cameras that take images from inside the heat exchanger. We also developed software able to process the images and detect which areas of the heat exchanger are clogged.”

The image-based diagnosis tool she helped develop was used to continuously monitor the regenerator state.

The implemented system allows for reliable measurement of the degree of obstruction of this type of heat exchanger. It is also a useful tool to support maintenance scheduling as well as provide information about the obstructed areas to focus the cleaning work. In addition it helps increase the

� The e-Glass project developed a series of technological improvements to reduce fuel consumption and consequently lessen emissions.

heat exchange efficiency and reduce fuel consumption in the furnace.

The prototype developed within the project has been operating for more than a year. It is an automatised system which captures an image from the regenerator, processes it and identifies the degree of obstruction. The result is shown in a monitor in the control room.

Dr Bartolomé Rubio was tasked with developing a probe to measure the composition of the flue gases in the harsh environment of a furnace.

She has expertise in combustion processes and in thermal plants, but had not worked in a glass plant before.

She said: “It was challenging because it is a difficult environment to measure. The harsh conditions inside the furnace, such as the high temperature around 1500°C, the presence of incandescence particles and corrosive gases made the design of this type of instrumentation extremely complicated.”

The probe she helped design was able to obtain the CO and O2 composition of the flue gases.

This development allows for the continuous monitoring of the flue gases at the furnace exit. The implementation of the continuous measurement system is key to regulate the operating conditions of the furnace and to reduce fuel consumption.

Flame image-based tool Dr González Espinosa – alongside colleagues from the University of Zaragoza - developed a flame image tool to help diagnosis of combustion process monitoring.

She said: “We installed a camera inside the furnace and focused on the flame.

The camera is a new sensor to check what is happening inside the furnace and can use the information to support the operator and the process. It is a good lowcost measuring technique.

“It is not intrusive, which is important.

It is difficult to have any sensors in this environment because everything gets burned. It is also useful because you can see something that is happening in the moment, you don’t have to wait to see what is happening in the compositions.”

The tool means combustion malfunctions can be detected and warnings generated to support the operator in the decision-making process.

While the tool was not implemented at Verallia Zaragoza, the implementation at an industrial plant offers benefits for operation and maintenance, as well as a reduction in costs and GHG emissions, improved safety and the digitalisation of the process - a further step towards Industry 4.0.

Continued>>

32 0 Glass International February 2019

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ABOUT THE E-GLASS PROJECT The aim of the e-Glass project was to develop advanced technology to supervise combustion and efficiency in regenerative heat exchangers inside glass furnaces.

It was backed by financial support from the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness within the 2014 Collaboration Challenges programme.

ANNEALING LEHR

Benefits to Verallia All measures developed in the project will provide support to plant operators to run their equipment in a more sustainable way.

The measures are expected to improve both the operation and maintenance of the equipment involved and improve security for the operators and the plant.

The selective fouling detection system helps to plan regenerator maintenance work, allowing a reduction in the duration and cost of these works by up to 50%. It also means more efficiencies are obtained during the maintenance works, saving between 1% and 2.5% of natural gas consumption.

Thanks to the O2 and CO measuring probe, operators have additional information for combustion regulation. It is estimated that Verallia is now saving up to 3% of its natural gas and emissions.

Although it has not been completely implemented in the plant, promising results were obtained with the flame monitoring system. Its benefits are the visualisation and recording of the interior of the industrial furnace in a harsh environment and the generation of different alarms related to the combustion diagnosis. It is estimated that up to a 3% of natural gas could be saved in a plant the size of Verallia Zaragoza.

HOT-END COATING

Future projects CIRCE has been consolidating the research line focused on the flame image-based combustion diagnosis tool, with further activities within the DISIRE European fund project in collaboration with Dow Chemical. This research has a long trajectory because its developments are the main part of the CIRCE activities in another recently started European project called Bamboo. This project is in collaboration with the world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal.

The selective fouling detection system was also installed in the Zaragoza facility’s new furnace.

CIRCE and Verallia have identified and analysed further projects to further research together.

CIRCE is also interested in expanding its work to other glass plants.

It has learnt a lot about the glassmaking industry and has identified some of the problems and new research lines. It believes it can contribute its expertise to help the sector become more sustainable and competitive.

Melting furnace emissions are still one of the main concerns of the sector. NOx legislation is expected to become more restrictive in future years.

Primary techniques for the reduction of NOx will be based on combustion modifications such as a reduction of air/fuel ratio, staged combustion and low-NOx burners. �

CIRCE, Zaragoza, Spain www.fcirce.es/

COLD-END COATING

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20/12/2018 17:59:39

Packaging launch: Prestige Standards

Stölzle Flaconnage taps into the emerging rum market Stölzle Flaconnage has introduced its Prestige Standards rum bottle offering, which was produced with start-up businesses in mind. Rob Sherwood and Gary Steen* spoke to Sheena Adesilu to discuss how the concept was conceived and designed.

S

tölzle Glass Group has launched its Prestige Standards Range for the rum market.

The range was created when the manufacturer researched the market and discovered a trend in rum enquires and bespoke rum bottles.

The new range was produced with startups in mind, who may not have the capital for fully bespoke bottles in the same way larger spirits companies do, but still want their glassware to feel premium and to the highest standard.

Stölzle developed a range of 12 different bottle shapes. Each has precision-engineered glass bottle standards as a canvas for bringing spirit brands to life. All bottles are categorised by four different

families. The Straight and Taper ranges are made up of four bottles, each with two height options.

The Barrel range offers two bottles of differing heights, and the Conical range includes two silhouette options of the same height.

Each bottle in the range has the capability to be coloured and customised to a business’ brand aesthetic. Brands can also decorate their bottles with a number of techniques including, but not limited to, Screen Printing, Acid-Etch Spraying and Precious Metal Application.

Gary Steen, Sales Director for Premium Spirits at Stölzle Flaconnage, said: “We started to form a Continued>>

� Rear left to right: John Head (design engineer), Michael Rudak (graduate designer).

Front left to right: Rob Sherwood (Design Manager), Melissa Borundsky (Engineering Intern), Declan Toyne (graduate designer), Dan Stokes (graduate designer).

34

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picture that rum was getting exciting for people.

“We are aware that the sector is trying to generate more high-end and aged rum, as well as sell aged rum at a higher price point and make the dark rum sector more premium.”

“We analysed what shapes fit rum and we think that timing is key. We’ve generated some bottles, which we hope will be attractive to the rum guys and allow us to get ahead of the curve.”

The company believes rum will go through the same trend cycles as vodka and gin in recent years.

These two beverages in the past have occupied a share of the market and grown exponentially.

Consumers took standard vodka and premiumised it to make the packaging more exciting and attractive.

There was also a huge choice in the gin market three or four years ago.

Consumers returned to standard products such as Gordon’s and Bombay Sapphire, which pushed gin into the premium area.

