Glass International May 2019

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May 2019—Vol.42 No.5

COMPANY PROFILE: SGD PHARMA KIPFENBERG ENCIRC FURNACES I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A GLOBAL REVIEW OF GLASSMAKING

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If it’s in your glass, we’ll inspect it.

Brilliantly.

INNOVATION | TECHNOLOGY | SALES | TRAINING | SUPPORT

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Contents

www.glass-international.com Editor: Greg Morris Tel: +44 (0)1737 855132 Email: gregmorris@quartzltd.com Designer: Annie Baker Tel: +44 (0)1737 855130 Email: anniebaker@quartzltd.com Sales Director: Ken Clark Tel: +44 (0)1737 855117 Email: kenclark@quartzltd.com

May Vol.42 No.5

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

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Editor’s Comment

2

International news Profile: SGD Pharma Kipfenberg SGD Pharma Kipfenberg completes maintenance masterplan

15

Furnaces: Encirc The power of positive production

21

Recycling: Turning recycled glass into sustainable wealth

25

Container glass processing: Understanding impact during container glass processing

29

Furnaces: Sorg Primary measures to reduce the NOx concentration in waste gas

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Furnaces: Glass Service The future of glassmaking requires a dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions

34

SSV The importance of residual quartz in crown silica bricks

38

AFT A modern approach to furnace salt bath modeling

China National Association for Glass Industry

40

Inspection: Tiama A carousel for the smart factory

United National Council of the glass industry (Steklosouz)

43

Batch plant: EME Challenges for a batch plant supplier

46

Process monitoring: Bosch The future of process monitoring

48

British Glass Pester power for recycling glass

49

GTS GTS unveils new look

50

History Have you got the bottle

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International News

2019 DIARY

GREG MORRIS, EDITOR WWW.GLASS-INTERNATIONAL.COM

May 2019—Vol.42 No.5

May COMPANY PROFILE: SGD PHARMA KIPFENBERG ENCIRC FURNACES I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A GLOBAL REVIEW OF GLASSMAKING

Glass International May 2019

FRONT COVER IMAGE: www.sorg.de

22-23 Furnace Design Seminar Conference devoted to furnace optimisation.

Velke Karlovice, Czech Republic www.gsl.cz

Maintenance masterplan

www.glass-international.com

There is a lot on a glassmaker’s plate at the moment with many challenges to juggle.

Not only is there the worry about reducing furnace emissions and increasing energy efficiency, a typical glassmaker has to ensure it is adept at handling current consumer trends.

Today’s fad for personalised, differentiated shapes of glass means the company’s innovation department has to constantly adapt and create blends suitable for today’s fickle consumer.

There is also the issue of lightweighting and the need to be environmentally friendly in terms of the amount of cullet required in the glassmaking process. And this is before everyday issues such as staff retention, motivating personnel and the overall running of a plant.

Plant maintenance may not necessarily be first on a glassmaker’s priorities, but as our cover interview shows this month, it is vital to a company’s operations.

It was refreshing to visit SGD Pharma’s plant in Kipfenberg, Germany to see how it has dealt with its maintenance challenges.

It recently introduced a new software which has centralised its maintenance requirements. The solution means it can respond rapidly to any breakdowns, is easy to learn to use and is environmentally friendly at the same time.

On top of that it complies with the use of digital in glassmaking. So one less challenge for the glassmaker to worry about!

GI Cover May.indd 1

21-23 Emhart Summit19 Summit to investigate future glass trends.

Zurich, Switzerland https://summit.emhart.glass

30/04/2019 09:22:02

MEG secures €100 million boost

22-25 China Glass China Glass covers all fields pertinent to glass production.

Beijing, China. www.chinaglass-expo.com

June

05-06 Furnace Solutions 14 Annual training day and conference organised by the SGT. http://furnacesolutions.co.uk

Egyptian container glassmaker Middle East Glass Manufacturing Company (MEG) has secured a $100 million financial package to boost growth.

The debt financing package will help MEG ramp up production of its containers, which are used by a variety of companies, from beverage makers to pharmaceutical firms. This will help MEG expand its international footprint and to grow its exports.

It will also help the company expand locally and create jobs.

The package has been supplied by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The financing package is part of a larger effort by IFC to support

Egypt’s manufacturing sector, which is a major employer and, through exports, a key source to foreign currency.

Abdul Galil Besher, MEG Chairman, said: “This investment is a testimony to our talented, high-performance workforce led by a disciplined, innovative management team.”

As well as the financing package, IFC’s advisory services arm will help MEG substantially reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. That is part of an IFC push to bolster resource efficiency in the manufacturing sector and help companies compete internationally.

Be first with the news!

09-14 25th International Congress on Glass (ICG) The ICG provides opportunities for glass scientists and technologists.

Boston, USA https://ceramics.org/event/ icg2019 11-13 Glasstech Mexico The event focuses on flat glass, and is a platform where the glass and door and window industries can meet.

Mexico City www.glasstechmexico.com 26-28 Glass Perfomance Days Flat glass-focused conference in its 27th year.

Tampere, Finland https://gpd.fi

September

17-18 Glassman Europe Biennial trade show and conference focused on hollow and container glass. www.glassmanevents.com/ europe

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

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Vicrila in €17 million investment plan

Professor Alicia Durán has been named as the 49th recipient of the Phoenix Award and ‘Glass Person of the Year 2019’.

Prof Durán is Research Professor at CSIC, the Spanish Research Council.

She has developed her entire professional career at the Institute of Ceramics and Glass (CSIC), leading the GlaSS research group at the Department of Glass.

She has also been Secretary of the Glass Section of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society for more than 25 years.

Professor Duran graduated in Physics at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, in 1974 and obtained a PhD in Physics at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 1984.

In 1988 she was awarded with the Gottardi Prize of ICG for young glass researchers.

Extensive work The Phoenix Award Committee said it selected Professor Duran to receive this year’s award in recognition of her extensive work in the furtherance of glass, glass-ceramics

and sol-gel materials research, from basic research to applications in the industrial glass sector and other final users of glassy materials.

Topics related to energy and environment research are the aim of most projects developed by Professor Duran in the group GlaSS, recognised as Excellence group of CSIC. Continuous collaboration She has maintained a continuous collaboration with Spanish and international glass industry, in topics such as enhancing energy saving in furnaces, environmental issues and emission control or recycling systems, and certification of food safety of glass containers.

International cooperation and teaching have been always among her essential objectives, receiving the Raíces (Roots) Award to International Cooperation in Argentina in 2014.

From September 2018 she has been President of the International Commission on Glass, an international society of national scientific and

technical organisations, with particular interests in glass science and technology.

A particular goal of her Presidency is centered on the promotion of women throughout the field of glass.

“Alicia Durán has dedicated her life to glass research, education and transmission of knowledge,” said Jean-Luc Logel, Chairperson of the Phoenix Award Committee for 2019.

“Her extensive knowledge is matched only by her great simplicity and exceptional generosity.

“As a scientist and as a human being, Alicia embodies the PAC’s values perfectly.”

About Phoenix award Each year an exceptional individual is selected from the glass industry to be recognised

by The Phoenix Award Committee for his/her contribution to a major glass industry field such as science, production, glass education, glass containers, fibre glass, scientific glass, flat glass, tableware, art glass and electronic glass.

GTS work could ‘revolutionise’ manufacturing?

Glass industry researchers based in Yorkshire, UK are taking part in a major project to weld glass to metal and flexible glass to glass.

The project could revolutionise manufacturing industries such as aerospace, defence, optics, optoelectronics and healthcare.

The scientists at Glass Technology Services (GTS) in Sheffield, UK are working with Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a consortium of partners to fuse glass to metal, and to hermetically seal flexible glass using an ultrafast laser system.

All set for Furnace Solutions in June

Glassmakers should have June 5 and 6 in their diaries for this year’s Furnace Solutions Conference.

The event has a strong tradition of pulling together relevant, practical and topical papers from leading speakers in their field.

This year’s conference will start with the Training Day, The Batch – Guilty as Charged, which will concentrate on practical issues related to the batch - potential problems the batch or batch plant can cause in the furnace and to glass quality.

www.glass-international.com

Professor Alicia Durán named Phoenix Award winner

Spanish glassmaker Vicrila is to invest €17 million in its Basque site.

The tableware manufacturer has launched its strategic plan to 2022, at the end of which it expects to increase its exports from 40% to 60%. The investment will focus on increasing innovation to improve the design, expand its range of products and modernise the lines.

The company based in Leioa will introduce technological improvements in thermal treatments and automation, in addition to reorganising the production of its Lamiako plant.

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Verallia in carbon offset programme

French container glassmaker Verallia has signed a partnership agreement with PUR Projet to set up a carbon offset programme.

It is based on two mechanisms: a climate programme in Latin America and a programme for the environmental integration of Verallia’s production sites.

The climate programme will offset 1% of the group’s emissions each year and plant more than 100,000 trees per year for five years.

The initiative reinforces a broader CSR policy that Verallia has persued for several years.

FAMA appoints sales and marketing manager

Mexican engineering company FAMA has appointed a new sales and marketing general manager.

Mr Jorge Ceceña has spent his entire 18-year-career in the glass industry with Vitro.

His career comprises different roles in the Automotive business unit (Aftermarket) in Mexico, Automotive OE business and Chemicals business: Álcali.

His career dates back to 2001, and includes positions in the automotive business unit (Aftermarket) in Mexico, as commercial planning, market intelligence and export sales executive.

www.glass-international.com

Vertech appoints South America area manager

Vertech’ has appointed an area sales manager agent for the South America and Africa regions.

Luc Teissier joined the Vertech’ sales team to reinforce the presence of its SIL equipment in South America and Africa.

After five years spent at the University of Laval in Quebec, Luc has worked for 10 years in Bolivia.

He will put his international experience and skills to work in Vertech’ now he is back in France.

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. Verallia forms carbon offset project � 2. Schott invests in Brazilian glass business � 3. Brazilian glassmakers register for Glassman South America � 4. Vicrila plans €17 million investment � 5. Glassmaking newcomer CP Glass challenges the market � 6. Ardagh Group launches interactive 3D glass packaging experience � 7. AB InBev to provide keynote speech at Glassman event � 8. MEG secures €100 million production boost � 9. Sisecam signs cooperation agreement for defence industry � 10. Glass recycling foundation launched in the US

Schott invests in Brazilian glass business Schott is to invest BRL 50 million ($9.7 million) in its pharmaceutical tubing production in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the next two years.

The investment covers the latest update of the company’s perfeXion on-line inspection system process as well as implementing modern produc-

tion technology in glass melting furnaces.

It follows a previous five-year BRL 80 million ($15.6 million) modernisation project.

Several online inspection and interaction devices, in combination with integrated data collection and analysis, enable parameters to be

adapted to the packaging type format and customer-required specifications.

“The investment allows us to further optimise the machinery to continue setting new standards in the pharma glass industry,” said Joerg Wagner, Technical Director of Schott Brazil Division.

BA Glass to invest €12 million in León BA Glass is to invest €12 million in a furnace improvement at its León plant, Spain.

The investment will take place in the fourth quarter later this year and will be an immediate repair. It will consist of the renovation of the refractory materials and the incorporation of technological im-

provements in the moulding machines and the inspection of the containers, in order to extend its life.

The group is investing €37 million in two phases between 2018 and 2019, to renovate the two existing furnaces in the facilities and introduce technological improvements in the

production process.

Upon completion of both investments, the site will be equipped with ‘important’ technological improvements in all the processes that make up the production of glass containers. The factory supplies the wines, sparkling, soft drinks and food segments.

Forglass secures batch plant order Ardagh Group Germersheim has chosen Forglass for a batch house modernisation.

The batch house in the German plant will need to be modernised while maintaining production.

Switching over to the new

control system and testing the software will have to be completed in windows of only four hours between deliveries.

Forglass will supply several components of the batch house, which must be integrated in the existing control

system. These include: new cullet return line with its crusher and two scraper conveyors with new PLC control, new cullet transport line with weighing conveyor belt, and replacement of one existing Z-Elevator to bucket elevator.

4 Glass International May 2019

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Heat Up America completes Mexican project

Heat Up Latin America, a subsidiary of Hotwork International in Mexico, has successfully delivered two separate projects in Mexico.

Clients emphasised satisfaction in the good condition of the equipment.

The team working on the project also had an excellent performance rating. The clients expressed appreciation for the team being present a couple of days earlier to ensure smooth operations from start-up to completion.

Verallia to build Spanish recycling plant

Container glass manufacturer Verallia has joined TM Alcudia Reciclatges to build a glass recycling plant in the province of Guadalajara, Spain.

The recycled glass cullet is necessary for the production of glass containers, since, it is environmentally friendly and reduces the consumption of raw materials and energy.

Both companies will invest €7million in the new glass recycling plant that will directly employ 14 people.

