Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Glass is an amorphous material that lacks a long range periodic crystalline structure. It may
be defined physically as a rigid undercooled liquid having no definite melting point and
sufficiently high viscosity to prevent crystallization and chemically as the union of the nonvolatile
oxides resulting from the decomposition and fusion of alkali and alkaline earth compounds and
other glass constituent.
Glass is completely vitrified product or at least such a product with relatively small amount
of no vitreous material in suspension
Importance
Glass is an unlimited and innovative material that has plenty of applications. It is an essential
component of numerous products that we use every day, most often without noticing it.
Packaging (jars for food, bottles for drinks, flacon for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals)
Tableware (drinking glasses, plate, cups, bowls)
Housing and buildings (windows, facades, conservatory, insulation, reinforcement
structures)
Interior design and furniture (mirrors, partitions, balustrades, tables, shelves, lighting)
Appliances and Electronics (oven doors, cook top, TV, computer screens, smart-phones)
Automotive and transport (windscreens, backlights, light weight but reinforced structural
components of cars, aircrafts, ships, etc.)
Medical technology, biotechnology, life science engineering, optical glass
Radiation protection from X-Rays (radiology) and gamma-rays (nuclear)
Fiber optic cables (phones, TV, computer: to carry information)
Renewable energy (solar-energy glass, wind turbines)
History
According to archaeologists, the first type of glass that existed is a natural occurring
material called obsidian. This type of glass consists of 65 to 80 percent silica and is found in
volcanic areas and the rapid cooling of the lava creates a high-viscous substance. This type of glass
was utilized by mankind in the form of tips for spears and arrow heads.
The first manmade glass, as historians believe, was formed within the period of 4000 B.C.
2000 B.C. in the form of glazes which were used to coat stone beads. Although it is uncertain
where this type of glass was first produced, multiple evidences suggest that it was made in coastal
north Syria, Mesopotamia, or ancient Egypt.
Glass manufacturing was developed in Venice and it became glassmaking center of the
western world by the time of Crusades. In 1291 glassmaking equipment was transferred to the
island of Murano. During 15th century, Venetian glass blower, Angelo Barovier, created cristallo,
a nearly colorless, transparent glass. By the late 1500s, many Venetians went to northern Europe
seeking better life where they established factories and brought the art of Venetian glassblowing.
By 1575, English glassmakers were made glass in Venetian fashion. In 1674, an English
glassmaker George Ravenscroft invented lead glass. The first glass factory in the United States
was built in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608.
In the early 1800s, there was a great demand for window glass which was called crown
glass. In the 1820s, the age of blowing individual bottles, glasses and flasks was ended by the
invention of a hand-operated machine. In the 1870s, the first semi-automatic bottle machine was
introduced.
After 1890, glass use, development and manufacture began to increase rapidly. Machinery
has been developed for precise, continuous manufacture of a host of products. In 1902, Irving W.
Colburn invented the sheet glass drawing machine which made possible the mass production of
window glass. In 1904, the American engineer Michael Owens patented automatic bottle blowing
machine. In 1959 new revolutionary float glass production was introduced by Sir Alastair
Pilkington by which 90% of flat glass is still manufactured today.
Properties of Glass
Glass is perfectly sterile when new and its hard and smooth surface facilitates subsequent
washing and sterilization. This is of prime importance in food packers and bottlers where the re-
use of glass bottles gives rise to considerable advantage and savings and still ensures maximum
hygienic protection for their contents.
Glass is itself odorless and is impervious to extraneous odors, gases, vapors, steam or
liquids. It is inert and non-toxic and quite chemically stable. Thus, because it adds nothing to and
takes nothing from products packed in it, it is regarded by many users to be the only material
acceptable for many products. We need only to think of life-saving drugs and the wide variety of
foods and drinks to realize the importance and versatility of glass packaging
Another important, though not necessary attribute of glass, is its transparency. This enables
both retailer and consumer to assess at a glance the quality of the product packed in the container.
Finally, glass is an aesthetically attractive material and maybe formed into an infinite variety of
shapes. Allied with good design, it enhances the sales appeal of the product it contains.