People are now looking for something new and rum appears to be the popular choice.

Rob Sherwood, Design Manager at Stölzle Flaconnage, said the Prestige Standards range was developed by three design engineers with input from an engineering intern.

The three graduate design engineers are Dan Stokes, Declan Toyne and Michael Rudak.

Alongside design engineer John Head, Rob gave them guidance on design and manufacturing in terms of artwork and renderings.

Mr Sherwood said: “The creative process came from these young guys in their mid-20s. They’re very much from the computer age and use all the media platforms. They’re looking at things such as the latest innovations and trends. They’re taking cues from those and what they felt was indicative of a rum brand.”

The team developed the shapes through researching trends within the sector and identifying key features that would allude to the Rum market and appeal to the target audience.

“They are all really creative minds. The bottles that we’ve launched have got longer necks and are more elegant, a feature that was driven by the increased demand in premium cocktails and the rise in promotion through social media, something the guys observed as trend, one which doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

“The range has been driven by these three designers and what they perceive would work as a range of standards.”

He added: “The guys spoke to our in-house decorating departments to look at what type of decoration techniques could be used on the bottles. Something that pushed the shape of the container was the opportunity to be able to put as many types of decoration on it.

“So they spoke to our guys and prepared some visuals, which indicated the sort of decoration that would be available on the bottles.”

� Stölzle has tapped into the emerging rum market with its new launch.

He added: “I’m very proud of the way in which the guys in my office have dealt with this and the work they have done to bring this to fruition.”

The Stolzle design department has grown in the past few years, previously acting solely as a production lead drawing office creating technical drawings for mould manufacture and assisting the production team with modifications. Now, creativity is very much part of the day to day, with the combination of manufacturing knowledge and creativity in the office, the design team at Stolzle offer a full design service right through from concept to final production.

All this is supported with the latest prototyping equipment (3D printers), rendering and visualisation software.

The range was launched with start up company’s in mind.

Rob said: “One of the things that drove us was the fact that there were so many people starting up with gin. The thought was that there may not be as many of these start-up companies but it’s likely that there will be a lot of requirements for smaller quantities.”

The range is produced internally so means the bottles can be produced quickly end efficiencly.

This works particualy well for standard bottles where customers want a good price rather than something difficult to manufactuure and which is more expensive.

The Prestige Standards offering has been shared with all its sales team so is available to all the markets Stölzle sells to.

Mr Steen concluded: “Customer feedback so far has been good. Customers that manufacture standards have been doing it for a long time and have got a good range.

“But during the time we developed, customers wanted a larger variety and larger range. We pride ourselves on the fact that we are generally easy to work with and are very accommodating.”

He added: “The bottles in our Prestige Standards Range can help those starting out craft a solid and flexible look for their brand.”�

Stölzle Flaconnage, Knottingley, UK www.stoelzle.com

www.glass-international.com

Packaging launch: Prestige Standards

35 Glass International February 2019

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History

Prof. John Parker

Forensics and Fibres John Parker* and co-author Helmut Schaeffer from Berlin provide an account of the role of glass fibre within a World War Two operation.

www.glass-international.com

B

eing awoken by the persistent, penetrating and unexpected trill of a telephone 45 minutes after midnight is never pleasant and was made worse by the date - February 14, 1943 - and the caller - the German State Secret police.

Receiving the call was Prof Wilhelm Eitel, the director since 1926 of what is now the Fraunhofer-Institut für Silicatforschung in Würzburg but then was the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Silicatforschung (KWI) in Berlin. His considerable expertise was in demand.

Prof Eitel undoubtedly was appalled by the explosion which had that evening rocked the railway station on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin. The authorities were desperate to uncover those responsible. Amongst the debris were large quantities of glass fibre; discovering its role and origin could help to identify the perpetrators and their motives.

A consultation with Detective Inspector Strübing 30 minutes later gave Prof Eitel an initial view of the samples. He realised they were not mineral or slag wool, products that had been used for decades for insulation. There was something odd about them, hinting at a foreign origin.

He saw the devastation caused at 02:40.

Initial investigations suggested the device was hidden inside a suitcase which had completely disintegrated.

Fragments of an unusual, strikingly large wristwatch were found, presumably the timing device, which had triggered the explosion.

The watch was apparently foreign; first thoughts were that it came from the Slavic countries. Prof Eitel suspected that the timer had been wrapped in glass wool to muffle the sound of ticking.

After promising the full support of the institute, a sample was handed over and Dr. Adolf Dietzel, glass technologist there, was informed at 7am, initiating a flood of activity.

Dietzel began by analysing the fibres.

Their refractive index (1.505) excluded a slag or mineral wool source; they had a high durability with an unexceptional composition. Glass wool was typically made by drawing a melt through multiple fine nozzles and stretching the fibres further using air or steam jets, a process mimicking a natural phenomenon in volcanic regions when strong winds can fiberise erupting magmas.

Significantly, such processes create fibres with a circular or elliptical crosssection while the supplied samples were in the form of ribbons.

By 11.30am the Managing Director of the Business Association of the German Glass Industry, Dr. Ing. Mette, had been asked for a list of companies that produced glass wool.

His reply indicated that wool of the type found was only produced in Germany by Grünzweig and Hartmann in Ludwigshafen and Rosengart in BergischGladbach, but added that the patents and machines for these processes were also widely used abroad.

Within 15 minutes Detective Inspector Strübing had been notified of the initial conclusions and had telegraphed G&H to request samples of its production.

Samples were provided within 24 hours but differed significantly from the glass wool at the crime scene.

By 15:45 on the same day Dr. Mette was invited to name other manufacturers who make insulating glass wool.

He listed the following in Germany: (1) Cork stone factory C. & E. Mahla, plant Lauf/Pegnitz; (2) Glass fibre factory Katowice East ‘Isolation’; (3) Glass Factory Birkenbach & Co., Witten-Annen/ Ruhr; (4) Glass fibre factory Eduard Held, Reichsstadt, Sudentenland; (5) Glass Factory Bilin, Bilin, Sudentenland; (6) Glass Factory Engels & Co., Dux, Sudentenland. A number of factories based in occupied countries were also identified including in France: (1) Saint-

Gobain, Franières; (2) Saint-Gobain, Boussois, Boussois/Sambre; (3) SaintGobain, Rantigny/Dep. Oise. In Norway there was Glass Dad in Oslo. Belgium and Holland had no production facilities.

By February 17, all the German production had been fully investigated.

The chemical composition of the fibres in question was not exceptional and did not allow differentiation but its flat ribbon-like profile suggested an unknown manufacturing process.

No German product had similar characteristics so the investigators turned to samples from foreign sources.

By March 18 the suspect fibres were linked to an experimental operation at Saint-Gobain in Rantigny, which was producing a ribbon-like glass wool using a centrifugal process.