The new company, Calcín Ibérico will use modern technology and have capacity for waste treatment.

In addition, it will be located in Guadalajara to deal with the glass waste generated in neighbouring Madrid.

Ardagh America wins energy awards

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Ardagh Group, was awarded three Energy Star plant certifications for superior energy performance from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The three Ardagh Group glass production facilities, in Bridgeton, N.J.; Dunkirk, Ind.; and Madera, Calif.; demonstrated best-in-class energy performance and performed within the top 25% nationwide for energy efficiency compared to similar plants across the country.

Glass recycling foundation launched in the US A foundation focused solely on funding glass recycling initiatives has been formed in the United States.

The Glass Recycling Foundation (GRF) is a 501c3, non-profit organisation formed to provide and raise funds for localised and targeted assistance, demonstration and pilot projects that address gaps in the glass recycling supply chain across the USA. “Glass bottles and containers are endlessly recyclable,” said Lynn Bragg, Board president of the Glass Recycling Foundation. “The Glass Recycling Foundation will impact communities by funding projects to recover more and higher quality glass.”

Board members are from organisations such as Owens-Illinois (O-I), Diageo, Strategic

Materials, Inc., Northeast Recycling Council, the Recycling Partnership, Urban Mining NE, and California State University, Chico.

GRF will collaborate with the Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC), which consists of nearly 40 members from the entire glass recycling value chain including material recovery facilities, glass recyclers, local government organisations, end markets and brands.

“GRF will be instrumental in bringing much-needed investments to glass recycling and partnering with other funding opportunities to make glass recycling a high-quality and convenient service that consumers want and expect,” said Laura Hen-

nemann, Strategic Materials, Inc. and GRF executive board member.

The GRF aims to increase the availability of cullet, the industry term for furnace-ready recycled glass that can become new bottles and jars, as well as fibreglass.

For more information on the Glass Recycling Foundation visit www.glassrecyclingfoundation.org

O-I invests $6 million in recycling O-I has invested approximately $6 million (USD) in glass recycling around the world in the last three years.

Speaking on Global Recycling Day in April, it said in Brazil it supports a campaign which collects glass from bars

and restaurants and delivers it to O-I for reprocessing and manufacture into new packaging.

In France, it links how much glass it recycles to charity – in 2018, O-I donated €90,000 to fight cancer.

The company is working on technology to increase levels of recycled glass in all products, particularly amber and clear glass which historically have used less cullet than green bottles.

Xpar Vision focuses on youth Xpar Vision participated in a career event for science and engineering students.

The Beta Business Days is a two-day career event for students from the Faculty of Science & Engineering of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Students are given the opportunity to focus on their

future job market through presentations, individual interviews, challenging cases and a business expo at the event.

Xpar Vision was present to meet potential future staff.

“We simply need good people,” explains Sander de Jong, head of Xpar Vision’s development team.

“Although we have a very strong team already, we are always looking for new talents.

During these Beta Business Days we present ourselves to the new generation of developers.

“We expect to attract some of them to help us shape the future.”

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FIC ads 2019_Layout 1 29/04/2019 11:01 Page 2

, Tomorrow s Technology Today

Are you interested in CO2 reduction?

Come to FIC for superboosting and large all-electric furnaces – we have the answers to reduce carbon footprint

www.fic-uk.com +44 (0) 1736 366 962

, The World s Number One in Furnace Technology

FIC (UK) Limited Long Rock Industrial Estate Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8HX United Kingdom

GLASS SERVICE

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

GCA suports robotic coding training

Turkish glass manufacturers Gürallar Cam Ambalaj (GCA) and LAV have encouraged robotic coding training among local schools.

The two companies have worked with Agaçköy elementary and secondary schools to provide robotic coding training in order to support high-tech education of young students.

It was initially held for one month in the summer term last year but was so successful that it is now provided throughout the year.

A total of 94 students, 42 from the primary school and 52 from the secondary school are now acquainted with robotic coding after the training.

Marpak gets Supertough

Marpak Extrusions, a specialist in polythene packaging for the container glass and furniture industries, has introduced Lumicene Supertough into its range of flexible plastic packaging.

Responding to market demands for more environmentally sustainable packaging, Supertough is a bimodal metallocene-based resin with properties that allow for a unique balance between processability, rigidity and impact strength.

The primary benefit of Supertough is its ability to produce a thinner film that retains the strength of thicker films.

Croxsons wins Queens Award for Enterprise www.glass-international.com

UK family-owned glass packaging company Croxsons has been recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

With export growth increasing year-on-year from £2.8 million to £9.9 million – a rise in total of over 250% – in the past six years, overseas sales now account for 36.3% of the UK company’s turnover.

This trading performance has helped propel Croxsons to a 700% hike in revenues since 2005.

Sisecam hosts the ICG in Italy Sisecam hosted prominent names from the world’s glass industry at its Porto Nogaro flat glass production plant line in the north of Italy.

The members of Executive and Advisory Committees of the International Commission on Glass (ICG) from 33 countries convened at Porto Nogaro.

Following a study visit to the production plant under the guidance of Prof. Sener Oktik, Sisecam Group Chief Research and Technological Development Officer, and Member of

ICG’s Executive Committee, and Mr. Beytullah Sahin, General Manager of Sisecam Flat Glass Italy SRL, “ICG 2030” strategies were discussed before noon during the meetings conducted at the plant.

In the afternoon, the preparatory works for the ICG General Assembly to be held in Boston in June were completed.

Sisecam Group operates in the chemicals, flat glass, and household glassware fields in Italy.

The investments made in

the country contribute to its position in Europe for the chromic acid production and in the world for basic chromium sulphate production as a result of total investments amounting to €120 million in Italy.

The group’s flat glass production capacity in Italy doubled following the commissioning of Mafredonia in 2018 besides Porto Nogaro plant with an annual production capacity for 220 thousand tons of flat glass and 5 million m2 of laminated glass.

Sisecam signs defence agreement Turkish glassmaker Sisecam has signed an agreement with a defence electronics company.

Sisecam has signed the cooperation agreement with Turkish defence group Aselsan to develop joint projects.

Then two companies aim to develop glass solutions for equipment used in defence projects. The agreement will

last two years and will consist of two phases: preliminary studies and prototype production. They aim to develop a glass and ceramic materials for use in various equipment to be developed by Aselsan, led by the periscope glasses of a national tank project.

The materials in question are planned to be resistant

against thermal shock, be high strength, and to have different optical performances than conventional glass.

The development of product compositions by Sisecam are aimed to start from the raw materials and cover the domestic and national production processes at every stage.

Ardagh launches 3D glass system Ardagh Group has launched a 3D CAD system that lets customers interact with its packaging products.

Its latest online product catalogue has a lifelike 360° 3D feature that allows clients to drag, flip, turn and look inside each glass container.

Barbara Macialczyk, Marketing Manager at Ardagh Group said: “There’s an expectation

that digital technology will enhance the decision-making experience.

“Customers can play with the new 3D tool to get a feel for the shape and size of each bottle and jar before they think about decoration options. We want to help them visualise their product as it might look on the shelf.”

Ardagh Group Product De-

sign Engineer, Chris Barker, said: “We work in 3D every day, so it feels right to let our customers experience the same degree of interactivity – even down to the way the light bounces off the glass.”

Around 600 glass bottle and jar designs have been re-modelled in the new, interactive format, which went live in April.

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FIC ads 2019_Layout 1 29/04/2019 11:02 Page 3

, Tomorrow s Technology Today

Are you interested in CO2 reduction?

Come to FIC for superboosting and large all-electric furnaces – we have the answers to reduce carbon footprint

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The World s Number One in Furnace Technology

FIC (UK) Limited Long Rock Industrial Estate Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8HX United Kingdom

GLASS SERVICE

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Company profile: SGD Pharma Kipfenberg

SGD Pharma Kipfenberg completes maintenance masterplan � The SGD Pharma Kipfenberg plant in southern Germany.

www.glass-international.com

T

he past two years has seen a complete transformation of SGD Pharma’s Kipfenberg maintenance requirements.

The pharmaceutical glassmaker’s senior management wanted a new system that would update how maintenance was logged and archived at the southern Germany plant.

It tasked the plant’s Project Manager, Kevin Fiedler, with finding a system that would bring all its maintenance checks and systems together.

The system had to be one that employees could quickly understand, had to easily highlight the maintenance that was required and also be supported by exemplary customer service.

Just as importantly, the system had to also be accessible in several languages: German, English, French and Chinese.

SGD Pharma Kipfenberg reviewed a number of prospects but, after a thorough consultation period, the group decided on the Ultimo software.

Mr Fiedler said: “Ultimo was the most flexible software which we checked. The support has been brilliant and it is very quick to find solutions to any issues.

“It has brought us many benefits but the largest has been in preventative maintenance. Ultimo tracks the machinery so we know when to take part in preventative maintenance and thus prevent machinery breakdown.”

How Ultimo works Every significant item of equipment in the plant was logged on to the software system. The equipment ranges from the vital components of

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Company profile: SGD Pharma Kipfenberg

A software system used by SGD Pharma Kipfenberg has helped centralise its maintenance requirements.

The software allows employees to keep track of equipment maintenance and thus prevent machinery breakdown.

Greg Morris visited the German plant to speak to Project Manager, Kevin Fiedler.

an IS machine to everyday factory items such as plug sockets. When a piece of equipment breaks down, a member of the plant’s 250 staff will log it in the Ultimo system. The software then sends an email to the relevant maintenance staff members.

The plant’s maintenance team has five days to rectify the problem before reminder email is sent.

If, after 14 days, the problem has still not been repaired, an email is sent to senior management to take action.

“Over the course of a year there is an average of more than 6000 jobs reported in the plant. We can review all the jobs from each department and the jobs they had and solved. This ranges from the training department, general maintenance, health and safety, purchasing and the IS department,” said Mr Fiedler.

When a request is highlighted it means the maintenance team can act urgently, if required, to solve it. But Ultimo also keeps track of machinery and sends a notification email when equipment is due for a routine check.

So, for example, if an item of inspection machinery is due for maintenance, an email is sent to the inspection department to take action.

One benefit of its tracking expertise was highlighted during a series of small electrical cuts at the plant recently. The Ultimo system highlighted the cuts were taking place at around 6am every day. Although only lasting a few seconds they were enough to cause disruption to production.

Thanks to Ultimo, the team were able to highlight the problem to the electricity supplier and the patterns of disruption.

Since then there have been no further energy cuts.

� Kevin Fiedler, SGD Pharma Kipfenberg Project Manager.

SGD Pharma Kipfenberg’s maintenance team of 50 staff were at their busiest period at the time of Glass International’s visit. As required by German law, all the plant’s sockets, adaptors and computer monitors have to be checked. Ultimo reminds staff what needs to be checked and all the information is logged into to the system for future reference.

The team decided on Ultimo in December 2016 and set about preparing the plant for its use.

Mr Fiedler said: “The first step was to define the key points that had to be implemented. So we looked at the plant structure and gradually went down and down into each item that we use.

“When you look at the production hall and the production lines, there are a lot of devices that we use and that have to be changed from time to time.

There was a lot of information and a lot of detail.”

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

Installation

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Company profile:

About SGD in Kipfenberg � SGD Pharma’s plant in Kipfenberg, Bavaria, Germany, manufacturers pharmaceutical bottles in infusion and injectable vials. � Today it produces two million bottles and vials a day from one furnace with four production lines. Its smallest bottle is 38mm high and weighs 11.7g while its largest bottle is 225mm high and weighs 372g. � The plant was founded in 1871 by local breweries and in the past has been owned

by Thuringian Glassmakers. In 1972 SaintGobain took over the plant and founded SGD, its pharmaceutical and perfumery division. It gained its first ISO 9001 certification in 1994. In 2002 it became a centre of excellence for Type II glass (special internal treatment). � Today it is ISO 15378, 14001, 50001 and BS OHSAS 18001 certified.

A More than 9000 items of plant equipment had to be logged on to the system, a process that was divided among 10 department heads.

Mr Fiedler said: “It was a big job but thanks to the staff professionalism we managed to finish it relatively quickly. It was clear in the beginning that they must put a lot of work into the software, but now they only have to check and distribute the work to staff. Every department can use mobile devices to do the ‘paperwork’ for their jobs.”

The depth that staff went into logging the equipment is impressive. An IS machine, for example, contains information about a swabbing robot, blow mould parts, valves, troughs, deflectors and blank moulds, among others. It is possible to delve even further into blow moulds to include plunger equipment and neck ring arms.

Photos were taken and logged of newer, more unfamiliar machines such as the swabbing robot.

It has proved particularly useful for trainees to help develop their industry knowledge.

www.glass-international.com

Digital glassmaking The software is also considered part of the Industry 4.0/digital glassmaking process currently popular in glassmaking. The software can connect to sensors installed at devices to gather real-time information about movement or temperatures.