However, glass is not without any undesirable attributes. First, it is brittle, and like all
brittle substances, breaks when stretched beyond its elastic limits. Secondly, it is a heavy material
and a glass container will outweigh its counterpart made of other known packaging materials many
times over
Raw Materials
Major Ingredients
1. Sand for glass manufacture should be almost pure quartz. A glass-sand deposit has, in
many cases, determined the location of a glass factory. Its iron content should not exceed
0.45% for tableware or 0.015% for optical glass, as iron affects the color of most glass
adversely.
2. Soda (Na2O) principally supplied by dense soda ash (Na2CO3). Other sources are sodium
bicarbonate, salt cake, and sodium nitrate. The latter is useful in oxidizing iron and in
accelerating the melting.
3. Limestone source of lime (CaO) other than dolomite which improves glass homogeneity
and speeds up the solidification and cooling of glass. For dolomite, it is also the source of
MgO which decreases the viscosity of glass, reduces devitrification temperature, and
improves thermal resistance.
4. Cullet is crushed glass from imperfect articles, trim, and other waste glass. It facilitate
melting and utilizes waste material. It may be as low as 10 percent of the charge or as high
as 80 percent
5. Feldspars have the general formula R2O Al2O3 6SiO2, where R2O represents Na2O or
K2O or a mixture of these two. They have many advantages over most other materials as a
source of Al2O3, because they are cheap, pure and fusible and are composed entirely of
glass-forming oxides Al2O3 itself is used only when cost is a secondary item. Feldspars
also supply Na2O or K2O and SiO2. The alumna content serves to lower the melting point
of the glass and to retard devitrification
6. Gypsum - CaSO42H2O source of SO3
Minor Ingredients
7. Borax minor ingredient, supplies glass with both Na2O and boric oxide. Though seldom
employed in window or plate glass, borax is now in common use in certain types of
container glass. There is also a high-index borate glass that has a lower dispersion value
and a higher refractive index than any glass previously known and is valuable as an optical
glass. Besides its high fluxing power, borax not only lowers the expansion coefficient but
also increases chemical durability. Boric acid is used in batches where only a small amount
of alkali is wanted. Its price is about twice that of borax
8. Salt cake long accepted as a minor ingredient of glass, and also other sulfates such as
ammonium and barium sulfate are encountered frequently in all types of glass. Salt cake is
said to remove the troublesome scum from tank furnaces. Carbon should be used with
sulfates to reduce them to sulfites. Arsenic trioxide may be added to facilitate the removal
of bubbles. Nitrates of either sodium or potassium serve to oxidize iron and make it less
noticeable in the finished glass. Potassium nitrate or carbonate is employed in many better
grades of table, decorative, and optical glass.
9. Refractory blocks glass industry have been developed especially because of the severe
conditions encountered. Sintered zircon, alumina, mullite, mullite-alumina and electrocast
zirconia-alumina-silica, alumina, and chrome-alumina are typical of those for glass tanks.
The latest practice in regenerators utilizes basic refractories because of the alkali dust and
vapors. Furnace operating temperatures are limited mainly by silica-brick crowns, which
are economical to use in the industry.
10. Sodium Nitrate oxidizes iron to make it less noticeable in the finished glass
11. Selenium and cobalt decolorizes colored contaminants
12. Arsenic trioxide facilitates removal of bubbles
Kinds of Glass
1. Fused silica or vitreous silica, is made by the high-temperature pyrolysis of silicon
tetrachloride or by fusion of quartz or pure sand. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as
quartz glass and is characterized by low expansion and a high softening point which impart
high thermal resistance and permit it to be used beyond the temperature ranges of other
glass. This glass is also extraordinarily transparent in ultraviolet radiation
2. Akali silicates are the only two-component glasses of commercial importance. Sand and
soda ash are simply melted together and the products designated edge of equilibrium
relations in these two-component systems has aided the glass technologist in understanding
the behavior of more complicated systems. Silicate of soda solution also known as water
(soluble) glass, is widely consumed as an adhesive for paper in the manufacture of
corrugated paper boxes. Other uses include fireproofing. The higher-alkaline varieties are
used for laundering as detergents and soap builders
3. Soda-lime glass constitutes 95% of all glass manufacture. It is used for containers of all
kinds, flat glass, automobile and other windows, tumblers and tableware. There has been a
general improvement in the physical quality of all flat glass such as increased flatness and
freedom from waves and strains, but the chemical composition has not varied greatly. They
are sufficiently viscous that they do not devitrify and yet are not too viscous to be workable
at reasonable temperatures
4. Lead glass by substituting lead oxide for calcium oxide in the glass melt, lead glass is
obtained. These glasses are of very great importance in optical work because of their high
index of refraction and dispersion. Lead contents as high as 92% have been made. Large
quantities are used also for the construction of electric light bulbs, neon-sign tubing, and
radiotrons because of the high electrical resistance of this glass. It is also suitable for
shielding from nuclear radiation.