The implication, although not explicitly documented, is that the explosion was the responsibility of the French Resistance.

The report, among the historical records at the Berlin Institute, concludes by observing that: (1) The crime led for the first time to a large-scale comparative study of glass fibres; (2) Even then, chemical analyses were carried out using HF digestion (3) a new approach to centrifugal fiberising was finally patented

by Saint-Gobain in 1951.

After WW2 Prof Eitel was one of 1500 German scientists moved to the USA under ‘Operation Paperclip’, a name based on the practice of marking selected record cards using paperclips.

Following employment at the office of Naval Research in Norris, Tennessee, he was appointed director of the Silicate Research Institute at the University of Toledo, Ohio from 1952 to 1961. �

*Curator of the Turner Museum of Glass, The University of Sheffield, UK www.turnermuseum.group.shef.ac.uk j.m.parker@sheffield.ac.uk

36 Glass International February 2019

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WHERE THE HOLLOW GLASS INDUSTRY MEETS SOUTH AMERICA 2019 TO DO BUSINESS 14-15 May 2019, Sao Paulo Expo, Brazil

A RETURN TO BRAZIL South and Central America has been one of the most dynamic regions in the hollow glassmaking sector in recent years. There has been a host of new glassmaking facilities that have opened recently and there has been a renewed interest in the region thanks to its favourable economic and political conditions.

This, coupled with an increased disposable income among the population’s consumers, has seen a surge of confidence in glass packaging.

In short, there has never been a better time to expand your business within this region and we are delighted to be taking Glassman to Sao Paulo in 2019. Don’t miss out, reserve your exhibition stand now.

TO FIND OUT MORE CONTACT:

We are looking for producers, manufacturers and service providers within the following fields to exhibit their products and services: • Raw materials

• Processing machinery

• Batch Plants

• Laboratory services & analytical equipment

• Melting furnaces • Combustion equipment • Refractories • Feeders & forehearths • Hot end handling materials & systems • Annealing & decorating lehrs • Cold end handling materials & systems

• Decoration materials & equipment • Instrumentation/process control systems • Turnkey plant construction services & technical assistance & training • Software providers

• Tempering/laminating plants

Ken Clark, Sales Director t: +44 (0)1747 855117 e: kenclark@quartzltd.com Manuel Martin Quereda, International Sales Executive t: +44 (0)1737 855 023 e: manuelm@quartzltd.com

CONTACT US TO BOOK YOUR STAND

WWW.GLASSMANEVENTS.COM/SOUTH-AMERICA Organised by:

Join the Glassman Group

Glassman_SouthAmerica_1p_Ad.indd 1

Official media partner:

@glassmanevents

11/09/2018 13:28

Environment Refractories

An update of the global fused-cast refractory market P. Carlo Ratto* discusses the future of the fused-cast refractory market and indicates that Chinese influence has reduced in recent years. Its fused-cast manufacturers need to modernise their business if they are to regain market share, he suggests.

I

last wrote about the Chinese market for fused-cast refractories - the so-called low-cost sources - four years ago. These manufacturers introduced the need and availability of independent services to the industry and aimed to minimise the risks/ benefits ratio associated to a glassmakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; low-cost procurement.

In the preceding four years more of these services have generated value for glassmakers. They have made access to low-cost options more accessible and conscious, including

progressive integration between laboratory investigations and technical/ technological auditing of goods, services and manufacturing technology.

It is now time to take stock of the situation of low-cost manufacturers of fused-cast that, due to the peculiar story of the segment, were born and are still exclusively located in China.

Fused-cast refractories are a small minority (possibly less than 0.5%) of global refractory output (Fig 1).

Refractories as a whole are not one of the

major primary goods when considering the global trends of the real economy.

Nevertheless the history of fused-cast refractories (>90% for the glass industry) has followed macro economic trends, and has been under the effect of critical milestones such as the entry of China in the WTO in December 2001 and the occurrence of the first global financial and economical crunch that is still in its evolution since 2008.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

ďż˝ Fig 1. The history of fused-cast refractories followed macro economic trends.

38 0 Glass International February 2019

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Refractories

100000

68993

32736

42452 37147

47593

57361 52388

80000

74318

63241

60000

40000 20000 2012

2014

2016

2018

� Fig 2. Chinese GDP increase between 2010 to 2022.

� Fig 3. Historical average wages in China (Yuan/Year).

Fig 4 .Chinese unemployment rate from 2012 to 2023.

Fig 5. Total Chinese population from 2001 to 2023.

Today’s situation If we take a picture of today’s situation, a relatively large number of Chinese fused-cast manufacturers - of which just a handful have significant export capability by means of western partnerships have exhibited reduced commercial aggressiveness versus the situation a decade ago.

These companies seem to be less committed to export opportunities and, often, pay more attention to the domestic market, that seems to still be less exigent in terms of quality and services per the price they are willing to pay.

This situation is the result of two combined forces: First, the general level of goods quality (and/or its perception) and the availability of associated services are still behind compared to what is offered by western market leaders (their historical competitors).

This situation has the consequence

to reduce Chinese refractory sale prices, which are still under the average market price.

Second, the cost advantage of these Chinese manufacturers, once a huge point of strength (but rooted in labour costs), has been eroded by long term inflation in the average labour cost, subsequent to the need to develop the internal market, so as to replace part of the export compromised by the global crisis (Fig 3).

It should be considered that the Chinese economy is closely managed by the political single party. This artificially drives trends to maintain social stability through various means and among them taking strong control of the unemployment rate (Fig 4).

Leaving the economy forces more free to shape the environment, as in capitalistic systems, in fact, you could not have a stable unemployment rate in the presence of a slowing economy (at least a strong reduction in the growth rate) in a greatly expanding population (Fig 2 and 5).

2020

China therefore is replacing exports with internal expansion, not skimping to inject huge amounts of stimulus as soon as the unemployment count shows even a minor tendency to increase.

In the meantime, the western market has also evolved. One single company, Sefpro, has grown organically and through acquisition. It dominates the global market, with a large manufacturing presence in Europe (France, Italy), Japan, China and India (multiple locations). It has a blend of high and low cost facilities, global handling of technology and manufacturing flexibility.

Sefpro’s competitors, in Europe and USA, are reduced to single unit businesses, handled by private equities, struggling to develop long term industrial strategies and to compete globally (and profitably), with manufacturing units in high cost locations only.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

2010

39 Glass International February 2019

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Environment Refractories

Sefpro is progressively developing its manufacturing capacity in India, which is now relatively more competitive than China (with an incomparably more stable labour cost) with the non-negligible side effect of preventing any other player from taking advantage of this alternative lowcost basis.

The presence of larger low-cost capacity in India, handling a world level technology (that in spite of being not exactly the same as the original western is backed by the guarantee of the global market leader), is yet another brake to the penetration capacity of the Chinese lowcost companies to the west.