The next step will to consider further digital solutions such as SIL and SharePoint to further collect and share data about plant operations.

At just the age of 32 Mr Fiedler is an industry veteran. He has worked in the industry since he was 16, in roles as varied as IS machine operator, department head of mould shop and responsible for furnace operations, junior furnace engineer and project engineer. He has always been interested in learning about glassmaking processes.

“To learn more about how a glass plant works I made the decision to join SGD Pharma in Kipfenberg. Here I report directly to the technical plant director and assist him in the planning works, make decisions, implement new technology and train employees.

B � A. More than 9000 plant equipment items have been logged on Ultimo so far, including many from the IS machine.

� B. The plant has swabbing robots installed on three of its four production lines, with a fourth planned soon.

“I like to work for SGD Pharma. The company is innovative and does not stay still. Every day we improve our processes and people grow thanks to their tasks.”

Since Ultimo’s implementation in the plant in April 2017 the maintenance team of 54 staff have completed 12761 jobs, which equates to about 25 jobs a day during a five day week.

The plant regularly receives visits from customers as well as other glassmakers keen to discover more about the swabbing robot.

Talk usually turns to the Ultimo software and Mr Fiedler will find himself talking about the master plan to install the software.

He said: “I have been working on this project for three years – I feel like I know everything there is to know about this software!”

“I have spent 16 years in the industry and I have never worked with anything like it. I have no training in IT and this was completely new to me. I am completely happy with it. I know what is going on with maintenance and if there are any problems I can follow up. It gives me the bigger picture of the maintenance status of the plant.”�

SGD Pharma, Kipfenberg, Germany www.sgd-pharma.com

12 Glass International May 2019

Company profile~SGD.indd 3

07/05/2019 09:43:58

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Furnaces

As part of its route towards carbon positive operations, Encirc has made substantial investments in its production and supply chain capabilities. Fiacre O’Donnell* outlines how others in the sector can employ cutting-edge innovations and new ways of thinking to help turn the tide against climate change.

Encirc: The power of positive production

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

A

lthough we are not even half way through the year, 2019 has already resulted in an unusually high number of headlines focusing on dramatic weather and unprecedented climate events. In the UK, for example, we experienced the warmest February ever recorded, with temperatures rising to above 20 degrees centigrade. Despite the unseasonably warm month giving many a chance to enjoy the outdoors, there was a strange feeling in the air that things weren’t quite as they should be.

At the time of writing, the news agenda is absolutely saturated with one political event which has divided the nation, causing widespread unrest and uncertainty. Hopefully, when this article is published, more will be known about the future direction of the country.

However, with so much discourse and

15 Glass International May 2019

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Environment Furnaces

media attention over the last three years focusing on Brexit, have we become distracted, losing focus on other, arguably more important issues such as global warming and our impact on it? The current political climate is unlikely to change at any point soon, but the actual climate is under constant threat.

Environmental responsibility is becoming more urgent by the day, with more people producing more pollution than ever before. According to research released in April 2019, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than it has been at any point in the past

own industry reputation, company growth and overall efficiency.

Thanks to our annual survey, we know that our customers – much like ourselves – place sustainability at the top of their list of priorities. To help us meet their expectations, we make sure we’re constantly innovating and employing operational improvements across the business.

Firing up sustainability The furnaces Encirc operates in Northern Ireland and Elton, UK are the beating heart of our operation. Our overall carbon

Scheme has also meant that our site in Derrylin will benefit from a direct, reliable and a constant supply of natural gas. The £250 million scheme, which has extended Britain’s natural gas network into the west of Northern Ireland was championed by Encirc when it was first conceived and is now helping businesses across the country.

The new furnaces are securing our container glass making capabilities in Elton and Derrylin until 2030 and beyond, while also improving our operational and energy efficiency. In Elton, our record-breaking new furnace was opened in 2018 by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP. The industrial oven is now one of the largest glass container furnaces in the world and was built in record time. Its enhanced power means we have been able to increase Elton’s melting capacity, while reducing the amount of CO2 produced by each container we make.

The full Elton project also saw a range of other equipment replaced and upgraded including the IS machines, new cold end inspection equipment and forehearths.

All furnace rebuilds have been carried out using the latest manufacturing technologies and processes. All in all, the new furnaces will be far more sustainable, and allow us to better minimise our impact on our environment.

www.glass-international.com

On track for carbon reduction

three million years. To help ‘close the loop’ in our circular economy, many are pointing the finger at carbon-intensive industrial organisations, such as those in packaging production, calling for widespread operational change.

At Encirc, with more than three billion glass container products coming out of our factories every year, we know how important our role can be in the boosting the UK’s green credentials. Our longterm aspiration is to become the world’s most sustainable manufacturer and we’ve already had some fantastic success in reducing our environmental footprint.

This in turn has resulted in enormous benefits for us in terms of boosting our

emission levels and energy usage depend massively on their operational efficiency.

A more energy efficient furnace results in a more sustainable business, which is a key consideration when it comes to maintaining or rebuilding them.

Container glass furnaces typically have a life span of approximately 12 years, and we are in the process of rebuilding all four of ours as part of a multi-million pound investment by our parent company, Vidrala.

As part of these modifications, the furnaces in Northern Ireland are being adapted to accept natural gas, which is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels. Our involvement in the Gas to the West

While the new furnaces are helping us boost our operational efficiency, the reopening of the railhead at Elton has been a groundbreaking development which is currently helping us scrub carbon out of our supply chain. Before it was Encirc, our site in Cheshire was an industrial power station which had a terminal connected to the rail network.

This provided us with an opportunity to invest in repairing existing infrastructure to create more sustainable transportation routes.

The railhead at Elton is now fully operational and is receiving recycled cullet all year round, helping us reduce our operational carbon emissions by more than 2,400 tonnes annually.

As well as cullet, the new railhead is enabling us to receive the majority of the sand and raw materials we need to make our products in a more sustainable way. By connecting to the network, Continued>>

16 0 Glass International May 2019

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

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Furnaces Environment

we’ve considerably reduced our factory’s reliance on roads by around 6,600 HGV journeys every year.

By making use of our terminal, we can continue to make our customers’ and stakeholders’ supply chains more environmentally responsible by considerably reducing the carbon footprint of the containers we produce.

Shining a light on glass

Furnace Draining

Recycling Drain

Furnace Heat-Up

Our railhead is the perfect example of how we can also embrace past technologies to offer sustainable solutions for the future.

As manufacturers, especially in the glass industry, we should be championing this concept as we are an industry which uses a historic material with an unlimited potential.

Glass has been around for thousands of years, and it is highly unlikely to ever go anywhere. There are huge benefits for brands and consumers choosing glass. In terms of the levels of plastic in our oceans, and the public being more environmentally conscious, the glass industry needs to remain vigilant and more vocal in saying why it is the most sustainable packaging material.

According to the Plastic Rivers report from Earthwatch Europe and Plastic Oceans UK, plastic bottles are now the most prevalent and visible form of plastic pollution in European waterways.

Glass has the most powerful sustainability message of any packaging material. As anyone in the industry will tell you, it is infinitely recyclable and safe for the environment. As a sector on

a path towards greater sustainability, we all need to reinforce the message around the power of glass, making it more visible and appealing to consumers. At the same time, the recyclability of the material is only useful if end-users take active steps to return their bottles. The more we help increase recycling levels of glass, the greener we can make our sector. The current recycling levels for glass across Europe remains at 74% according to the latest figures, and although this is great when compared to other materials, there is clearly still room for improvement.

At Encirc, we work closely with industry bodies like Friends of Glass, British Glass and FEVE to help broadcast this message to wider audiences, including consumers and packaging specifiers. We are a proud member of the Glass Futures project, which is exploring how the glass industry can be more sustainable in the future in line with the Industry 2050 roadmap.

Our activity on social media (LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter), as well as articles such as this one, are a fundamental part of this campaign. We all have to talk more about the issues affecting us as a collective sector, share our knowledge and showcase new solutions if we are to turn the tide in the fight against climate change.

For more information visit www.encirc360.com or follow us on Twitter or Instagram (@Encirc). �

*Strategic Development Director, Encirc, Elton, UK www.encirc360.com

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Recycling

Turning recycled glass into sustainable wealth A scheme in South Africa has helped increase the glass recycling rate as well as created a number of local entrepreuers in the recycling sector.

Enabling glass entrepreneurs South African glass buy-back centres play a central role in achieving this, as these facilitate entrepreneurs collecting large volumes of glass that they can sell on to the glass manufacturers.

TGRC helps these businesses through

assistance in the form of advice and guidelines regarding the running thereof.

In addition, TGRC provides basic infrastructure support to assist in getting these entrepreneurs ‘off the ground’ by providing items such as skip bins, scales, collection bags or wheelie bins for the glass, gloves and goggles to protect the collectors’ eyes when crushing glass.

Crushing of glass into cullet is common practice in order to facilitate easier

transport of the glass to the original manufacturers.

The company proactively pursues opportunities to develop new glass entrepreneurs as a way of increasing the glass collection footprint nationally.

Having more such entrepreneurs not only increases recoveries, but also ensures there are more, easily accessible, dropoff points for small glass collectors otherwise known as waste pickers in some markets, to sell the glass they collect.

Most of these individual glass collectors are unemployed or impoverished people for whom the payment for the glass they collect is their only source of income.

In the past financial year, TGRC supported more than 60 new entrepreneurs in setting up their glass buy-back businesses along with more than 150 existing buy-back entrepreneurs Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

A

round the globe, glass recycling is an effective way to drastically reduce pollution and waste.

In South Africa, there are more than 1200 landfill sites to which approximately 90% of all solid waste is sent.

By reusing and recycling glass, 82% of our domestic glass bottles and jars were prevented from being sent to landfills in the last financial year alone.

In South Africa, where the unemployment rate is 27.1% according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa, glass recycling is also an avenue through which to empower more entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sectors, create jobs and transfer skills, especially to historically disadvantaged South Africans.

The Glass Recycling Company’s (TGRC), South Africa’s national glass recycling body is mandated to promote and facilitate the sustainable recycling of glass.

In addition, the organisation recognises the imperative that exists to partner with all South Africans to convert this mandate into socially reformative action.

Glass recycling has the potential to deliver a win-win scenario, since it can create opportunities for people to earn a source of income and build businesses while delivering sustainable positive environmental impact.

21 Glass International May 2019

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Environment Recycling

with additional infrastructure.

Moreover, during the financial year, TGRC ran around 20 training courses that were attended by around 600 people who received practical training and guidance around operating glass buy-back centres.

The support of small businesses and entrepreneurs like this is contributing to the creation of employment opportunities, especially in a country like South Africa where SMEs constitute around 90% of formal businesses, and employ the majority (approximately 60%) of the domestic labour force, according to the Banking Association of South Africa.

These businesses are central to TGRC’s efforts to create income opportunities for people across the country.

The entrepreneur-owned glass buyback centres purchase much of their glass from glass collectors, of which there are now an estimated 50, 000 in all areas of the country.

members joining the collection activities.

The winning schools across all the provinces each month are awarded monetary prizes to use to improve their facilities and infrastructure.

At the end of the competition, the three schools in each province or region that have collected the most glass are also given financial prizes and a national winner is declared. In addition, a monthly donation is paid to each school based on the quantity they collect.

The positive impact of this Annual Schools Competition is realised in a variety of ways: � Young South Africans are educated about the environmental and commercial value of glass recycling. � Overall glass collection rates for South Africa are bolstered.

� School and surrounding communities are united by a shared desire to win the competition.

All of these initiatives are bearing considerable fruit as the glass recycling rate in South Africa continued to increase over the past financial year.

South African recycling rates are fairly high, despite the fact that there very few structured municipal or Governmental recycling programmes.

In fact, 41.5% of glass in South Africa is now being recycled, while a significant 212 entrepreneurs were supported in the last year alone.

TGRC continues to partner with entrepreneurs who establish and run buyback centres, providing them with the ongoing support they need to maximise their socio-economic contributions to the economy and their communities.

TGRC is funded by shareholders who manufacture glass packaging or package their products in glass. While we do not physically recycle the glass, we strive to educate, enable, encourage and inspire our communities to separate their glass for recycling daily.

Our focus is not only on consumers and their communities, but also on trade, industry and corporate South Africa.

We also aim to uplift impoverished communities through job creation and skills development in the recycling sector. �

The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC), South Africa, www.tgrc.co.za and www.facebook. com/TheGlassRecyclingCo

www.glass-international.com

Empowering youth To help ensure the sustainability of this partnership model and help create more local recyclers, The Glass Recycling Company has been running an Annual Schools Competition since 2013.

The competition has enjoyed a steady increase in participation by schools across the country.

