Glass International June 2021

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June 2021—Vol.44 No.6

SIBERIAN GLASS INVESTMENT SKLARNY MORAVIA PROFILE BATCH PLANT I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A GLOBAL REVIEW OF GLASSMAKING

Glass International June 2021

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Contents

www.glass-international.com Editor: Greg Morris Tel: +44 (0)1737 855132 Email: gregmorris@quartzltd.com Assistant Editor: George Lewis Tel: +44 (0)1737 855154 Email: georgelewis@quartzltd.com Designer: Annie Baker

June 2021 Vol.44 No 6

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Managing Director Tony Crinion tonycrinion@quartzltd.com

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Chief Executive Officer: Steve Diprose Chairman: Paul Michael

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

Email: glass@quartzltd.com Website: www.glass-international.com

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

10

Siberian Glass: Sibirskoe Steklo completes €20 million furnace expansion

15

Furnaces: Teco Extended Life and Times of an Oxy-Fuel Furnace

20

Industry 4.0: CM Project Ing Building Information Modeling The Future for Glass Plant Design

24

Plant design: CM Project Ing A holistic simulation approach to building performance

27

Batch plant: EME Innovative engineering solutions for the future

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Batch plant: Zippe Ongoing innovations at Zippe during Covid-19

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Batch plant: Forglass ForglassBox - 21st century technological support for producers

40

Refractories: SIGMA Italian refractory material provider invests in its development

45

Company profile: Sklarny Moravia Czech glassmaker modernises container glass furnace

48

Inspection SYSVRA The future of inspection

51

History A year devoted to glass

Member of British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation

China National Association for Glass Industry

40

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Editor’s Comment + International news

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International News

GREG MORRIS, EDITOR

Be first with the news! For breaking, up to date news

FRONT COVER IMAGE: www.teco.com

VISIT: www.glass-international.com

for daily news updates.

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Plenty of options for green glassmaking

Congratulations to WiegandGlas for its efforts to manufacture a truly ‘green’ glass bottle.

As you will see in the following news pages and already published on the website - the German container manufacturer is involved in a collaboration to produce bottles made from biomethane, which would subsequently reduce the carbon emission of each bottle.

You may recall the recent efforts by Glass Futures and Encirc in manufacturing a bottle made from biofuels, which were subsequently used by bluechip organisations such as Heineken, Carlsberg and Diageo. The bottles smashed the carbon impact of the bottle by up to 90%.

I write this in the immediate aftermath of the Hydrogen in Glassmaking digital conference. The conference explored the potential of hydrogen for use in glass manufacturing and how it could help with zero or low carbon glass production.

Visitor numbers remained strong throughout both days and attendees were from glass manufacturing plants around the world.

These three examples emphasise how important decarbonisation is to the industry. Ahead of legislation in 2030 and 2050 the sector must prove its environmental credentials.

If not it risks losing the goodwill of an ever-more environmentally conscious public who want their packaging to be ‘green’.

The signs are the glass industry is moving in the right direction.

Sisecam in €255m Hungarian glass facility investment Turkish glass manufacturer Sisecam is to invest €255 million ($310 million) to build a new glass packaging factory in Kaposvár, Hungary.

The facility will be built with two furnaces and will have an annual net production capacity of 330,000 tonnes.

The first furnace will start operating in 2023, and the facility will reach full capacity by 2025.

The facility will rely on advanced applications of glass melting technology, he added.

Electrical melting technology will also be used to mini-

mise the carbon footprint.

It will also use industry 4.0 applications and the entire operation will be carried out with the perspective of resource efficiency and natural resources protection, he said in a statement.

KCC Glass breaks ground on Indonesian float glass plant South Korean flat glass producer KCC Glass Corp has broken ground on a new float glass plant in Central Java, Indonesia.

The RP 5 trillion site ($350 million) in Batang, Indonesia will occupy 49 acres at the Integrated Industrial Estate.

When completed it will manufacture about 438, 000 tonnes/year of glass for the construction sector.

The construction phase is planned to be completed in 2023 and will start operating in 2024. It is KCC’s first overseas glass venture.

KCC Glass plans to sell construction glass to Indonesian and Southeast Asian markets.

It aims to gradually expand its factories to become a ‘comprehensive glass cluster’ to target overseas markets.

CEO Nae-Hoan Kim said the factory will create 1300 jobs.

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Stara Glass to rebuild Italian furnace

AB InBev has developed the world’s lightest longneck beer bottle for commercial production.

It said that, if used on a year’s worth of glass production for its brands in Europe, it would be the equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions as taking 62,000 cars off the road annually.