Sefpro’s approach to Industry 4.0 evolution, with implications not only at manufacturing level but also on marketing its evolved services to clientele, as observed in the recent glasstec exhibition, is further evidence that independent Chinese competition is being left behind.

This is particularly evident in regards to the services component of these businesses, that was never a strong point of these companies.

Can we still call them ‘low-cost’?

Time to revamp technology For the Chinese players it will become imperative to revamp quality, efficiency, technology and to make available to

customers the needed range of services.

This will progressively reduce the recourse to price leverage for selling.

In the long-term perspective of fusedcast refractories, therefore, the world will lose a singularity that, for decades, put the globalised market in the hand of an economic superpower threatening the existence of western competitors by means of a purely commercial competition. In that same foreseeable future, the world will acquire more ‘regular’ Chinese competitors, offering a comparable level of goods and services to the glass industry, in a multi-player environment, without the risk of a single dominating monopolist.

But for now, we are still in a critical transition phase which requires glassmakers to pay great attention and apply for deep competence in order to discriminate between procurement alternatives, different prices and different levels of quality and reliability, so as to get the best available advantages, staying far from unnecessary risks. �

*Owner, fused_cast@technologist.com, Pordenone, Italy.

D&Co. | www.dandco.it

Personally, having suffered the threat

represented once by the surge of Chinese low-cost competition against western manufacturers, I am relatively glad to see a more balanced marketing situation. It is time for us to wonder for how long we will still legitimately call them ‘low-cost’.

Together with the evolution of Chinese GDP and the income rise of their citizens, the cost and price of these special refractories will progressively increase towards world level.

Other components of the competitiveness deterioration are the persisting excess of manufacturing capacity and the increased governmental crunch on pollution, causing a range of inefficiencies and costs to manufacturing plants.

When this process of transformation from a low-cost anomaly to a more ‘normal’ configuration reaches a more advanced stage than now, competition will move from purely commercial to quality/value parameters, at least for the export component of Chinese output.

www.glass-international.com

Excellence Made in Italy

SOUTH AMERICA 2019 14-15 May 2019, Sao Paulo Expo, Brazil

www.refel.com

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

14-15 May 2019 - Sao Paulo Expo, Booth D12

40 0 Glass International February 2019

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Refractories

Refractory challenges in furnaces Ruth Engel* discusses the refractories and issues for glass furnaces expected to stay in continuous service for 10 to 15 years or more.

Furnaces Glass furnaces have evolved in size and longevity while, at the same time, production temperatures, throughput and product requirements have become more challenging. Fig. 1 shows the changes in campaign length and amount of product as a function of decade of startup. These improvements can be related to larger furnaces, better designs and refractories, greater control of the process and more timely preventive maintenance.

The most common problem areas for these furnaces are shown in Fig. 2 which also indicates the prevalence of each category.

Refractories

10

10000

8

8000

6

6000

4

4000

2

2000

0

0

Years life

Total campaign produciton, t/m2

12000

SUPERST RE

GE

REGENER

NE

RA

TO

RS

THROATS

RE

12

Continued>>

U UCT

14000

The crown is generally lined with silica either as brick or castable. An insulating package is usually added to the cold face to minimise thermal losses. The advantages of using silica are its creep and alkali resitance, and volume stability.

Lately, much work has been done to improve the alkali resistance of the brick, a key property that affects their longevity.

Traditionally, silica bricks are manufactured using quartzite. Silica fused grains, based on chemically pure quartz sands, are also used today. For brick production a small amount of a sulphite solution is added as a pressing aid while lime is used as the binder and mineraliser. This lime reacts with the fine silica fraction forming β-2CaO-SiO2 at temperatures >600oC, and also 3CaO2SiO2. Around 1000oC these transform to pseudo wollastonite (α-CaO-SiO2).

During firing of silica brick care has to be taken to account for the silica’s polymorphic transformations from quartz to tridymite and/or crystobalite,

RSTR

14

Crown

E SUP

Campaign life, years

Glass furnaces’ length of continuous service is ever increasing. To achieve this goal, furnaces are zoned with different types and/or qualities of refractories.

Over time, the refractories have

the possibility of glass contamination, effect on colour and environmental issues at the time of the refractory’s disposal, its use has greatly decreased and it is often not considered.

undergone many changes to improve their consistency and quality, address environmental concerns, while at the same time, minimise glass defects.

Among the challenges for improved furnace life are refractory wear and its effect on glass quality, repair methods that can be carried out while the furnace is in service, techniques for monitoring refractory wear during operation, energy use and its source, etc.

Appropriate refractory selection should consider that the temperatures for melting and refining glass fall in the 1300oC to 1550oC range, and are composition dependent. In addition, the bath’s oxidation state (redox) influences the type and severity of the bath’s reaction with these refractories.

Because the bath is mainly heated by flames through radiation (top down), the temperatures under the crown can reach 1650oC or higher and the gases in this area are often loaded with alkalies which are detrimental to refractory life. A summary of the most important refractory requirements for each zone (Fig 3) are listed in Table 1.

A limited number of refractory types are compatible with the conditions listed in Table 1. Their components are plotted on a quaternary diagram (Fig. 4). Not shown is chromic oxide (Cr2O3) which can also be added to the refractories. Because of

THROATS

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G

lass melting furnaces come in many sizes and types. The ones expected to stay in service the longest, present the greatest challenges and are the most demanding of their refractories.

Consequently, many studies and much work has been carried out to address their problems and develop methods for their repair which minimise production disruption.

SIDEBLOCKS

BOTTOM

t/m2

� Fig 1. Furnaces Life and Total Campaign Production, in the period 1920 -2015*1 � Fig 2. Furnace high maintenance areas*2.

BOTTOM

SIDEBLO

41 Glass International February 2019

Refractory Ruth Engel.indd 1

08/02/2019 12:01:23

Environment Refractories

Bottom-sidewall

Insulation

MgO Magnesia

Crown

Super-structure

Spinel

Forsterite ZrO2 Dense zircon Bottom Dog-house

SiO2 Silica

Side-wall

� Fig 3 Schematic of the different furnace zones*3

Bonded AZS AZS Mullite

Al203 Alumina

� Fig 4 Glass furnace refractory compositions *4

Area Conditions

Requirements

Crown (working lining)

Alkali vapours

Volume stability. Low permeability. Creep resistance

High and variable temperatures

Thermal shock resistance

Super structure

Batch carry over

Thermal shock resistance

High temperature

Corrosion and erosion resistance

Volatiles: alkali vapours

Side walls

High temperature

Corrosion resistance

Glass corrosion

Chemical compatibility

Machinability Bottom paving

Glass corrosion

High refractoriness under load

Machinability

Corrosion resistance

Safety layer

Glass contact

Corrosion and erosion resistance

Insulation

High thermal load

Low thermal conductivity

� Fig 5 Silicate drip*4.