It encourages participating schools to undertake far-reaching glass recycling activities in order to collect as many bottles and jars as possible for recycling.

The schools and learners are fiercely competitive and the participation often extends all the way into the surrounding communities with parents and family

22 0 Glass International May 2019

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Container glass processing

Understanding impact during container glass processing Spanish container glassmaker Vidrala has combined with in-line sensor technology supplier Masitek to measure the impact of glass containers during processing.

T

Impact measurement method Travelling more than 20 weeks a year to

various packaging operations looking to deploy the MMAAZZ technology, it was during a trade exhibition that Pablo connected with Vidrala. Shortly thereafter, Vidrala purchased in-line sensors from Masitek and started an extensive internal deep analysis of the sensors and measurements before starting to use them widely.

Eduardo explains the difficulties of impact measurement faced by Vidrala prior to deploying the MMAAZZ suite of in-line sensors. “Traditionally, the characterisation of the hardness of a bottling line had been carried out qualitatively. We had few quantitative arguments to present to our customers when highlighting those points of the line with strong impacts.”

Relative to glass containers, impact resistance measurement is more complex than internal pressure, which is repeatable, measurable and easily

controlled.

“From the point of view of product design, we lacked precise information on the impact thresholds that a glass container would face during processing,” says Eduardo.

ShockQC deployed With a mission to innovate and continuously improve, Vidrala set clear objectives for their research to understand and measure impact.

The first goal of the project was to reliably and quantitatively characterise the impact loads of a bottling line and second, detect the points of the line where the highest impacts are produced, be it the depalletiser, filler, capper, labeler, packer or palletiser.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

he adoption of in-line sensors for real-time impact measurement during processing has been swift.

“You cannot improve what you cannot measure,” comments Eduardo Albaizar, Process Scientist at Vidrala.

Impact is a damaging mechanical load when processing glass containers and while it isn’t a guarantee that breakage will occur simply because a bottle receives a given impact; the probability of breakage absolutely does increase.

“Until the advent of in-line sensor technology, impact measurement was characterised by the speed of the filling line. It was not possible to understand the root cause of shock in production, nor was it possible to visualise impact on the line in real-time. This is key to enabling fillers to improve their line efficiency and reduce damage to their glass containers,” explains Pablo Asiron, Executive VP of Global Sales for Masitek, a supplier of smart in-line sensor technology which is marketed under the MMAAZZ brand.

When Pablo started with Masitek three years ago, in-line impact measurement was a relatively new concept that was just beginning to take hold. The technology, sensors embedded in exact replicas of the container being processed, are deployed on the production line to accurately measure a container’s experience during processing. It is now used extensively by fillers and glassmakers alike. Pablo wants the world to know that the technology exists and is widely in use. “Smart in-line sensors are deployed at all four of the top breweries globally and are transforming liquid packaging production,” he says.

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Environment Container glass processing

www.glass-international.com

IPS measurement tool

Measured in Inches Per Second (IPS), the IPS impact rating of a bottle means that a bottle is certified to have a given percentage of breakage when it is impacted by a known mass.

The real world is a complex environment with diverse variables that affect how a container responds to impact. For example, when a container is processed through the filling line, it receives multiple impacts of varying intensity.

Vidrala selected Masitek’s MMAAZZ ShockQC to measure IPS dynamically on the line, opting for two sensor replicas, one corresponding to its wine bottle measuring 75 cl (390g) and another to a smaller beer model of 25 cl (150g). Both replicas were designed to correspond to the weight of a full bottle.

ShockQC is equipped with proprietary sensors to measure impact in both IPS and G-Force. Embedded in exact replicas of Vidrala’s containers, ShockQC travels through the line to monitor the entire process. Location tracking Bluetooth beacons create zones on the line to pinpoint the origin of damage and opportunities to improve line efficiency.

Each time ShockQC traveled through the line, the data run was configured to Vidrala’s specifications on the solution tablet and corresponding app. Integrated photos capture notable events, which the Vidrala team could further analyse from the MMAAZZ solution’s web portal.

Albaizar explains how Vidrala integrated the technology on its customers’ lines.

“After deploying the sensor on a customer’s line, our team could visualise the result of the data run directly from the tablet in order to show them to our customers. The data was then automatically uploaded to the Vidrala cloud, where the definitive reports were generated, and we could determine acceptable limits of impact.

“Unsurprisingly, Vidrala witnessed significant improvements between audited and non-audited lines,” explains Masitek’s Asiron.

“Like all of our customers, the team quickly realised the extent to which ShockQC could objectively help identify points of improvement, in this case on their customers’ lines.”

Having satisfied the requirements of their first two objectives, the Vidrala and Masitek teams began collaborating on what would become the Vidrala Impact Index (VII), the latest measurement index to be supported within the MMAAZZ inline sensor suite.

Impact measurement As is the case with other packaging materials, glass strength is heavily dependent on its damage condition.

Pristine glass is as resistant as steel.

However, if that pristine glass is scratched against a metal or glass, its resistance will drop dramatically. The important conclusion here is to understand that glass doesn’t have a specific strength value.

To determine the probability of glass maintaining its integrity under a certain stress, Weibull distribution is the most widely employed in the different research papers covering glass strength topics.

“Taking into account that stress is proportional to impact speed, our experience, after impacting several thousands of containers and extensive mathematical calculations allowed us to effectively calculate the probability of failure for any combination of low-level impacts of varying intensity.”

Asiron extrapolates the value of the Vidrala Impact Index which is a weighted sum approach to rate a line’s impact performance.

“Given that during the filling process, containers receive hundreds of impacts of varying severity it is difficult to provide an overall result or even to compare different filling lines. The risk of breakage

greatly depends on impact magnitude, so individual impacts cannot simply be added together. VII provides a single number representing the severity of the impacts received throughout the whole filling line or within a portion of it.”

Now fully integrated into MMAAZZ ShockQC, the impact index created by Vidrala enables all fillers to account for different impacts where the weighing factors are based on the relative risk of breakage.

Vidrala’s Cypher service Vidrala announced the launch of its Cypher service in February 2019. Cypher is the name given to the system for monitoring and describing a production line’s degree of impact.

Using a sensor inside a prototype which is equal to the container being processed, and with the help of sensors strategically placed along the line, Vidrala can record impacts, associate them with specific points of that line and visualise them on a mobile device. By doing so, Vidrala audits the line and verify the solicitation to which the container is exposed at each stage of the filling process.

Others may be able to extract figures but only Vidrala is able to interpret precisely and categorise the collected data to obtain real improvements. Further information is available on the website cypher.vidrala.com �

Masitek, New Brunswick, Canada www.mmaazz.org Vidrala, Laudio, Spain www.vidrala.com

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tb854_TECO_A4_Ads_2018_Vintage_Style_v8.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2018 17:44 Page 5

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Furnaces

Primary measures to reduce the NOx concentration in waste gas Dr Hartmut Hegeler* discusses a method that increases the residence time of the waste gases in the furnace and that therefore reduces NOx emissions to levels previously not possible through the use of primary measures.

E

nvironmental measures require a steady reduction of emissions from glass melting furnaces. NOx emissions have been reduced over recent years through primary measures. At present, however, a level has been reached where primary measures have reach

their limits and, for further reduction, secondary measures such as emission control systems with catalysts are necessary.

Sorg has developed a process that allows further reduction of the current level of emissions through primary measures.

Every thermal process involving the use of fossil fuels produces NOx due to various thermal reactions. In glass melting plants mainly thermal NOx is present, which is unstable. Formation Continued>>

1500 NO unstable

Vol% NO

500mg/m3 Fuel NOx

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Thermal NOx N2O

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Prompt NOx

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400

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� Fig 1. NO concentration depending on flame temperature (Source: HVG Fortbildungskurs: Effiziente Verbrennungstechnik für die Glasindustrie, Dr.Ing. Anne Giese, GWI

� Fig 2.Temperature range of the NO formation and decomposition.

Base case without injection with fire left

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Essen.)

Injection right with fire left

� Fig 3. Mathematical modeling: residence time of the combustion gases without (left) and with air injection (right).

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adjustment and on-site display.

The operating principle and the installation were verified several times in the practical test. The test clearly demonstrated the NOx-reducing influence of the injection, both with regard to NOx-optimised systems and to non-optimised systems.

In the case of non-optimised plants, the NOx values were at the level of approximately 900mg/Nm³.

After commissioning of the injection, NOx values were measured around the 500mg/ Nm³.

After the optimisation of the melting plant, measurements of emissions were carried out again. By means of air injection, the NOx value was reduced from 650mg/Nm³ to 450mg/Nm³.

Summary � Fig 4 + 5. Control station for the air injection.

The increase in the residence time of the waste gases in the combustion chamber is achieved by the injection of compressed air in the area of the burners, which prevents the direct outflow of the combustion gases. The longer residence time allows a high decay rate of NOx due to its instability. The increase in the residence time is illustrated in the mathematical modeling.

To regulate and control the compressed air, Sorg has an air station in its product portfolio, which is also suitable for retrofitting to an operating melting furnace. The station shown includes an electro-pneumatic actuator as well as data acquisition and bypass with manual

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www.glass-international.com

Fire side

*Sales Director Area 2 and Marketing Manager, Sorg, Lohr am Main, Germany www.sorg.de

O2[%]

and decay are influenced by residence time and temperature in the combustion chamber of the melting furnace.

While the temperature is prescribed by the melting process and can only be varied in a narrow range at most, the change in the residence time – in this case the increase – has no influence on the melting process.

Based on this fact and after intensive mathematical modeling, Sorg has developed and successfully tested a method that increases the residence time of the waste gases in the furnace. Thus, NOx emissions are reduced to levels that were previously not possible through the use of primary measures.

With the injection of compressed air, Sorg has developed a method by which the NOx emissions from glass melting furnaces can be further reduced successfully by primary measures. The use of cost-intensive secondary measures for NOx reduction is therefore no longer necessary.

By using an air station inside the melting plant, this additional primary measure can be easily implemented and can also be subsequently integrated into existing melting plants. Sorg supplies everything from a single source - from calculation and plant technology to process optimisation. �

0 Measured values from 13.09.2016/08:00-15:30

� Fig 6. Effect of air injection on NOx in a non-optimized furnace: on the left

� Fig 7. Effect of air injection on NOx in an optimised furnace: significant

side of the green line no injection, on the right side NOx values after starting the

reduction of NOx due to air injection.

injection.

30 0 Glass International May 2019

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

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Environment Furnaces

The future of the glass industry Stuart Hakes (F.I.C.UK), Christoph Jatzwauk (F.I.C.Germany), Hans Mahrenholtz (GS), Erik Muijsenberg (GS) discuss the future of furnaces.

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It is well known that the EU has laid down stringent targets for CO2 emissions for the next 30 years or so. It is a requirement that by 2030 there has be to a 40% reduction when compared to 1990 emissions of CO2 and by 2050 an 80% reduction. It should be fairly obvious to all that this target is not achievable with current furnace designs. Although these regulations apply to the EU, there is growing acceptance in other parts of the world that CO2 reduction is a priority, the only possible exception being the USA, at the present moment.

Some people are asking themselves if our behaviour is really increasing CO2 emissions. Very likely it is, as fossil fuels are coming from fossil layers that were created over 2.5 billion years and we burn it all in just the last 170 years. With the present higher energy demand than 170 years ago, it now would take 100 million years to generate the amount of fossil fuels we consume in one year! (Fig 1) It is interesting to know that in only one single hour the amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth is more than the entire world consumes in a year.

Each hour 430 quintillion (1018) Joules of energy from the sun hits the Earth.

So it is obvious we have to switch to try to catch directly a percentage of the incidental energy coming to us as a gift from the Sun, instead of burning up the

rest of the fossil fuel that we have.

Besides the idea of CO2 reduction we have to face the energy transition in any case. The estimated amount of time we have left of fossil fuels available is only about 50 years (gas and oil). So why not start now in speeding up the energy transition? We have to in the end. The sea level has risen eight centimetres since 1993 and could rise up to 2 metres by 2100. At least half of the Netherlands would disappear and Manhattan would become similar to Venice.

The question remains therefore, how do we achieve strong CO2 reduction?

When you examine the improvement in thermal efficiency over the last 100 years or so, it can be seen that we have made great strides, however, it is also clear that we have plateaued and that there is very little opportunity to make any dramatic improvements and certainly not to get to the required CO2 levels.

This leaves a dilemma as to what the next step should be.

A look at the primary energy consumption of a glass container furnace and furnace type also shows a similar pattern in that ‘big is beautiful’ in terms of energy efficiency. However, although the energy efficiency is better there are specific differences between the types of furnace. Generally, end-port furnaces are more efficient than cross -fired furnaces

even better than most oxy-fuel furnaces (when corrected for the generation of oxygen).