The brewer and owner of brands such as Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Beck’s and Leffe reduced the weight of its standard longneck beer bottle from 180 to 150g, cutting its CO2 emissions by 17% per bottle.

With packaging making up, on average, 50% of its product carbon product footprint,

such innovations are an important part of AB InBev’s Sustainability Goals, which include a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions across its value chain by 2025.

This world first will developed at the brewer’s Global Innovation and Technology R&D Centre, GITEC in Leuven, Belgium.

AGC sells North American architectural glass business AGC is to sell its North American architectural glass business to US-based Cardinal Glass Industries for $450 million.

The deal will see AGC sell all three of its plants in Kansas, Tennessee and Virginia, which altogether has three flat glass

furnaces and two coaters.

AGC said it would create further growth opportunities by transferring its North American architectural glass business to Cardinal Glass Industries.

AGC said it has had business trading experience with Cardi-

nal in the past and is expected to make the most effective use of AGC’s assets and personnel.

Cardinal Glass Industries is based in Minnesota and is a manufacturer and supplier of window and door glass for residential use in the United States.

Saint-Gobain in multi-million Indian investment Saint-Gobain is to invest Rs 1,100 crore (US $151 million) to the state of Rajasthan, India as a part of a phased expansion plan.

The proposed investment

will see more than 300 jobs created in the region of Bhiwadi and Alwar, making Rajasthan the headquarters for Saint-Gobain’s increasing Asian demand for float glass.

It said that its proposed investment comes after the company has already invested over Rs 1,200 crore (US $165 million) in the state since 2010, creating more than 1,100 jobs.

Rondot Group establishes Indian subsidiary

The Rondot Group has established an Indian subsidiary.

Rondot India, based in New Delhi, was created in partnership with Moly Colloids Pvt Ltd. The purpose of the new organisation is to market and service the products manufactured by the Rondot Group’s brands including Sheppee, Graphoidal, Sonicam Rondot, Novaxion and, since January 2021, Quantum Engineering.

The managing director of the new organisation is Haider Soomar, who also runs Moly Colloids.

British Glass raises UK DRS concerns

British Glass has raised serious concerns that the UK Government’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) proposals will have a detrimental impact on closed loop glass recycling.

It responded raising fears that the proposed DRS will have a detrimental impact on closed loop glass recycling, increase carbon emissions and incentivise an increase in plastic consumption at the expense of glass.

In addition, a new report published by circular economy experts Oakdene Hollins has found that it will cost almost three times as much to recycle glass through a DRS compared to alternative kerbside recycling, favoured by the public.

www.glass-international.com

AB InBev develops lightest beer bottle in the world

Stara Glass is to rebuild a furnace at an Italian glass manufacturer.

Stara Glass performed an AZS Chips Repair to the furnace in 2020 and successfully extended the lifespan for well over 12 months.

This summer the Genoese team will carry out the draining, demolition, installation of refractories for the glass melting area, the forehearths and heat up of the furnace.

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Sisecam plots Turkish flat glass investments

Sisecam is to increase its flat glass production capacity to 2.5 million tonnes with an investment in two new float lines in Turkey.

The Turkish manufacturer will also make improvement works on existing lines to support the growth in its locomotive sectors.

Sisecam Chairman of the Board and General Manager Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kirman said it would commission the fifth furnace with a capacity of 240 thousand tonnes and strengthen its operations within the architectural glass field.

Rob Ireson wins Michael Garvey award

Glass Futures’ Rob Ireson has become the latest recipient of the Michael Garvey award for best paper during the Furnace Solutions conference, held online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Ireson is the Innovation and Partnerships Manager for Glass Futures, the non-forprofit organisation aiming to build a Centre of Excellence in St Helens, UK. He presented the paper ‘Alternative Low-Carbon Fuel Technologies for Glass Manufacture’.

www.glass-international.com

AGC make mirror coater for world’s biggest telescope

AGC Glass Europe will deliver a coater for the mirrors of the world’s largest telescope in the Atacama desert in the Chilean Andes.

Its Plasma Technology Solutions business unit signed a second contract with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to deliver a coater equipped for the large mirrors.

The telescope has the purpose to acquire scientific data to study the universe and through specific observations address certain unsolved problems of fundamental physics, study exoplanets and investigate other objects and phenomena across the universe.

Zippe delivers greenfield glass plant for Verallia Zippe Industrieanlagen designed and realised the batch and cullet system for the furnace at Verallia’s Villa Poma glass container manufacturing facility, Italy.

At the beginning of 2021 container glass manufacturer Verallia celebrated the inaugu-

ration of its 11th production furnace and demonstrated its intention to continue investing in Italy, strengthening the Villa Poma facility.