Good mechanical strength

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� Table 1. Refractory requirements for the different areas in a glass tank furnace which are accompanied by a linear expansion of about 4%. This is less than theoretical based on the volume changes associated with the silica transformations and is due to a pore size decrease with temperature.

Use of fused grain does not require attention to these transformations but, at temperatures > 1470oC, the amorphous silica will convert to cristobalite while the refractory remains volume stable.

Unfortunately, once the silica has undergone this transformation thermal cycling from temperatures >1000oC to room temperature lead to cracking.

Crown refractories have to withstand alkali attack, thermal shock as a result of burner cycling and localised high temperatures. Work has been carried out to improve the alkali resistance of silica brick by decreasing or eliminating the amount of lime added during production.

This has lead to brick with low flux content, high densities and a small amount of viscous melt phase which can be attacked. Alkali attack of silica refractories is considered a greater problem when using oxy-fuel rather than air-fuel burners because these burners have a higher flame temperature.

In addition, the nitrogen in the air is

42 0

removed, thereby decreasing the diluting effect of the combustion products which leads to an increase in the concentration of the alkalies. This increase can range from three to six times of that present when using air-fuel burners.

Alkalies, in particular NaOH, and to a lesser extend KOH, react with the CaO in the amorphous and the wollastonite phases in the refractory, decreasing their viscosity (equation 1).

In addition, the higher temperature together with increased alkali concentration result in a low viscosity alkali silicate liquid which can easily penetrate the brick’s open porosity through capillary action weakening the bond phase and attacking the silica grains (equation 2). This reaction takes place at relatively low temperatures (<14001450oC). The liquid can also run down the superstructure picking up alumina and/or zirconia. If this drips into the bath it can lead to glass defects (Fig. 5).

2NaOH(g) + (CaO-SiO2)(s) = Na2O (CaOSiO2)(l) + H2O(g) (1)

2NaOH(g) + SiO2(s) = Na2O-SiO2(l) + H2O(g) (2)

Another crown refractory problem is ratholing. It is the result of sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) penetrating the refractory along joints and condensing when it reaches the region between 785oC to 955oC. The addition of an appropriate insulation package can move this region out of the crown refractory into the insulating layer thereby avoiding the problem.

Colloidal silica (sol gel technology) bonded silica castables can also be used to line the crown. Their advantage is the absence of calcium that alkalies can react with and the absence of joints which affect the ability of these alkalies to penetrate into the lining.

They also bond to existing refractories, do not form ratholes and can quickly be brought to use temperature as they contain no chemically bonded water.

Their disadvantage is that they require construction of forms, and material costs may be higher than using brick.

Although the discussion has focused on silica refractories to line the crown, some installations use fused-cast alumina because they show better resistance to alkalies. Nevertheless, the alumina can Continued>>

Glass International February 2019

Refractory Ruth Engel.indd 2

08/02/2019 12:01:25

• Glass Melting Furnaces • Batch Plants • Engineering • Project Management • Turnkey Projects • Lehrs

For more than 70 years HFT has provided world class engineering, procurement and construction services to the global glass industry. Our leadership, experience, quality focus and attention to details have given HFT a highly respected reputation worldwide.

Engineers and Contractors to the Glass Industry

3009 Washington Road McMurray, PA 15317-3202 USA

+1 724 941 9550

Fax: +1 724 941 3479

info@hft.com

www.hft.com

Environment Refractories

Furnace bottom Zirconia (monoclinic ZrO2) Eutectic ZrO2/Al2O3

Glass

AZS Paver

Clay Flux 305mm/280mm thick

Eroded block

Glassy phase Alpha (α) alumina (Al2O3)

Probe positions

Several measurement spots per clay flux block to map area

� Fig 7 Radar imaging: schematic of bottom wear determination showing

� Fig 6 Typical fused-cast AZS microstructure*5.

layout of measurement spots*6.

also be attacked as shown in equation (3) NaOH + Al2O3 = NaAl9O14

Superstructure A variety of refractories can be found in this area: sintered alumina-zirconia-silica, also called sintered zirconia-mullite, silica or fused-cast alumina. Wear issues are similar to those of the crown.

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Side wall/bottom The sidewall and bottom refractories in contact with the molten glass are generally some type of fused-cast alumina-zirconia-silica (AZS) block.

The sidewall’s area of highest wear is at the glass line where refractory-glass-air come together. The bottom refractories in contact with the glass are generally exposed to slightly lower temperatures and higher glass viscosity than the sides due to temperature stratification within the melter. The exceptions are the areas close to bubbler, stirrers and electrodes.

Fused-cast AZS blocks are manufactured by melting mixtures of highly refractory raw materials in an electric arc furnace and casting the melt into moulds for cooling. The process leads to a fill cavity, shrinkage voids and/or density variations even if undergoing controlled cooling.

Their locations are dependent on the fill direction of the block and the cooling process itself. The fill cavity may be removed if the block is to be used in a critical application.

Fused-cast AZS refractory’s corrosion resistance is the result of low to nonexistent apparent porosity, the block’s microstructure and its glass phase. The crystal phases are mainly α-alumina, monoclinic zirconia and a zirconiaalumina eutectic co-precipitate, which can be seen as interlocking dendrites

in the glassy matrix. (Fig. 6). This glass phase is rich in silica, has some alumina and contains most of the impurities from the raw materials (alkalies and others).

It is deformable at high temperature thereby absorbing the zirconia volume changes due to its polymorphic phase transformation. Because it is considered a source of glass defects, formulations have been developed that increase the amount of ZrO2 and minimise the glassy fraction so as to improve erosion resistance and minimise exudation.

A furnace bottom and sidewall has other refractories in addition to fused-cast AZS blocks. The bottom should have a safety layer which can be brick, monolith or both and both areas have insulation as the outermost layer.

Exudation Exudation is the migration of the glassy phase of the AZS block to its hot surface where it comes in contact with the melt.

It takes place in two stages: the first occurs when new block(s) undergo initial heating. Its magnitude is a function of the care taken during the fused-cast manufacturing process such as quality of raw materials, oxygen lancing and degassing to minimise the gases left in the product. The amount and composition of the glassy phase in the blocks will subsequently control the amount of exudate generated. In addition, once it is on the refractory’s surface, its viscosity is affected by the redox state of the surrounding materials.

Repairs Furnace refractory conditions should be monitored on a routine basis. The effect of refractory wear can sometimes be seen from the outside, glass oozing or shell/refractory glow, but it is often

hidden from view. To monitor the hidden high wear areas, several non-destructive approaches have been developed. Among them are endoscopy, thermal imaging of the interior or exterior of the furnace and the latest one, radar imaging (Fig. 7).

The information obtained should be used to plan repairs to slow the rate of wear and prevent breaching. They can be carried out while the furnace is in operation or hot and can consist of overcoat installation, addition of external cooling, ceramic welding particularly of the crown and replacement of sidewall blocks.