As can be seen on Fig 2, there is one standout feature and that is of a Horizontal Hybrid Electric Melter (GS|HEM) concept, which is considerably more efficient than any other melter, approximately about 2.6 MJ/kg or 620 kcal/kg. The transfer of electric energy by Joulean heat dissipation has an efficiency around 97%, whereas combustion heat transfer is usually maxing out at about 50%. Recognising that ‘big is beautiful’ it surely means that a larger, all-electric or horizontal hybrid furnace (using super boosting) would indeed be more efficient still and that is the case, however, there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about electric furnaces.

The green line in Fig 2 shows that small all-electric furnaces are beating fossil fired furnaces by a factor of 2 or more. That also explains why today most all-electric melters are small as the much better efficiency can allow for the until now commonly higher price for electricity. A small electric furnace operates at energy efficiency starting at around 70% using about 800-900 kcal/kg and going to around 85% at 250tpd whereas a similar 10tpd fuel-fired furnace starts at 1600Continued>>

Fig 2. Specific energy use in kcal/kg for soda lime container glass as function of pull. Blue line original, red line normalized (50%) and corrected for age, green Fig 1. Global Fossil Carbon emissions from fossil fuel (source treehugger.com).

line electric melting.

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Fig 3. Costs of glass as function of energy costs and CO2 emission costs.

2000kcal/kg with a thermal efficiency around 35% and peaks at 45%-50% for the same 250tpd. This reinforces the view that electric furnaces are the way forward, if electricity costs are economically interesting. This breakpoint is getting closer with the extra costs for CO2 emissions being in place (Fig 2). We are able to make such analysis for each customer and as function of varying CO2 and energy costs. The graph shows that the All Electic Melter (AEM) is the most cost effective if the electricity price is below €0.06/kWh, which is already the case in many parts of the world. Only we assume here that CO2 emissions costs go up to €50 Euro. (for 100 Euro/ton this break point is around €0.075 /kWh). Electricity costs by a modern (offshore) large 10MW windmill lies around €0.04 /kWh. Berkeley lab even reports $0.02/kWh for new windmills.

When writing this article the actual price of CO2 was already €27/ton up from the beginning of 2019 at €22/ton.

Most current all electric furnaces are in the range of 1-25 tpd.

There are more than 10 operating between 100-200 tpd. FIC is currently designing a furnace for a customer requesting 350 tpd and FIC believes 600 tpd is possible. Within all-electric furnaces there are a number of different types, namely cold-top, hot-top and semi hot-top. Within this range there are also different geometries, square, rectangular, hexagonal, duo-decagonal, round and shelf types. A number of different transformers could be used, both open and closed and partial delta, star connected or Scott squares which are balanced, two phase and of course single phase. The electrode positions can be top, side-wall, shelf, bottom or even plates. We can discuss what alternative options are available to improve fuel efficiency. These include briquetting, pre-heating of the batch and/or all the cullet, dry batch optimisation, burner technology, advanced model based furnace control, oxygen, Syngas and energy substitution. All of these can have an additional but limited effect on reducing the CO2.

It is important to realise that most existing all-electric furnaces are practically vertical melters often hexagonal to approach a round furnace, to minimise the wall losses and shorten the distance between the electrodes. This makes sense for a small melter (< 80 TPD), but does not make sense for a large melter. For a large melter (>80 TPD) the wall losses are getting less important and the distance between electrodes would become larger. So it seems logical to change to a horizontal electric melter which is also much more convenient to setup Continued>>

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Environment Furnaces

as a hybrid, being more flexible to use a variable amount of electric energy versus energy coming from the hot top.

Is hydrogen the economy fuel of the future?

Hydrogen seems a promising medium to store and transfer energy in a safe way.

The advantage is that hydrogen can be generated wholly environmentally by using (cheap) clean electric energy created by renewable sources such as wind and solar. The hydrogen can be created at peak times, or at times when electricity demand is lower than electricity generation.

This hydrogen can be stored in natural earth caves or vessels and then be transported in slightly modified pipe lines or trucks. A nice bonus is that oxygen is created at the same time as a side product, it can be used efficiently for oxygen and hydrogen combustion to create the clean exhaust product called water.

The hydrogen also can be electrified again using a fuel cell.

Looking to car industry filling up an electric car with a fuel cell using hydrogen will merely take 3 minutes and the car will have a 1000km range on it, whereas

charging electric batteries (till max 80%) can take 30 mins giving a range of 300400km.

It is obvious that the only way forward for the industry is to use either super boost horizontal hybrid furnaces such as GS|HEM or all-electric furnaces.

Obviously much depends on how the electricity is generated but with the increasing availability of bio fuel, wind farms, solar farms, wave production and nuclear, there are CO2 free options.

However, the move to super boosting and electric melting is fraught with misunderstanding and misinformation.

We need to re-examine the old ways with new technology and we need to think creatively and start from scratch and we need a paradigm shift. All of these items point to electric melting as the only viable option.

In forthcoming conferences we will present some ideas about future furnace concepts such as the GS|HEM (Fig. 4) that can be realised by F.I.C. UK & FlammaTec technology in collaboration with furnace engineering companies that are open and interested to cooperate with GS Group of experts in this field.

6252 Calumite Asian Glass 178x124 AW

Of course the GS|HEM will use A.SENS Sensors and Furnace monitoring as well as Expert System III to balance by model based control the optimum use of natural gas/hydrogen firing versus electric dynamically based on varying costs and availability.

In 2017 the share of renewable energy sources on the total gross energy consumption (electric and direct fossil fuels) in Europe already reached 20%.

Some countries already create 100% of electricity consumption from renewable resources. A large economy such as Germany has even reached 40% of all consumed electricity (so excluding direct use of fossil fuels) in 2018 generated from renewable resources.

The future is bright, the future is more hybrid electric and hydrogen from renewable resources. �

Glass Service, Vsetin, Czech Republic www.gsl.cz The Glass Service conference, Furnace Design – Operation and Process Simulation, takes place May 22 and 23 In Velke Karlovice, Czech Republic. https://www.gsl.cz/

calumite.co.uk

Calumite – an essential raw material for the glass industry.

Use Calumite to: • Reduce energy consumption • Improve glass quality www.glass-international.com

• Increase furnace pull

34 0

• Reduce furnace temperatures • Reduce NOx and CO2 emissions • Provide a high quality alumina source To find out more call Calumite Ltd on:

+44 1724 282211 Email: nicola.johnson@hanson.com

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Furnaces

The importance of residual quartz in crown silica bricks Silica bricks are the main constituents of a glass furnace crown due to the high resistance at high temperature and their low weight. But if calling them ‘Silica bricks’ reveals their composition, little is often known about its mineralogical constituents. S Cappuzzo, G. Brugnolo, S. Ceola and S. Sanchetti* report.

S

ilica bricks are widely used in the glass industry for glass furnace crowns and in the steel industry for coke oven construction.

Silica is one of the best refractory materials in the market, but due to the complexity of its polymorphism and production process, attention is required in its use and choice.

The main features of silica are low price, low density, good mechanical strength, no shrinkage after long term service, high corrosion resistance to acid and high creep resistance.

The main disadvantage of silica is its low resistance to thermal shock due

� Fig 1.Quartzite grains at polarising microscope (10x magnification).

218.0

254.7

to the high thermal expansion at low temperature, as it will be shown later.

Production Silica bricks contain a major amount of silica (>93% wt SiO2) with minor content of other oxides, such as lime (CaO), alumina (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3).

There are two main categories of silica bricks: super duty and high duty. Super duty silica bricks are of higher purity, with less than about 0.5% fluxing oxides, while high duty silica bricks contain more than 0.5% fluxing oxides.

The mineral phases present are cristobalite, tridymite with minor amount of calcium silicate, amorphous phase and quartz.

In the manufacturing process of silica, very pure quartzite and silica sands with above 96% SiO2 are used. CaO is added in an amount of 2-3% in weight in order to increase the sintering activity: during firing, CaO reacts with SiO2 to form wollastonite (CaSiO3) giving high strength without altering the refractoriness of the product.

Refractoriness under load (RUL) of

good quality silica bricks should be above 1660°C. Minor components are added to promote the transformation of quartz to tridymite upon firing.

Two types of quartzite are used for the manufacturing process, each one giving well known characteristics to the final product. This issue is well stressed in the DIN 1089-1 that gives important information on refractories used in coke oven plants.

Quartzites are mainly of two types: coarse crystalline rock quartzite and fine crystalline (or cryptocrystalline) cemented quartzite.

These two crystal habits give different quality issues to the final silica bricks.

Fig 1 shows two examples of different quartzites classified as coarse grained at the polarizing microscope.

To obtain these pictures, grains of different quartzites were selected and prepared in thin section then reduced in thickness at 30 microns and observed at 10x magnification level under the polarizing microscope. All the pictures Continued>>

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135.9

334.2 139.5

216.6

� Fig 2. Behaviour of the SiO2 modifications dependent on temperature.

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� Fig 3. Residual quartz effect on the expansion of silica samples. were taken at crossed nicols, units in microns.

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High temperature properties At high temperature, Silica shows its peculiar properties in all tests, from Thermal Expansion to Creep, to Refractoriness Under Load.

In opposition to other refractory materials, Silica expresses most of its thermal expansion below 300°C, reaching an expansion that, at this temperature, is around +0.8%.

This behaviour is due to the mineralogical transformation silica undergoes upon heating, from lowtemperature β-cristobalite and γ-tridymite to high-temperature α-cristobalite and α-tridymite.

Above 300°C it has a further expansion that peaks at +1.2% around 1200°C, a dilatation which is usually maintained up to the temperature of inflection point before failing.

Such behaviour, while imposing great care in the heating phases of the silica bricks, assures that silica will resist temperature oscillations around 1200°C, since its expansion – and thus dimensions - won’t change much.

But as temperatures begin to surpass 1600°C, things begin to change.

When high temperatures are reached, other refractory compositions have a steady expansion and a gentle contraction after T0 – i.e. the temperature at which the expansion peaks and the compressive behaviour overcomes.

Silica instead rapidly and catastrophically collapses in a matter of no more than 10°C above 1640-1650°C. For this reason, a well-established habit among glassmakers is to test crown Silica bricks for Refractoriness Under Load (RUL, EN 993-8). This test determines which

� Fig 4. After expansion versus residual quartz content.

is the exact catastrophic temperature beyond which Silica has no turning point.

Finally, to evaluate the behaviour of Silica bricks when dwelling at high temperatures, Creep In Compression (CIC, EN 993-9) test can be performed.

CIC test is performed by taking the sample at the expected working temperature and by keeping it at that temperature for a long time, usually in the multiples of 25h.

When dealing with silica, few precautions should be taken. The first is to impose a load of 0.4MPa to the sample, a.k.a. doubled with respect to other materials.

Since Silica is extremely stable at high temperatures, this procedure is aimed at gaining some insight about the creep resistance of the material, whereas lower loads could expose the results to random oscillations that don’t reflect the actual quality of the material.

The second precaution is to use Platinum sheets to insulate the sample from the alumina of the sample holder: by dwelling for a long time at high temperatures, in fact, silica and alumina will combine to yield mullite – a reaction that alters the test results since mullite forms with an increase of volume.

Residual Quartz If such behaviours are expected and well established, there is one variable that can shake things up, and that is Residual Quartz. Quartz transforms to α-cristobalite and α-tridymite upon firing at temperatures higher that 1000°C with great linear expansion up to +5%, +13% volume.

These transformations are expected during brick production and correctly assessed. This transformation becomes a problem when firing in production does not transform all quartz and such

expansion takes place after installation with catastrophic consequences.

Residual quartz presence can be detected by means of thermophysical tests, alongside a X-Ray diffraction technique that will be discussed further on. As thermophysical tests study the behaviour of materials at the rising and dwelling at high temperatures, residual quarts content can be spotted and investigated exactly during its transformations.

As F. Brunk suggests in one of his papers, an especially tailored RUL test can be used to measure quartz expansion, by slowing down the last part of the heating ramp and by letting the mineralogical transformations to express themselves upon heating.

Fig 3 shows increasing quantities of residual quartz cause a phenomenon known as ‘After expansion’, where silica experiences a secondary expansion beyond 1500°C proportional to the residual quartz content of the brick tested.

After expansion is measured as the difference in dl/l0 (%) at the peak of the secondary expansion and right before it. Few interesting details can be derived from Fig 3: � 1 Regardless of the expansion behaviour before it, ‘after expansion’ overcomes any previously achieved dilatations. E.g., curve n. 1 has a fairly standard dilatation before its massive expansion; � 2 After expansion can be dramatic: about of 6% of residual quartz yields an additional expansion of +1.78% linear – +6% volume; � 3 Even with the effects of ‘after expansion’, all the samples tested begin collapsing at roughly the same temperature, reinforcing the fact that Continued>>

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SSV Calibration line method A sample of silica brick was treated at 1600°C for 24 hours to completely convert residual α-quartz into tridymite and cristobalite.