It was the second furnace modernisation at the Villa Poma site since 2019. Verallia has invested €60 million into

this project.

The plant went into operation successfully in March.

Towards the middle of the year, the batch plant will be extended by two sand silos, for which Zippe will supply the dosing and weighing equipment.

Dirk Pörtner retires as Heye International MD Heye International Managing Director Dirk Pörtner has retired after more than 40 years in the glass industry and 13 years of management activity at the company.

Achim Prange (CTO) and Jens Langer (CCO) will take over the tasks of Mr Pörtner in addition to their previous

fields of activity.

Mr Langer has been with the company for six years and is now responsible for sales, product management, marketing, service, IT, human resources and finance.

Mr Prange has been working in various management positions at Heye for over 20 years

and will be responsible for the areas of development, production, logistics, purchasing, quality, application engineering and project management in the future.

Mr Pörtner was given a small retirement event due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Horn starts heat-up process of Frigoglass’ 300 tpd furnace Horn has started the furnace heat-up process at container glass supplier Frigoglass’ 300 tonnes per day end-fired furnace GF2 in Nigeria.

The heat-up started on Fri-

day, 21 May, with the first glass expected on 2 June.

Once heated, the new container glass furnace will manufacture glass in green and amber.

Horn technicians will support the entire start-up process, with the project due to finish in mid-June.

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

Saint-Gobain sells glass processing subsidiary

After entering into negotiations in November 2020, Saint-Gobain has finalised the sale of its home improvement products manufacturing subsidiary Lapeyre to German-based company Mutares.

Saint-Gobain said it would provide Lapeyre with around €245 million to finance its operations as well as the investments and measures necessary to continue modernising the brand and the plants, and the return to profitability.

Lapeyre has approximately 3,500 employees, with 10 plants and 126 stores in France.

Horn to rebuild glass furnace in Taiwan

Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation has started construction of a glass manufacturing furnace.

German glass engineering company Horn received the order in April for the rebuild of its furnace number 4.

The existing furnace will be demolished and replaced with a 150 t/d furnace. The 57 m² end-fired furnace with two forehearths is designed with advanced technology to produce flint, green and amber glass.

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Zippe wins Orora benefication plant contract

Australian container glass packager Orora has awarded Zippe the contract to design and deliver a glass beneficiation facility.

The new beneficiation plant adjacent to Orora’s glass manufacturing facility in Gawler, South Australia will enable Orora to procure more beverage glass through established sources and new container deposit schemes to increase the amount of recycled content used.

The plant is expected to be commissioned by the first half of 2022, will provide Orora with more capacity and technology to meet its sustainability goals.

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Sisecam to invest €255 million on Hungarian glass packaging facility AB InBev develops lightest beer bottle in the world 2022 WILL be the International Year of Glass AGC sells North American architectural glass business to Cardinal O-I to invest €30 million in Seville glass manufacturing facility Zippe delivers greenfield glass plant for Verallia Sisecam plots Turkish flat glass manufacturing investments The ‘Furnace for the Future’ project gathers momentum Piramal Glass renamed to PGP Glass Glassmaker to receive Government grant for furnace rebuild

For the latest Industry News scan the QR CODE using your iOS or Android device

Forglass completes project for UK furnace modification Polish glass melting technology supplier Forglass has completed a project on a UK furnace.

Having completed a similar project for the same client recently, Forglass was once again chosen to raise the working

end, waist and canal monorails of the furnace.

Forglass developed technical documentation, a model of the existing structures, drawings of supporting structures, calculations and necessary descriptions.

The hydraulic system used

by Forglass is said to guarantee a smooth and safe lifting of the structure.

As Forglass has its own fabrication facilities, it allows for great flexibility and agility in responding to clients’ needs.

Tiama acquires pharmaceutical glass inspection company Tiama Inspection Worldwide has acquired Dutch firm Vimec, a company with 30 years of experience in the field of non-moulded glass control & inspection for the pharmaceutical industry segment.

Eindhoven-based Vimec has developed expertise in controlling vials, ampoules, sy-

ringes, and cartridges at different steps of their production thanks to its machine vision solutions.

Recently, Vimec has been providing dedicated services for the inspection of vials used for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tiama’s objectives are to speed up Vimec’s growth by

developing synergies (R&D, purchasing, etc.) and increasing Vimec’s sales and services presence to a worldwide level.

It also plans to bring technologies it has already developed for food & beverage glass defect recognition (artificial intelligence, deep learning, etc.) to this segment.