Conclusion Long furnace life can be obtained by the selection of appropriate refractories for the different areas in the melter and carrying out preventive maintenance.

These activities have been aided by the development of more wear resistant refractories and the ability to monitor the condition of all areas in the furnace. �

References 1.- ”Prolonging glass furnaces campaign life, over the last 100 years - Part 1”, F. Salvino, presented at Glassman Middle East - Abu Dhabi, 2016 2.- “Monitoring Refractory Wear”, G. Evans, The Refr.

Eng., 2006 3.- “Refractories for Glass Industry”, TRL Krosaki Refractories presentation AIGMF, 2012 4.- “Glass melting furnace refractories and refractory related defects”, B. Izmirlioglu, S.Yılmaz, J.Chem.

Tech. and Met., v 50, 2015 5.- “Fused-cast refractories for high quality Glasses”, A.Gupta, R. Heldrich, Ref Vetr Soc. Cer. Ital., 2013 6.- “Furnace bottom thickness blind trial at float line”, SmartMelter, 2017

*Owner, Refractory Consulting Services, ruthengel@refractoryexpert.com www.refractoryexpert.com

44 0 Glass International February 2019

Refractory Ruth Engel.indd 3

08/02/2019 12:01:26

WHERE THE HOLLOW GLASS INDUSTRY MEETS TO DO BUSINESS

THE EUROPEAN HUB FOR THE HOLLOW & CONTAINER GLASS MARKET Join us in Lyon for the biennial Glassman Europe event focusing on this important market for hollow and container glass manufacturers. This regular, popular event gathers together leading suppliers to demonstrate their latest innovation, products and services.

In 2017, there were over 800 attendees from 25 countries, including representatives from O-I, Verallia and Ardagh. The press coverage from the event included a wide range of articles in national and regional business media.

TO FIND OUT MORE CONTACT:

We are looking for producers, manufacturers and service providers within the following fields to exhibit their products and services:

• Raw materials

• Processing machinery

• Batch Plants

• Laboratory services & analytical equipment

• Melting furnaces • Combustion equipment • Refractories • Feeders & forehearths • Hot end handling materials & systems • Annealing & decorating lehrs • Cold end handling materials & systems

• Decoration materials & equipment • Instrumentation/process control systems • Turnkey plant construction services & technical assistance & training • Software providers

• Tempering/laminating plants

Ken Clark, Sales Director t: +44 (0)1747 855117 e: kenclark@quartzltd.com Manuel Martin Quereda, International Sales Executive t: +44 (0)1737 855 023 e: manuelm@quartzltd.com

CONTACT US TO BOOK YOUR STAND

WWW.GLASSMANEVENTS.COM/EUROPE Organised by:

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Official media partner:

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11/09/2018 13:28

Environment Refractories

Solutions for ‘green’ glassmaking Dr. Michel Gaubil* and Dr. Diane Nicklas** highlight the opportunities that refractories provide for environmentally conscious glassmaking.

� Fig 1 Superstructure using super lower AZS

� Fig 2 Use of HZFC for tuckstone application

refractories

� Fig 4 Bottom paving solutions: FC tiles with double layer of refractory FC grains mortar

� Fig 5 Thermal studies for regenerators

Fused cast AZS paving tiles Ersol 06

Ersol 50 Insulation bottom tiles Ersol SL

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I

46 0

n addition to innovation and enhanced performance at optimised costs, the glass industry is also striving for an ecological set-up and footprint for glass melting furnaces.

The environmental importance of lower emissions is steadily increasing. In Europe, as well as the rest of the world, environmental regulations for CO2 and NOx are becoming tighter.

Additionally, there is a global focus on the ‘after life of refractories’ when the furnace’s lifecycle has reached its end.

Some materials must be classified as hazardous waste.

Refractory solutions actively support these ecologically responsible trends, and offer various possibilities for the modern glass industry.

CO2 and NOx emissions

Several well-known furnace construction concepts and technologies contribute to reduced CO2 or NOx emissions.

Electrical boosting, greater insulation at both glass contact and superstructure, oxy combustion technology and high performance regenerators are some of the concepts and technologies that have led to higher refractory benchmarks.

Better thermal insulation results in reduced thermal losses and a better efficiency of the furnace, but also can result in higher running temperatures, increased exudation and increased corrosion.

There are several highly qualified products in the refractory portfolio that meet all those requirements. The use of low or extra-low exudation fused cast AZS in combination with high alumina and/or high zirconia fused cast materials has proven to perfectly match with high temperature furnace conditions (Fig 1).

The deep understanding of the specific corrosion processes allows the design of superior refractory shape and material combinations. (Fig 2):

The latest solutions for tuckstones will be composite ceramics with high compression resistance and low thermal conductivity (Fig 3a and b). They contribute to avoid thermal losses in the cooled area and are much less sensitive to cracking than conventional material.

Consequentially the stability of the superstructure and also the thermal protection of the below located soldier blocks increases and contributes to a longer furnace lifetime.

Electrical boosting directly results in a higher temperature at the bottom of a glass furnace, in parallel with an increased convection flow rate of the melt. Using fused cast tiles is the well-known answer to those challenges. The application of a complete refractory solution system is the advised progression.

Void free fused cast tiles with extra tight joints (>0.5mm) offer a higher quality Continued>>

Glass International February 2019

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08/02/2019 12:49:44

Refractories

Harmonised dilation A Harmonised dilatation of the various

fumes and air flow as well as the fuel type and consumption.

All those parameters influence multiple corrosion processes which are complex and vary from top to bottom of the furnace, following the thermal gradient and fume cooling temperature: from vapour corrosion at the top of a regenerator, over slag condensation in the middle range to solid dusts in the bottom zone.

� Fig 3. Latest tuckstone design: ceramic composite materials. (left and right)

Fig 3 a

Fig 3 b

� Fig 6 Low exudation fused AZS crown

layers of tiles and mortars results in a secured solution to avoid unexpected glass infiltration.

Specific glasses with high electrical resistivity, or in the case of high current density, may necessitate the use of fused cast refractory solutions particularly designed for those extreme conditions: doped high zirconia.

In combination with fused cast AZS for the bottom, these materials are the premium choice for electrodes.

Glass furnaces with regenerative technology recover a substantial part of their fume energy. Layout and material combination of the regenerators can obviously drive furnace efficiency to excellence and contribute to reduced CO2 or NOx emissions.

The refractory industry has a range of sintered or fused cast products to realise various channel shapes and chemical compositions of the checker packs. The choice depends on running conditions,

Refractories for the regenerators have to be carefully chosen to optimise the design.

This can be tailor-made to the specific conditions. The right choice is facilitated by thermal studies offered on the market.

Specialised software allows the simulation of alternative configurations (Fig 5).