The complete conversion of α-quartz is verified by X-ray diffraction analysis performed with an X’Pert PRO diffractometer.

The powder obtained after milling the sample is then used as a quartz-free reference material: specific amounts of α-quartz (Respirable α-quartz - NIST Standard Reference Material 1878°) are added and homogenised to the reference material in order to obtain standard samples with the following % wt/wt amounts of residual α-quartz: � 0.5% wt/wt � 1.0% wt/wt � 1.5% wt/wt � 2.5% wt/wt � 3.0% wt/wt � 4.5% wt/wt � 6.0% wt/wt The precise range of concentrations was established on the basis of the limit of 1.5% wt/wt amount of residual α-quartz imposed for silica brick refractories.

The X-ray diffraction analyses were performed on 1.8 g of powdered standard samples. The experimental parameters are reported as follows: � Start angle (°) 26.410 � End angle (°) 27.040 � Step size (°) 0.026 � Time per step (s) 3001.35 � Scan speed (°/s) 0.002 � Number of steps 24 � Anti-scatter slit 1/2 � Divergence slit 1/4

for PANalytical X – ray diffractometers, which automatically calculates the areas of selected peaks and correlates them to the corresponding concentrations. In our case, the α-quartz main peak at 2θ = 26.7° was chosen.

In Fig 5 the calibration line from 0 to 2.5% amount of α-quartz obtained by correlating areas of α-quartz main peak at 2θ = 26.7° and concentrations of the analysed standard samples is shown.

Conclusion The structural and thermophysical complexity of silica requires particular care in its choice and in the quality control of supplies.

If silica bricks firing is not performed accurately, some quartz content can remain untransformed and this can lead to severe problems.

High amount of quartz can produce dangerous unexpected dilations (called after expansion) during service, affecting the stability of the crown.

SSV has developed a well experimented method to check in a fast and reliable way the presence of quartz in the silica for the crown which has already been refined over thousands of tested samples.

With its experience and analytical approach, SSV can help the glass industry to the right and appropriate choice of product that suites to the long campaigns of the modern glass furnaces.

SSV is also available to provide support in the choice of manufacturers through technological audits of product and process.

Onsite inspections and manufacturers audits can be performed by our technicians, together with a thoroughly testing practice that can inspect every aspect of the refractory material, from chemical to physical properties, including mineralogical and thermophysical analysis. �

Bibliography “X ray diffractometric determination of residual quartz in silica bricks” MAJDIC A. SCHNEIDER H. WOHLLEBEN K. Cfi/Ber. DKG 4/5-86 DIN 1089-1 Refractories for Use in Coke Oven. Part 1: Silica bricks. Requirement and testing.

“Silica refractories” F. Brunk. CN Refractories special issues-Volume 5-2001 “Silica bricks for Modern coke oven batteries” F. Brunk Sonderdruck aus “COKEMAKING international” Heft 2/200, Seite 37-44 Refractory Engineering: materials – design - construction [Deutsche Gesellschaft Feuerfest…] – 2 ed. – Essen: Vulkan-Verl., 1996;

*Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro, Murano, Venice, Italy www.spevetro.it

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silica softening happens in a very narrow temperature interval.

By plotting the tests results (Fig 4), SSV has shown how residual quartz content in commercially available silica bricks induces an expansion behaviour that falls between the ones of fully crypto and fully coarse silica, likely due to the mixture of the two components on commercially available quartz bearing sands.

SSV has developed a well experimented method to check in a fast and reliable way the presence of quartz in silica bricks, including those for the crown.

� Fig 5 calibration line.

The reproducibility and replicability of the measurements were also tested.

The standard calibration curve was built using an X’Pert Quantify software

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A modern approach to furnace salt bath modeling Dave Woodham* indicates how a new modeling facility can provide real time analysis of the salt bath test of furnace electrodes.

AFT

UK Ltd has been involved with the glass industry for more than 30 years.

One of the services we provide has been salt bath testing. We are now updating our modelling facility to provide real time analysis of the test.

Salt bath testing is a proven method of testing the performance of electrodes within a glass furnace. This allows us to find the optimum phase firing sequence.

It starts with a scale model of a known furnace, which is then filled with a saline solution. Scaled electrodes are then fitted in the tank and a low voltage power source is applied to the electrodes. The resulting current flow is recorded. From these readings, calculations are performed using the current and voltage readings from the full-size known furnace. These calculations provide a Model factor. With the model factor calculated a new test can be carried out to trial new electrode positions.

In the past the industry-accepted procedure was to position scaled electrodes within the salt bath model, apply power and measure the currents and voltages produced using hand held test equipment on individual electrodes.

� Test Tank with Model Markings and Scaling Layout.

� Model End View - The electrolyte level is also scaled to the nominal level.

� Scaled markings for side wall and bottom

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electrode positions.

Calculations were then carried out to obtain the real-world values of the electrodes. Our new system displays up to 12 current and voltage readings simultaneously, this allows us to see if moving just one electrode has any effect on any of the other electrodes. The new system can instantaneously calculate and display the real-world values for all the electrodes being in the model.

As the testing uses a saline solution to simulate molten glass this holds its own

problems. The conductance and therefore conductivity of a solution is closely related to the temperature of the solution, in fact a 1°C change in the saline solution can cause a 2% change in conductance and this change in conductance is not linear.

Due to this, in the past, the temperature had to be closely monitored to ensure accuracy, if the solution temperature altered, the test was suspended until the solution temperature returned to Continued>>

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ďż˝ Two model electrodes. Both are accurately calculated for length and diameter.

the point used to calculate the model factor. This was a timeconsuming factor. In our new system the conductance and temperature is closely monitored and compensated for in the real-world calculations.

During a recent test using our prototype system the results were interesting and unexpected as we saw changes in values on certain electrodes when adjacent but galvanically isolated powered electrodes where moved.

The test proved the advantages of the new system, and the optimum phase firing sequence was quickly established meaning that the furnace has improved production and energy usage.

The system is PC based and uses two screens, the first screen is mounted over the salt tank and is a mnemonic display of the electrode positions showing the current and voltage of the electrodes. It also gives a reading of the calculated real-world current and voltage at maximum current for the electrodes. The second screen is used to control the test, calibrate the sensors, monitor temperatures, conductance and take snapshots of the test. The snapshot will capture data from all channels and timestamp the data. A note can be added to the snapshot. The data from the snapshot can be loaded into Excel for further analysis.

The 6 off power supplies and the current, voltage, temperature, salinity, sensors and transmitters are housed in a custom-built enclosure linked to the PC through an Ethernet connection.

As the system is ethernet based the customer will be able to watch the test in real time and receive real time data from the test. The customer will be able to add input in real-time from their place of work. This new system is due to be made available to customers mid-summer 2019. ďż˝

*Electrical and Processing Manager, Associated Furnace Technology (AFT UK), Retford, UK. Email: dwoodham@aft-glass.co.uk

ďż˝ Scaled electrodes in their calculated position within the model.

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A carousel for the smart factory The Tiama MX4 carousel is a specialist machine for cold-end inspection on hollow glass. As such, it must always be a step ahead to enhance glassmakers’ productivity and profitability, reports Damien Defenouillère*.

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� The Atlas system.

The smart factory concept

Agile, flexible and modular

Assisting the worker

How does Tiama consider the Smart Factory when applied to glass manufacturing? If we go through the literature on the subject, this concept is wide and undefined. However, the main purposes can be summed-up as follow.

The objectives of the Smart Factory are to provide more agility and flexibility, to reduce costs while respecting workers and their environment. The ultimate goal is to improve customers’ productivity with the digitalisation of the glass plant.

This equation is seductive but seems difficult to apprehend. How to enhance a machine performance, minimise its impact and reduce expenses at the same time? Tiama considers this challenge as vital and has been fully integrated in its strategy for many years.

The first step leading to Smart Factory is to strengthen machine agility and flexibility.

The Tiama carousel range, and globally all the Tiama products, are thought to be as versatile as possible to answer any possible customer need on hollow glass inspection.

The MX4, to focus on this specific machine, offers wide and innovative control devices without any compromise between its global compact footprint and its clever design separating the control unit in a dedicated isolated cabinet.

The MX4 provides more inspection stations (seven), more rotation devices (up to six), more flexibility on the article mix (22mm<Ø<180mm, 30mm<h<600mm, any shape) than any other carousel machine on the market.

The MX4 has been designed not only to answer all customers’ needs in terms of performance, but also and overall to ease the operator’s life in mastering it. One of the answers to the difficult equation of Smart Factory is to offer a high level of automatisation. With this target in mind, every single main axis of the machine is driven with servo motors, directly controlled through a user-friendly interface. During the job change, which is one of the most demanding tasks, the MX4 assists the user in his work by automatised setups.

For instance, the upper frame, which hosts the upper controls, moves up to the machine top, to free the workspace for Continued>>

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Inspection

all the different controls.

Then, all the measures and data are processed and enriched by the Tiama ECO-system to deliver centered recommendations and to improve the customers’ productivity.

YOUniverse, the smart factory concept � MX4, data provider machine. � MX4 Smart Factory.

handling setup, and down to its working position depending on the article height.

One of the best examples of Tiama commitment to Smart Factory is the ATLAS inspection device.

Once all the container parameters are entered in the guided user interface, the job change assistant helps the user to quickly setup few mechanical angles.

Then, it will set up automatically the head position, the regions of interest on the 16 dedicated cameras and will start learning all by itself. The user will be able to focus on its real added value which is the decision of applying and adapting the calculated setups. No more painful, repetitive and tough work tasks are required from the worker.

The upcoming Tiama inspection devices such as the updated version of the NCI-HCI were all thought to answer these expectations of getting agile, flexible & respectful of the workers tasks.

tomorrow is to consider its inspection machines more as data providing devices than binary sorting machines.

With this goal, the main purpose of MX4, like all other Tiama machines, is to provide data to an external intelligent system: the Tiama ECO-system.

This new system is a supervisory control and data acquisition system dedicated to Tiama machines with which the user can have an overview of hot and cold end machine behaviour. For every single container inspected, all the available measurements are recorded for

Active component of the Tiama YOUniverse data providing philosophy, the Tiama MX4 participates in the development of the Smart Factory.

The different exchange protocols gather and send high-value data, for every single container inspected.

Measures and data produced by all the different controls can be linked to a specific single ID thanks to Data Matrix or more simply associated to the original mould through a Mould Number Reader.

The information is sent into Tiama Intelligent supervision systems such as Tiama IQ scan or Tiama ECO-system.

Instead of releasing a binary verdict, as we were able to do until now, Tiama intelligent systems make it possible to follow production drifts and react with immediate actions at the hot end even before the real defect appears.

Therefore, glassmakers can prevent any container rejection and consequently improve their pack-to-melt ratio. This closer regulation loop therefore improves global production line efficiency. �

*Carousel Product Engineer, Tiama, Lyon, France www.tiama.com

Another answer to the Smart Factory challenge is a full digital integration of the whole production line. To help glassmakers on their way, Tiama has launched its own Smart Factory concept called YOUniverse.

The Tiama machines and specifically the MX4 machine are thought, since their first rounds, to provide a lot of measures and data. Tiama’s approach for

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High value data provider

� The MX4.

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Expect more.

Stephan Meindl CEO + MD

Get more.

HORN has been in the furnace nace business for over 130 years, the last 23 of which I have had the privilege to be part of. From From the outset, we expected more: more quality quality,, more e innovation, mor more efficiency and, in turn, more e satisfied customers. We We had a bold vision that HORN would be one of the major international international play players in furnace design and manufacture. I am proud to say that this has become reality and would like to thank all our loyal customers for this. I hope you feel that your loyalty has been rewarded. If you are new in the furnace business and would like to know more about the way we work, design and manufacture please contact me or visit us at www.hornglass.com

C ON TAIN ER GLAS S • COS METIC GL AS S • F I B R E GL AS S • F L AT GL AS S • F L O AT G L A S S L I GHTING • PHARMACEUT ICAL GLA S S • S O DI UM-S I L I C AT E GL AS S • TAB L E WA R E • T U B I N G

Batch plant

Challenges for a Batch Plant Supplier The Furnace Solutions training day and conference takes place in Stoke on Trent, UK, next month. Here, conference speaker Dr. Sebastian Woltz* provides an abridged version of his paper Batch plant upgrades - Challenges for a batch plant supplier.

Introduction With almost 100 years of experience, EME originally supplied robust designed equipment and machinery for the

mining industry. The experience and technical standards developed over the decades established EME as a reliable machine builder. Joining the Sorg group in 1987, EME entered the glass market by developing batch handling process technologies adapted to specific advanced requirements. Now EME provides tailor-made solutions for batch and cullet handling in accordance with customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs and transfers process and technology know-how into glass industry plants. Considering the increasing demand of modernisation and of upgrading existing batch plants, the understanding of the process and of the interactions has become particularly important.