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International News

NEWS IN BRIEF

31st China Glass comes to a successful end

Organised by the Chinese Ceramic Society, the 31st China International Glass Industrial Technical Exhibition came to a successful conclusion in Shanghai despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its many related uncertainties.

The event brought new opportunities to the entire industry and demonstrated confidence and vitality to the global glass industry.

China Glass helped enhance technological innovation and trade circulation of the industry, while providing more opportunities for domestic circulation of the glass industry and promoting domestic and international cooperation.

Glass Focus Awards 2021 date announced

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This year’s British Glass Focus Awards will be held inperson on 18 November 2021.

Following last year’s virtual awards, the 2021 awards ceremony will see a return to a traditional awards format with dinner, dancing, and entertainment at a venue to be confirmed.

The 2020 awards saw a record number of entries and British Glass said it it is looking forward to hearing about and celebrating the products, people, and initiatives the glass industry and supply chain have been working with since then.

Full awards categories will be revealed when entries open at the end of June and the deadline for submissions will be 22 September 2021.

Isra Vision founder and CEO to retire

Founder and CEO of automation technology provider Isra Vision, Enis Ersü is set to retire from his position at the end of June 2021 after 36 years.

In his next stage of life, he intends to support young technology companies with his expertise in a consulting capacity.

Wiegand-Glas to collaborate on biomethane glass bottle Wiegand-Glas has partnered with biomethane producer bmp greengas to manufacture a ‘greener’ glass bottle for its customer soulproducts.

After soulproducts expressed the wish to produce its glass drinking bottles with biomethane in the future, bmp greengas agreed to supply Wiegand-Glas in February 2021.

The soulbottles are now produced exclusively with green gas, which reduces CO2 emissions.

The range of climate-neutral glass bottles is part of the Eco2Bottle concept, an initiative

by Wiegand-Glas for environmentally friendly packaging solutions.

The use of biomethane together with the increased

use of waste glass, optimised transport packaging and the use of green electricity - is said to reduce emissions by more than 75% compared to the original 1.0-litre soulbottle.

The green gas is produced from municipal waste and comes from Germany, thus creating a low-CO2 value chain during production and transport.

Hygear signs $1.6 million hydrogen glass manufacturing deal Dutch provider HyGear has signed a 10-year hydrogen recycling Gas-as-a-Service contract with a float glass manufacturer.

The pay-per-use contract is valued at approximately $1.6 million in total revenues over

the 10-year agreement and was signed after successfully validating the quality of gas over several tests at two flatglass manufacturing facilities in Germany.

In February, HyGear signed a similar agreement valued at

approximately $1.2 million in total revenues with Obeikan Glass Company, the largest float, coated, and laminated glass manufacturer in the Middle East.

Delivery of this unit is expected to occur later this year.

Corning and Apple collaboration reaches new heights When Corning announced in summer 2020 the production of Gorilla Glass Victus, the newest generation of the chemically strengthened Gorilla Glass brand, it was thought that it would be at least another two years before

the next generation hit the market.

But in October 2020, Apple publicised the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro would feature Ceramic Shield, a glass-ceramic developed in collaboration with Corning.

Compared to previous generations, Gorilla Glass Victus improved both scratch resistance and drop resistance.

Glass-ceramics are a hybrid material that features nanoceramic crystals embedded within a glass matrix.

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Siberian Glass

Sibirskoe Steklo completes €20 million furnace expansion Siberian container glass manufacturer Sibirskoe Steklo recently completed the expansion of Furnace No1 at its Novosibirsk, Russian facility. Its CEO, Pavel Bobosik, discusses the investment as well as market conditions in the region.

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Why did you decide to make this investment?

There were two main reasons. The furnace was already working for 11 years (construction started in 2007) and another reason was to increase overall efficiency by extending the furnace, modernising it and adding another feeder with two new forming machines.

This way we will get an energy efficient glass melting furnace with a daily pull between 375 tonnes up to 410 tonnes (compared to the previous 255 daily pull) with five forming instead of three ten section machines.

How big is the new furnace and how many bottles do you anticipate to supply once it is fully ignited?

As said before, the pull was significantly increased, but with 130m2 and very good boosting from FIC we can manoeuvre with the capacity according to the needs of the market and the needs of our key customers.

We are ready to change colour through the year from amber to green and to flint.

Actually the previous condition of this furnace (Furnace No.1) did not allow us to do that. We do have two other furnaces operating in flint glass only, but the large one is having colouring in the feeder. It helps us to serve the luxury bottle market to local customers. Our total daily melting capacity went from 320 tonnes in 2013 to 620 daily tonnes last year through a serious of investments and adding lines to existing furnaces. We have now reached a daily capacity of at least 780 tonnes of bottles with 12 glass forming machines.