5. Borosilicate glass usually contains about 10 20% B2O3, 80 87% silica and less than
10% Na2O. This type of glass has a low expansion coefficient, superior resistance to shock,
excellent chemical stability, and high electrical resistance. The laboratory glassware made
from this glass is sold under the tradename Pyrex. In addition to laboratory ware, are high-
tension insulators and washers, pipelines and telescope lenses
6. Alumina-silica made up of silica and alumina with alumina in higher concentration
making it resistant to high temperature
7. Special Glasses colored coated, opal, translucent, safety, optical, photochromic glasses,
and glass ceramics are special glass. All of these have varying compositions depending
upon the final product desired Colored glass and glass ceramics are examples
Safety Glass - type of glass that, when struck, bulges or breaks into tiny, relatively
harmless fragments rather than shattering into large, jagged pieces.
Laminated glass, which is the most widely used in the country, may be constructed
by laminating two sheets of ordinary glass together with a thin interlayer of plastic.
The glass and plastic sheet are pressed together under moderate heat to seal the
edges. The glass is subjected to moderate temperatures and hydraulic pressures in
an autoclave, in order to bring the entire interlayer into intimate contact, after which
the edges of the sandwich may be sealed with a water resistant compound.
Tempered (strengthened) glass is a glass with very high strength and toughness. It
has very high compression strength but relatively low tensile strength. It may be
produced by physical tempering or strengthening by heat treatment. It is used for
doors and windows of automobiles and for pipe
Photochromic glasses - glasses that darken automatically when exposed to sunlight
(optical darkening), then fade back when you return indoors (optical bleaching).
Glass fibers (Fiberglass) produced from special glass compositions that are
resistant to weather conditions. The very large surface area of the fibers makes them
vulnerable to attack by moister in the air. This glass is low in silica, about 55%, and
low in alkali.
Glass Ceramic a material melted and formed as a glass and then converted largely
to a crystalline ceramic by the process of controlled devitrification. The properties
of glass ceramic correspond more closely to those of ceramics than those of glasses
Chemical Reactions
2 3 + 2 2 2 + 2
3 + 2 2 + 2
2 4 + 2 + 2 2 + 2 +
The last reaction may occur as
2 4 + 2 3 +
22 4 + 22 3 + 2
2 3 + 2 2 2 + 2
Raw Materials
(silica sand, soda ash,
dolomite, limestone and
feldspar) Shipping
Cullet
Mixing
Packaging
Melting
Inspection
Refining
Unleading
Forming
Annealing
___ C Cutting
The rejected glasses are utilized as cullets, a major ingredient in glass production. Gases
being given off which often contain various pollutants in the form of small particles are removed
by the use of electrostatic precipitators. Colloids containing solid in a gas, before going out into
the atmosphere are rejected to a very high voltage, first on the positive charge, then on the negative
charge. These attract the charged colloidal particles, which are then held on the plates until the
current is shot off. When this is done, the particles fall to the ground and can be collected, rather
than floating in the air
Philippine Context
References
Austin, G. T. (1998). Shreve's Chemical Process Industries 5th ed. McGraw-Hill International
Editions Series.
https://www.britannica.com/science/obsidian
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Glass+Industry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_production