Built equipment and process parameters The main challenges when upgrading batch plants are most often the limited information available. Typically batch houses are decades old, several times adapted and extended by different suppliers; as-build drawings and technical documentation are missing or at least incomplete. Additionally the customer expects that the supplier gives guarantees in regard of capacities, weighing and dosing accuracies, batch homogeneities,

availabilities and reliabilities, as well as dust and noise emissions. To characterise a batch plant, a supplier has to collect all the required information, including furnace capacities, batch house running hours per day, raw material specification (e. g. chemical composition, grain size distribution, moisture content, bulk density, fusion loss), batch composition, cullet addition rates (internal and external) and has to measure the actual cycle time.

For this reason, EME developed automated tools to better illustrate technical data, interrelations of the different equipment, calculating weighing and dosing accuracies, as well as batch cycle times. As a base, the tool contains a list of common raw materials characteristics, including chemical formulas, melting losses of the single raw materials, bulk densities, hazardous categories or material handling recommendations. Based information on the raw materials properties, a given batch recipe and its predetermined batch moisture content will be calculated, along with the resulting batch density and the required additional amount of water to be added into the mixture. Here it is Continued>>

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ME often performs audits to determine opportunities to update, upgrade or modernise existing batch plants. This is often rather challenging since there is only limited project information, technical documentation or drawings for the existing batch plants available. Measurements on site have to be performed, available technical data collected and system parameters and timing have to be determined for dosing, weighing, mixing and batch transport.

The identification of bottle necks resulting in extended cycle times and the creation of solutions to reduce them is a key task. In addition it is often the case that a batch plant feeds several furnaces and must remain in operation during upgrades. Consequently, guaranteeing uninterrupted batch delivery is critical at all times during the upgrade. To achieve solutions that will meet these customer needs, EME has developed special tools for the modification of batch plants.

Typical customer upgrade requirements will be presented, as well as the how such projects are handled by EME.

�� Example of raw material basic data and batch calculation.

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�� EME personnel on site and silo discharge with

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vibratory feeder.

important that the moisture content of the raw materials has been considered as they may already contain a significant amount of water.

When upgrading a batch plant, the process between the dosing of the raw material from the storage silos into the scales until the input of the batch into the silos at the furnace has to be critically examined, separated into dosing, weighing, mixing and batch transport.

When increasing the capacity of a batch plant, an understanding of the existing equipment parameters is of upmost importance to achieve the required batch composition within the needed accuracies and homogeneities, especially under the toughest conditions.

The dosing or dynamic accuracy is defined as the difference between the raw materials set value specified in the recipe and the real dosed raw material amount.

Raw materials are typically dosed in two modes; the coarse fast dosing to minimise dosing time and the fine slow dosing to achieve the required accuracy. After stopping the fine dosing a specific amount of material will normally still fall into the scale; this can significantly influence the dosing accuracy depending on the sensitivity of the equipment and on the break-off characteristics of the individual raw material. Often the dosing equipment itself does not have to be changed when increasing the capacity. Also the as built and the discharge situation of the silos has to be examined.

For example having a look at the discharge situation of a silo with a

vibratory feeder, the optimum material flow depends on the ratio of the silo depth H and the passage height T and should ideally be between T/H = 0.9 – 1.25. If this ratio is too small or too high, the maximum possible material flow cannot be achieved. As an additional consequence, material bake-ons can occur which further reduce the capacity. The capacity of a vibratory feeder or a screw conveyor depends on various factors, such as the main dimensions of the equipment (diameter or chute width / height), the adjusted speed / oscillating frequency, the density or the general transport willingness of the specific material, etc.

By changing the inclination of a chute, the capacity can also be increased (about 1° inclination can increase the capacity by 3%) but at the same time having a negative influence on the accuracy.

Existing scales Existing scales have to be characterised in regards to accuracy, precision and resolution. The static accuracy is the difference between the real weight and the displayed weight of a static load on a scale measured as a standard deviation.

The precision of a scale is a measure of the repeatability of an object’s displayed weight for multiple weighing of the same object. The resolution of a scale is the smallest increment in applied weight that can be detected or displayed on the scale. In all scales, this quantity is mostly affected by the number of digits that are displayed when an object is weighed. In the glass industry typically static weighing

accuracies of ≤0.05 % of the full scale deflection have to be guaranteed. The tare weight of a scale should be as low as possible so that a relatively high portion of digits will remain for the net weighing of the raw materials; this is especially important for small size ingredients. The accuracy class of the scales can only be achieved if the minimum input weight into a scale is at least 30% of the total weight (vessel weight + initial weight).

Therefore the scale size and its load cells, the required total weight of the raw materials, the weight of the vessel itself, as well as the volume needed for the raw materials have to be considered to ensure that it may also function accurately with higher capacity demands.

Additionally external sources have to be examined which may decrease the scale accuracy; this could originate through short-wave vibrations of the substructure which may be introduced by heavy vertical loads on the scale structure. Air turbulences can have strong negative influences, e. g. from building ventilation or from wrong designed de-dusting filter devices.

Customers prefer to keep their existing mixing equipment due to the high investment cost of a bigger mixer, as well as due to costly and complicated installations in difficult locations due to the larger space requirements not being foreseen in the original design. In order to guarantee the correct batch homogeneity, the batch size, the mixing time including Continued>>

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Outlook

dry mixing, water addition, wet mixing time and mixer discharge is defined for a specific mixer size and brand and must be considered carefully when changes are required.

To identify capacity bottle necks, the following three sections of the cycle time have to be evaluated in detail: Dosing of the raw materials into the scales Scale discharge, reset to zero of scales, conveying time of the raw materials to the mixer, dry mixing time, water and/or steam injection, wet mixing time and the mixer emptying into the intermediate hopper or belt conveyor Batch transport time to the furnace silos and subsequent post run times By displaying the cycle time, the bottle neck process of the batch plant can be identified quickly.

If for example the dosing of the raw materials to the scales is the bottle neck, the individual dosing devices have to be evaluated and have to be improved, exchanged or additional scales have to be installed. Another example may be that when different furnaces are positioned far away from the batch house, the batch transport becomes very long and may result in transport time problems. The installation of a second batch transport

system can significantly reduce the cycle time.

There have already been cases where the cullet addition after the mixer proved to be the bottle neck; this is often the case when there are high cullet ratios in the batch composition. Here a combination of solutions can help reduce the bottle neck, for example continuous belt scales with revised transport routing can save a lot of time.

*Sales Director, EME, Erkelenz, Germany www.eme.de

Furnace Solutions takes place June 5 and 6 in Lucideon, Stoke on Trent, UK. More information from www.furnacesolutions.co.uk

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�� Dosage and weighing process.

There is an increasing demand for batch plant upgrades which results in the need for an experienced and technically advanced approach to finding solutions for individual projects.

It requires a detailed understanding of the technological process, something that EME brings to the table to meet the challenges head on and provide tailor made solutions in accordance with our customer needs. �

�Typical batch cycle time diagram.

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Environment Process monitoring

Stepping into the future of process monitoring Andrew Minturn* explores how new technologies can revolutionise traditional processes to maximise manufacturers’ potential in a digitised global marketplace.

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dapting to market trends is a crucial capability in remaining competitive.

Consumers now expect customised products, greater flexibility and shorter lead times.

To meet these demands, and overcome challenges such as increased cost pressures and heightened quality standards, facility managers must understand how plants can be improved to support modern manufacturing.

In practice, that means making changes to existing equipment, streamlining processes and adopting new technologies to realise greater levels of efficiency, improved productivity and, ultimately, enhanced competitiveness.

Of course, the most influential trend within the sector right now is Industry 4.0 – essentially the updating of plants and machinery to create digitised smart factories which allow manufacturers to be more flexible and, in turn, better placed to meet market demands.

In practice, this means that – through the Internet of Things – everything is connected, from machinery right through to the supply chain, placing data firmly at the heart of the modern factory. With every element of a facility – including legacy machines – having the potential to capture data, processes can now be optimised more effectively than ever before.

Improving visibility of every process The fitting of sensors on to all types of machinery means that data can be gathered in real time, delivering benefits to manufacturers when it comes to process monitoring – from the ability to conduct production quality checks at the point of manufacture, through to system health

checks and continuous monitoring.

To make the most of this data and enable the process of continuous improvement to take place, it is vital for manufacturing plants to be able to process it immediately. That’s where digital solutions, such as Bosch Rexroth’s Active Cockpit, come in to play. Making it simple to collect, process and visualise the relevant data of a manufacturing facility, the equipment presents vital performance figures and statistics in real time. Harnessed directly from sensorfitted equipment, complex raw data is translated into status charts, annotation

notes and to-do lists which are displayed via an interactive touchscreen display, delivering an easily digestible insight into how the factory is operating in that precise moment. Not only does this make for more accurate decision making on the shop floor, but also rapid reaction with minimal effort, so production lines can maintain their flexibility and continue to run efficiently, with small changes being made as soon as the data identifies a need.

Equipped with this level of knowledge, facilities managers are able to ensure the smart operation of their factory, with targeted process monitoring taking place continuously. This means faults can be identified earlier, leading to fewer equipment failures and reduced downtime; the health of machines can be monitored and recorded, so maintenance can be precisely scheduled to cause as little disruption as possible; and, ultimately, day-to-day operations can be carried out more efficiently, in-line with the exact needs of the market.

Continued>>

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Process monitoring

A place for legacy machinery While sensors are key to facilitating the collection of data and enabling process monitoring which empowers clearer decision making for machine optimisation, they are also vital in bringing legacy equipment into the digital future of manufacturing, thus making the idea of smart factories a reality. Whether a facility is new or old, almost all equipment is capable of machine communication and data sharing, so even those pieces of equipment which, at first glance, don’t appear to lend themselves to an Industry 4.0 environment, can be brought in-line with the needs of a smart factory.

Fitted onto a cell, machine or tool, sensors are at the heart of smart factories. Connected to software which can measure key variables such as temperature, pressure, vibration and power consumption, they give machines a voice – and allow engineers to understand the real-time performance of key pieces of equipment. Armed with these key insights, facilities managers can control and optimise machines and processes.

As well as harnessing and relaying performance figures to central solutions such as ActiveCockpit, smart sensors can also respond to control commands, receiving new settings in seconds to maximise flexibility, enabling actions like rapid product changeovers.

Realising a smart future With everything in place, factories equipped for the fourth industrial revolution can create a progressively smarter future, one where virtual reality can play a critical role in the manufacturing process.

By integrating the physical world of machines and people with the virtual world through connected communication, the opportunities for smart factories are clear to see.

Imagine, for instance, a workspace which is tailored specifically to the worker that happens to be on shift.

One which displays assembly instructions automatically in the operator’s language, selects tasks according to their qualifications, and adjusts each element of the workspace to that which they find most comfortable – from font size through to the height of the workstation.

Taking the smart workstation even further, ActiveAssist utilises RFID tags to identify which workpiece is being produced, prompting the operator to assemble the piece in the most effective order using an interactive display which mimics the piece being worked on.

Further reducing the potential for human error, pick-to-light systems indicate which component they need next, alerting them to any mistakes immediately.

The result of this integrated approach is new levels of production reliability and transparency, as each stage is monitored and data accurately harnessed, so every product has complete traceability.

What’s best is that these scenarios aren’t decades down the line, but can be realised by any manufacturer today simply by embracing connectivity.

That not only means they’re equipped for a smart future, but means they’re reaping the rewards – in efficiency, cost savings and continuous improvement – today. �

*Strategic Product Manager, Bosch Rexroth, Swindon, UK https://www.boschrexroth.com/en/gb/trends-and-topics/ industry-4-0/industry-4-0

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British Glass

Pester power helps in recycling glass British Glass, alongside colleagues from FEVE and Friends of Glass, is backing a campaign which takes children through the glassmaking process and teaches them the importance of glass as a valuable resource.

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hen it comes to promoting recycling glass, you can’t start too young.

Which is why Friends of Glass, the profile-raising movement part-funded

by British Glass members and part by the European glass federation FEVE, is backing one of the largest-ever schools programmes in the UK for a second year.

‘Glass Guardians’ takes children through the process of making glass from raw materials to finished product.

It teaches them how to recycle, and the importance of glass as a valuable resource.

The first programme in 2018 took the message to 97,000 pupils in 169 schools in all parts of the UK: the pupils who took part were aged 7-11.

While uptake was greatest in the South East of England, there were also clusters of activity around Birmingham and Leeds.

Launching shortly in 2019, the second programme will use video, powerpoint, and Maths, English, PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education), and Science activities.

Pupils will think about the sort of things they put in their recycling bins at home, what packaging is made from, how packaging affects the planet and why recycling is so important.

