Optimization and energy savings especially in container glass production by using a refractory coating

The glass production is a very energy intensive process. Worldwide over 135 million tons of different glass articles are produced every year. Around 50% of these tonnages are defined by container glass production. In the past a lot of strategic decisions were taken-e.g. increasing the cullet content in the glass batch-to lower the energy consumption of the container glass furnace. A problem of container glass production is the nucleation and crystallization at the orifice ring which results in production downtimes combined with increasing production costs. To understand these processes a lot of tests were done in laboratory to clarify the mechanism of nucleation and crystallization which is defined by the interaction of glass melt and refractory. So a surface treatment technology was developed to slow down the corrosion by glass melt. These coating can used on any porous refractory type to reduce the interaction with glass melt extremely. During the laboratory tests, only homogeneous nucleation was detected by using the surface treatment technology on the refractory before glass contact. Industrial tests on different components show the same results which opens the door for a batch modification to a higher CaO content. These batch modification results in a lot of savings (e.g. raw materials and energy) and was realized in different glass plants in Europe in the past. The presentation will give an overview about the mechanism of nucleation and crystallization, the prevention by treating the refractory and the advantages for the container glass industry in combination with some results of trials on a container glass furnace. At the end of the presentation the effect of a dark coating for the silica grown concerning energy savings will be discussed and combined with some pictures of industrial application. Calculating all the technological advantages savings of up to one million dollar per year and container glass furnace can be realized, which will make the container glass production more profitable. © 2021 The American Ceramic Society.