This service is usually completed with a detailed interpretation and consulting for the glassmaker. This helps understand, in the end, what is necessary to obtain the best regenerative performance, adapted to the individual situation of the furnace.

Oxyfuel combustion also leads to a lower carbon CO2 footprint and low NOx emissions. This technology induces comparably high running temperatures combined with high water vapours and alkaline concentration in the fumes.

Refractories must withstand these conditions, particularly in the crown.

The first choice for crowns in Oxyfuel combustion are fused cast refractory solutions based on low exudation-AZS

materials in combination with fused cast high alumina (Fig 6). An assembly with tight specifications ensures the required corrosion and creep resistance properties of the furnace crown.

The ‘after-life’ of refractories All types of glass furnaces share one phenomenon for their refractories: at the end of the production lifecycle a high quality product becomes waste, in some cases even hazardous waste.

Over the years there are several established providers in the market offering demolishing and wasteevacuation, and -removal services. Some of them offer the revalorisation of waste materials, that are then transformed and recycled into new raw materials.

The ecological awareness and responsibility of the glass industry for the ‘after-life’ of their process materials becomes evident if refractories might be classified as hazardous waste at the shut down time of the furnace, as it might be the case for materials that contain chrome oxides.

The conscientious exposure with the questions of what happens to those materials does not stop after they are evacuated and removed from the site.

Many sustainability charters of the modern glass include the treatment of waste material and drive the ecological responsibility further forward.

Those questions become particularly sensitive in countries where legislation holds the furnace owner responsible even beyond the evacuation of the waste materials. In those areas it becomes crucial to find a service provider that grants an approved utilisation.

Conclusion As with many other industries, the glass industry is going through a transition with an environmental focus. Furnace efficiency and the consequent CO2 and NOx emissions are in focus even more than in the past. A conscious treatment of waste materials also plays an increasing role in the sustainability strategies for many companies.

Refractories and refractory services can assist these trends and support them with the latest technologies and innovative developments. �

*Director for Applied Refractory Solutions, **Commercial Director, Sefpro, France www.sefpro.com

www.glass-international.com

of the assembly and better corrosion resistance than other solutions.

In combination with the adapted mortars, and insulation tiles underneath, this solution becomes predominant for the application under higher thermal threats (Fig 4).

47 Glass International February 2019

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Environment Refractories

Start-up surface blistering Roland Heidrich* and Barbara Corrado** discuss why high quality fused-cast refractories help produce a glass that meets customer requirements.

F

used-cast refractory blocks have led to great progress in the art of glass melting. By increasing the melting temperatures, the glass quality and quantity were improved while at the same time furnace lifetimes were extended.

The advantage of fused-cast refractory blocks over ceramic bonded ones is the intensive inter-crystalline bond of the interior structure. This results in high strength values until just below the melting point. The glassy phase contained in fused-cast blocks is important for the production of glass, although it has no binding function, because it fills the inter-crystalline space between the individual crystals.

Thus, fused-cast refractories have no open porosity, the reaction area is reduced to a minimum, infiltration by molten glass is prevented and the corrosion resistance increased. Even more, fused-cast refractories offer lower blistering potential compared to ceramic bonded refractory.

Unfortunately, despite all these advantages, fused-cast refractories also have an intrinsic handicap. Undesirable start-up surface blistering can occur for any of the following reasons:

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Fused-cast manufacturing process The manufacturing process for fused-cast refractories can be described as a ceramic foundry process. A magma-like mineral melt is cast at 1800-1900°C into moulds made from sand (eg silica sand) and a binder such as organic resin.

Immediately after the casting of the melt, a typical zonal structure forms inside the block, which depends on the melt composition, the casting temperature and the cooling gradient.

After natural refractory block cooling, a section normal to the working face starting from the as-cast surface towards the block interior will distinguish different zones. The cross section of a fused-cast refractory block may show

� Fig 1. Micrograph section of as-cast surface

� Fig 2. The same micrograph section with first

with splat quenched first layer (left). Image width

layer (left), followed by a finely crystalline, dense

is 600µm.

structure without porosity zone. Image width is 4mm.

� Fig 3. Another micrograph section with first layer (left) and following porosity zone, formed by gases in solution in the melt. Image width is 10mm.

to the unaided eye a greyish edge area, which can be up to some centimetres wide, depending on the quality of the organic resin binder, the height of the pouring temperature and the melt’s exposure time to the mould material.

Further detailed microscopic investigations of this edge area illustrate a very thin and partially glassy solidified outer layer with some isolated, individual baddeleyite dendrites, followed seamlessly by a crypto- and microcrystalline structure characterised by directional solidification determined by the heat flow, known as thermotactic growth. The following reduction of the cooling gradient causes the formation of compact crystals by slowing the now random crystal growth (Figs 1 and 2).

Not infrequently after the splat quenched first layer, a porosity zone is formed. The solubility for gases inside the melt decreases and gas may be released, with the consequence of nucleation and growth of pores, resulting in the formation of the well-known

phenomenon subsurface porosity. (Fig 3) The presence and spatial extent of the described zonal texture is of practical relevance for glassmakers. Bubbles can be released to the glass by corrosion of the surface refractory layer.

The greyish reduction products can reasonably be expected to oxidise during preheating of the furnace or forehearth when in contact with air. Therefore, fortunately all of these phenomena are of a temporary nature.

Disagreeable furnace element However, they are a disagreeable element in the heat-up of a furnace, and grinding glass contact surfaces is neither economical nor practical. Therefore, a variation of the crucible blister test was developed for the evaluation of surface blistering potential. The test result is in indirect proportionality to the content of bubble forming components.

Continued>>

48 0 Glass International February 2019

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� Fig 4. The two-piece test crucibles consist of a lower part with as-cast surface and an upper part with a hole in the centre of the major face. Sample width is 50 mm.

Furnace Draining �Fig 5. The same test crucibles with visible as-cast surface (left) and filled with customer glass (right).

Recycling Drain

� � Fig 6. Four test reference glass, ready for heat-up.

The crucible-shaped two-piece sample consists of a parallelepiped refractory platelet with as-cast surface and an upper part with a hole in the centre of the major face. (Figs 4-6).

For statistical reasons several samples should be obtained by cutting pieces from the refractory in various positions.

After thermal treatment the test crucibles are cut in half, and with a chisel, glass fragments are removed for microscopy and the counting of the individual bubbles. The blister potential is calculated in bubbles per gram glass for each sample.

Based on this special blister test new mould binders could be investigated.

Never-ending efforts for refractory

Refractory REFEL.indd 2

development led to new binder systems, which promise to reduce surface blistering to the same low levels exhibited by the interior of fused-cast refractory blocks.

These explanations show the appropriateness of buying high-quality fused-cast refractories, in order to be able to produce a glass that meets the customer’s requirements right from the start of a new glass melting furnace. �

*Research & development, ** Head of laboratory, Refel, San Vito al Tagliamento (PN), Italy.