The topics are carefully designed to relate to their everyday lives, for example why packaging is needed for milk, baked beans or eggs.

Children are also given tips and ideas about saving energy which they will relate to. ‘Your empty glass jars and bottles can be taken away, recycled, made into new ones and be back in the shops in just 30 days!’

They are also expected to think for themselves, debating topics such as ‘Glass is good to make a jam jar from’ and to create mini campaigns to persuade other people to recycle more.

Due to the success of the first year’s programme, Friends of Glass decided to repeat the exercise in 2019 but widen it to include the younger age group, 5-7.

With some adapting to allow for the age difference, Glass Guardians retains

the same classroom activities which the children and their teachers enjoyed.

The 2018 campaign was a huge success with not only the children and teachers, but also their parents. Using emails, social media, and the lure of the chance to win a tablet for their school, the campaign encouraged schools to use the activity as homework to raise awareness with parents outside school and provided a glass information poster to put up at home.

One teacher said: “Since entering your competition, we have done a lot of things to try and inspire people to recycle more glass. . . We put on an assembly for the whole school to explain why it's so important to recycle glass. We have also made posters and pictures to remind people what they need to do, and why.”

Evidence suggests that Glass Guardians has created a lasting behaviour change toward recycling glass. Before taking part 67% of teachers thought their pupils were aware they could recycle glass: afterwards this was 100%. The children are also being asked in the 2019 campaign to make a promise that they will recycle more glass or encourage other people to do so.

And of course, pester power came into play. Schools said: “Pupils are great at championing a cause and applying pressure to their parents . . .It is clear that from what parents are saying that their child/children reminds them to sort and recycle their glass correctly…”

“I think it reminded parents that this is something that it is appropriate for children to do.”

Teachers who would like to take part in the programme with their classes should register at https:// nationalschoolspartnership.com/ initiatives/ � Glass Guardians is just one of severalprojects the Friends of Glass are backing with the aim of demonstrating to young people how important glass recycling is. This summer, at the seafront National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, UK children will take part in a range of ocean-based activities then make individual conservation films.

Older visitors to the Aquarium will be able to chat to its professional science communicators and make a pledge to recycle when they return home. � And in Chesterfield, UK college media students are making videos in teams to get over the benefits of the purity and sustainability of glass.

The teams have each taken a key message about glass and are filming interviews which will be uploaded to a wide range of social media channels to reach a variety of audiences including millennials and young parents. �

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

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Glass Technology Services

GTS unveils new look A fresh, modern new look is set to reflect the work of global glass experts Glass Technology Services (GTS) and its investment in the company.

The Sheffield, UK-based business unveiled its new branding this month following an investment of almost £500,000 in various areas of the business, including academic, vocational and on-the-job training for staff and new laboratory equipment.

The branding update reflects an expanding catalogue of work for global clients in different areas of the whole glass sector and its supply chain, from research and development to consultancy and glass testing.

Gareth Jones, GTS commercial and operations director, said: “Glass Technology Services is committed to the best possible service for its fast-growing number of clients, and refreshing our branding reflects the progressive approach we take to our work.

“The company is a world leader in a number of areas and we now have a world-leading new look.”

As part of the launch of the new branding, Glass Technology Services will also be supplying free poster packs highlighting the key elements of glass in the periodic table to customers and interested parties to display around their glass plants. �

DECORATING LEHRS

STACKERS

‘Precise and timely’ Glass Technology Services (GTS), the glass research and development organisation based in Yorkshire, UK, has received a huge vote of confidence from clients.

In its latest customer survey, 96% of 106 responding said they would recommend GTS, and 94% said they were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with its work.

Businesses answering the survey included global whisky distillers, a food group, a major supermarket chain, a famous high street retailer and an international glass manufacturer.

The survey also questioned which of many GTS expert research and testing services clients used most. Top of the list was testing for glass defects and contamination at 34%, with glass property measurements at 31%.

Feedback comments included: ‘Service was precise and test performed in a timely manner’ and ‘I am extremely happy with the service and technical knowledge.’

Chris Sorsby, commercial manager of GTS, said: “We are delighted with these results. GTS is unique in its expertise and we work hard to provide international support to leading names in the glass, pharma, food, drinks, facilities and retail sectors.

“The feedback is a tribute to the whole team at GTS, whether they work in the labs or are out and about working with manufacturers.”

COLD-END COATING

Belt Cleaning Brush

Glass Technology Services, Chapeltown, Sheffield, UK. www.glass-ts.com

vidromecanica@vidromecanica.com www.vidromecanica.com GTS May.indd 1

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History

Prof. John Parker

Have you got the bottle?

Prof John Parker* provides a brief history of glass container manufacturing.

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he earliest glass containers were made by dipping a solid core of clay or similar, bonded to a metal rod, into a glass melt. The core was subsequently ground out to create a container.

Different coloured glass threads could be wrapped around it for a highly decorated product appropriate to its high value contents such as perfume. Not until around 50BC did the Assyrians invent the blowing iron, a device requiring metallurgical skill for its creation.

This technology then spread around the Mediterranean basin; for example the Romans blew high soda glass containers, needing lower forming temperatures but having only a modest chemical durability.

Consequently, museum samples are typically iridescent.

After 500AD glass container output declined until Venice became a glassmaking centre in the 14th century.

Containers made from other materials (natural and manufactured) were preferred. In the UK though the 17th century brought societal changes which created a demand for glass containers for commodity products; coincidently an English translation of Neri’s text on the art of glassmaking (1612) showed the way forward.

Immigrant workers from Europe escaping persecution brought the necessary skills. The introduction of coal as the heat source also reduced costs. Skills were honed to better control shape and hence allow more effective sealing, greater stability and more efficient storage.

Team-working with four members became the norm, each expert in and responsible for one part of the process gathering the glass, producing an initial shape at the right temperature, blowing, forming a flat base, and finally creating the neck, the ‘finish’ from where the bottle had been attached to the blowing iron.

The gaffers (glass blowers) were at

the apex of these teams, their skills gave them control of the production process. Fabrication started with hot glass, sufficiently fluid to be gathered on the blowing iron. During forming heat was lost by radiation, convection and conduction into the flat surfaces on which it was rolled (marvered) for initial shaping. Consequently, viscosity was rising. Fabrication was only complete when the article was viscous enough not to deform under gravity.

The gaffer needed to judge the weight of the gather on an already heavy blowing iron and its temperature from the emitted radiation and flow characteristics. Their skills empowered them to demand 30% of the selling price, distributing it among their team, as they saw fit.

They also had considerable powers of persuasion when it came to jobs for their children or needed a day off.

The second half of the 19th century saw a movement to automate the process.

Success followed when entrepreneurs such as Arbogast and Ashley in Yorkshire realised that the manufacturing steps needed to be in reverse order with the finish formed first so the partly formed product could be held (1880s).

Early machines simply controlled shaping by using moulds and the gaffers retained considerable control. Their skill to gather the correct mass of glass and to cool it to the right working temperature was still needed. The Owens machine was the first to be fully automatic, using suction to gather glass.

They first sold commercially in 1903 and were massive. The whole machine moved vertically up-and-down during gathering and gob loading into successive moulds required a stop-start rotation.

Maintenance costs were consequently high. Later, forehearth developments heralded the Individual Section machine which circumvented such issues.

The first fully automated bottle-

making machines, while very expensive, increased production 10 fold and reduced costs per bottle pro rata, from 3 shillings and sixpence per dozen to 3 pence.

Another key to unlocking automatic machine operation was the 2 step moulding operation. The first creates a parison with a vertical glass distribution mirroring that in the finished bottle. The outer (glass) surface is chilled to the glass transition temperature by contact with the warm mould and so is solid. Steep temperature gradients are introduced because glass has a poor thermal conductivity. The parison shrinks as it cools, leaving a gap between it and the mould which is heating up and expanding.

This developing gap dramatically reduces heat transfer, extending the cooling time.

Transfer to the blow mould gives time for re-heating and softening of the chilled surface before further cooling/forming.

Machine development did not cease.

Cooling rates have been increased by drilling holes through the length of the moulds for blowing cooling air.

The use of lubricants in the hot moulds has enhanced the finished product by reducing damage caused during contact.

Machines have increased in size; individual sections can work on two or even three bottles simultaneously (double and triple gobbing) in banks of 12 individual sections. Now even though the low thermal conductivity of glass demands at least 10 seconds to create a bottle cool enough to retain its shape on release from the mould, maximum outputs are now approaching 1000 bottles per minute. �

Bibliography

Edward Meigh ‘The story of the glass bottle’, C E Ramsden & Co Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent

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

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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:

Join the Glassman Group

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Official media partner:

@glassmanevents

11/09/2018 13:28

CLASSIFIEDS

COMBUSTION

ANNEALING LEHRS

COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT

ANNEALING LEHR

UNIT D2, BRO O KSID E BD2, U S Brookside I N E S S P ABusiness R K , G R EPark, E N G AGreengate, TE,C H AD D ERTO N, M24 1G S, ENG LAND Unit Chadderton,

SYSTEMS/BURNERS

INDUSTRIAL GAS ENGINEERS

I NDUST RIAL G AS E NGINEERS T E L E P H O N E : 0 1 6 1 - 6M24 5 4 71GS, 7 0 0 UKF A X : 0 1 6 1 - 6 5 5 3 8 1 2 Tel +44 (0) 161 654 7700 Fax +44 (0) 161 655 3812 E-MAIL: S A L E S @ M O N T S E L A S . C O . U K WWW.MONTSELAS.CO.UK Email sales@montselas.co.uk www.montselas.co.uk

AIR

Low-Emission Oxy-fuel Solutions GAS

COLD-END COATING MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS OF SELAS SQUARE PORT GAS & AIR VALVES

• Oxygen & oxygen flow control equipment • Global oxygen enrichment applications • Cleanfire® oxy-fuel burners • Start-up services

Inerting Applications

ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEMS

GLASS LEVEL MEASUREMENT

HEAT-UP SERVICES

800-654-4567 (code 344) gigmrktg@airproducts.com airproducts.com/glass

Electrical melting in perfection - Engineering and modelling

(39101)

Global Combustion Systems

for boosting systems

- Water-cooling Systems

Total Support

for electrode holder

- Electrode holder

Unit 43, Evans Business Centre, Easter Inch, Bathgate EH48 2EH, Scotland, UK

for bottom / side / top

- Power regulation / Transformers

Tel+44 (0) 1506 657310 Fax +44 (0) 8704 799975 Email Sales@globalcombustion.com Web www.globalcombustion.com

Special services - Hot drilling - Change of electrode holder Bock Energietechnik GmbH Gösen 15 92685 Floss Germany

• Hydrogen, nitrogen & other gases • Enabling flow control equipment

Tel: 0049 9603/1295 Fax: 0049 9603/2995 info@bock-energietec.de www.bock-energietec.de

INSPECTION

Contact Esme Horn T+44 (0) 1737 855136 to book your space

TIAMA ZA des Plattes, 1 Chemin des Plattes, 69390 Vourles, France Tel +33 (0) 4 37 20 15 00, Fax +33 (0) 4 78 07 94 50 Email: marketing@tiama.com Website:www.tiama.com

SCREEN PRINTING

KAMMANN GmbH

RAW MATERIALS

Rio Tinto Minerals 2 Eastbourne Terrace London W2 6LG, UK Tel +44 (0) 207 781 1450 Fax +44 (0) 207 781 1851 Email: simon.cook@riotinto.com Web: www.riotintominerals.com

Sales@Newport-industries.com www.soda-ash.co.uk Tel : + 44 (0) 208 332 2519

CLASSIFIEDS.indd 1

•

Soda Ash

•

Sodium Sulphate

•

Barium Sulphate

•

Sodium Nitrate

•

Chrome

DIGITAL SCREEN PRINTING HOT STAMPING FULLY AUTOMATIC UNIVERSAL DECORATING MACHINES

Bergkirchener Straße 228, 32549 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany kammann.de

07/05/2019 10:02:52

www.growth-group.com

Tiama: your co-pilot on the way to the Smart Factory Introducing YOUniverse, unique to Tiama and further proof why we are the leaders in business intelligence within the glass manufacturing industry. YOUniverse has been specifically developed with YOU and your needs at its core. Utilizing flexible and automated “plug and play” systems YOUniverse makes the inspection process smarter and capable to adapt to any changes.

From batch plant to the warehouse, YOUniverse creates a maximum flow of information to enable as many machines as possible to “talk” to each other to improve efficiency, productivity and profitability. With its open information interchange, this revolutionary system allows machines from any manufacturer to be linked to the YOUniverse.

Welcome to the future – yours and your factory‘s.

Take your first step towards Smart Factory technology by visiting youniverse.tiama.com

Intelligence

Monitoring

Traceability

Inspection

Service

Real-time Process & Quality Controls