Corresponding author: roland.heidrich@refel.com www.refel. com

Furnace Heat-Up

Experienced Teams

WORLDWIDE AVAILABILITY www.hotwork.ag contact@hotwork.ag Tel.: +41 71 649 20 90

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crucibles filled with

49

06/02/2019 10:07:12

Environment Refractories

The evolution of mullite regenerators Paul Hutchinson* discusses the role of mullite in a glass regenerator and highlights its advantages. Mullite materials have a long track record in the container sector and have been installed in some float plants for 20 years.

DSF

has extolled the virtues of mullite refractories in regenerators for many years. The technical advantages of high fired mullite materials over traditional regenerator materials such as silica, magnesia and magnesia-chrome were clear to see. Initially silica brick was a cost effective solution, it has low thermal conductivity and good creep resistance up to around 1600°C. Unfortunately it became unsuitable for longer campaigns and at higher operating temperatures, silica was frequently corroded by NaOH forming rat holes in the regenerator crown through open joints.

� A typical DSF mullite regenerator construction.

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Magnesia Magnesia became a more common choice of material, but had the disadvantage of high thermal expansion often causing large volume change and instability.

The advantage of magnesia and its high thermal conductivity in the checker pack, is its disadvantage in the regenerator walls. Magnesia-chrome refractory often gave good performance, but toxicity concerns and disposal costs were a terminal downside in most cases.

Mullite-based materials by comparison have numerous advantages over these other traditional materials including stability i.e. low expansion and high resistance to creep, lower thermal conductivity and resistance to chemical attack.

The low linear thermal expansion of high fired mullite has advantages on heat up, cooling and in operational efficiency. Mullite is easier to reheat for a second campaign and there is less chance of open joints after heat up. The technical benefits of mullite have been underpinned by the commercial case in more recent years. Traditionally magnesia refractories were less expensive than high fired mullites, but now this is often not the case especially with the development of reactively formed mullite materials based on andalusite.

Mullite materials have a long track record in the container industry while some of the early adopters in the float glass industry have had mullite regenerators for approximately 20 years.

Product selection The key to optimum life and performance from a mullite regenerator is product selection and then careful zoning of materials to fit the various conditions and design of the regenerator.

Not all mullites are the same, even if product data sheets state so. The chemistry of the product is a good starting point, but by no means tells states whether a product is fit for purpose or not.

Critical to manufacturing andalusite or mullite based refractories for long campaign life is to use pure and tightly controlled raw materials and to fire to optimum temperature to ensure that maximum crystalline conversion is achieved.

In addition to the mullite phase content, the method of manufacture also

affects refractory performance. There are two routes to manufacture mullite products: the traditional method utilises pre-formed mullite grains with mullite fines formed on firing. DSF’s original high temperature rated mullite products were based on pre-formed fused or sintered mullite grain.

The second method combines andalusite raw materials with alumina to form mullite reactively during the manufacturers’ firing process. When the andalusite is heated it disassociates to form mullite with excess silica; the expelled silica then combines with alumina to form further mullite.

This process creates a composite structure made up of a capillary network of mullite crystals forming interconnected microtubes filled by a silica-rich glass.

Superior characteristics It is this unique structure that gives andalusite derived mullite bricks superior characteristics to pre-formed mullite Continued>>

50 0 Glass International February 2019

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Refractories

Regenerator environment As a consequence of low NOX technology (low NOX burners) the regenerator

� DSF block rider arches pre-assembled before dispatch.

Corundum and glass

Mullite and glass Unchanged mullite

environment has become reducing in nature with a high CO presence.

This culminates at low temperatures as CO degradation of high iron oxide containing refractories. DSF provides materials for these zones with low Fe2O3 content, which is fired hard into the structure. Comparative CO testing can easily and cheaply be done by the furnace designer or glassmaker on materials under consideration for use in these conditions.

In recent installations the presence of low melting point (<900°C) sodium salts have been noted due to low NOX technologies. These manifest as white powdery deposits at the bottom of the regenerator and during thermal cleaning operations penetrate the refractory.

This results in loss of brick porosity with associated lower thermal shock resistance.

The bricks subsequently crack and disintegrate during normal regenerator cycling.

To combat this DSF has supplied a glazed product where the protective boundary layer has already been formed on firing at DSF. Another possible option is to develop a material with a

� A high fired mullite brick after use showing the reaction layers.

low permeability without affecting the other key properties but this is a difficult challenge.

Away from material development and selection, another change is towards larger shapes. For many years DSF has offered and supplied block rider arches as an alternative to standard wedge bricks.

Block arches are quicker to install and are stable with obviously fewer joints.

They can be pre-assembled and match marked before despatch. This modular approach has also been extended to other areas of the regenerator, again to give the potential benefits of speed of installation and therefore less downtime and also fewer joints in the construction.

The evolution in the materials and design of glass furnace regenerators will continue to match customer requirements and new technologies for as long as regenerative furnaces are employed. DSF will continue to refine its offer for this application to give the optimum solution. �

*Sales and Marketing Director, DSF Refractories, UK. www.dsf.co.uk

www.glass-international.com

bricks. The mullite intergranular bonding provides excellent thermo-mechanical properties while the glass trapped within the mullite is released from the structure by alkali interaction.

This forms a protective barrier or sealing layer on the surface of the refractory preventing further reaction.

Reactively formed mullites have been observed to have better carryover resistance than traditional pre-formed mullites.

Through over 40 years of supply and numerous case studies, DSF has differentiated as a supplier with careful zoning of the different grades of mullite available to give the glassmaker the optimum solution for their regenerators.

Employing post use analysis has demonstrated how DSF mullite products work in regenerators where there are two zones observed related to the regenerator temperature.

Below 1270°C nepheline (NaSiAl4) and ß-alumina are the stable phases, both of which are expansile so cause spalling in the refractory lining. Therefore mullite products used in the lower regenerator superstructure areas are designed to have an inherent glass phase to absorb alkali allowing movement of the front face without brittle flaking or spalling and further alkali penetration into the brick is avoided as a sealing layer is formed. In the upper regenerator where the temperature exceeds 1270°C, corundum is the stable phase. Here more crystalline high mullite content products should be utilised that have resistance to creep under load at high temperatures. DSF supply mullite products for regenerator superstructure varying the degree of crystalline mullite phase and glass phase for different zones and conditions.

As more post use analysis are performed and as furnace design and operating conditions change, mullite regenerator solution evolves.

We have already covered how reactively formed mullite materials have given better performance in the hotter parts of the regenerator. DSF has made other step changes which will provide the longevity required and the ability to cope with operational challenges. These include temperature swings associated with thermal cleaning and the detrimental effect to refractories of Redox reactions.

51 Glass International February 2019

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