Can you tell me more about your company?

Our company is split from the previously known Ecran factory. In the framework of restructuring we split the assets.

Ecran is today a management company on the Industrial park – a brownfield

territory with many industrial and nonindustrial tenants, which is not needed for Sibirskoe Steklo and glass bottle manufacturing.

Both companies belong to the industrial holding RATM. The company started to produce only flint glass on very old machines during the 1990s for local vodka manufacturers mostly in Western Siberia and for local processors of vegetable and fruit juices they also produced simple jars. After 2000 the number of furnaces was extended and around 2006 the first new machines from the Czech company

Sklostroj were installed.

After good development of the market, in 2007 it was decided to build up a new largest furnace (current No.1) for production of amber glass with three ten-section double gob new machines from Sklostroj. The booming market with beer and demand for amber BB bottles was stopped with the global financial crises in 2009 and consequent decline of purchasing power and demand for beer in Russia. Anyway, at the end of 2009 was decided to finish the almost ready made project and in spring 2010 the new

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Siberian Glass

in Siberia.

It is interesting, but only a few people know that the absolute majority of beer in Russia is produced by ABInBev, Carlsberg and Heineken and local independent breweries play little role on the market.

I often make jokes that Novosibirsk - the city where Sibirskoe Steklo is based and produces its wonderful glass packaging, is the capital of the global beer industry!

I have been around beer and glass for 30 years and never have been in a city, where the distance between breweries of global 1 and 2 and 3 is between 12 and 15km.

Maybe I could be wrong, But it shows the potential of our very local market and also it proves our quality due to constant quality inspection on the spot from those global leaders. Above that, our furnaces are more or less in the same distance from their bottling lines.

Another large advantage is that we have also local larger breweries in distance according to Russian conditions in relative proximity -250 and 400km. They take care of glass bottles, they value beer in glass bottles, they are financially stable and their forecasting is accurate. They are

buying each around 50 million bottles and another one, which is more far away is buying more than 100 million. Those brands, they have no decline, even in Covid times.

So we have a large and diversified pool of customers in Western Siberia. We only missed green glass, which is now no problem with the introduction of the new furnace. Above that we are almost constantly sold out in flint glass. In the past two years we observed a passion of marketing people at large breweries to bottle the beer into flint bottles. Me, as a

citizen of Czech Republic with very solid opinion about all aspects of beer, have internal issues with that, to see Pilsner type of beer to be packed into flint glass, but local marketers and customers are always right so we needed to shift part of our capacity for vodka, mineral water bottles and jars to serve beer markets with flint beer bottles.

As said, a small part of our production - around 5% are jars. We are quite lucky also with the vodka market for our vodka bottles. Although many vodka manufacturers moved their bottling capacities into the European part of Russia, because of the high density of population there and proximity of markets, we still have in the city very modern bottling capacity of the largest Russian vodka manufacturer - Russian Standard which we serve. Around us are also two other top vodka manufacturers and a couple of smaller. So the vodka market remains for us the second most important market. Another advantage is that we are the most easterly large glass packaging manufacturer in Siberia.

Therefore we supply customers from Ural to Vladivostok and Kamchatka. And there are many smaller vodka manufacturers and some beer manufacturers including global companies. The size of the Far East market and certain instability on the market however does not make feasible to build up capacity there, something what we would do if it makes sense.

How many people were involved in the construction? How was the construction period in regards to Covid-19?

In construction works have involved over 120 people, mainly from Russia, some of them representatives of European companies-suppliers, which due to Covid limits were not able to cross the borders.

The Covid-19 caused twice the postponement of construction. First one in spring 2020, where we have materials from China about three weeks later, same have been refractories from Europe with some delay. All other supplies have been from Europe and they arrived on time.

But postponing construction into the beginning of the season was not good for our customers, so we decided to postpone it for autumn, before severe weather hits Novosibirsk. In the end, the positive market and high demand for bottles in autumn did not allow us to make enough stock for the upcoming season of 2021 Continued>>

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capacity was available to the market.

Ecran/Sibsteklo in those days could produce amber and flint glass packaging.

With regards to the still bad market in Siberia and overall in Russia at that time, it was necessary to heavily export. Up to 60% of production volume went to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan.

It was also good for training of personnel, because of lack of high professionals, and very well trained people, the quality was fully sufficient to sharply increase quality requirements from our global customer producing beer

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Siberian Glass

and we have been forced to postpone it for another time to the end of January and beginning of February. On the other hand, it gave us an opportunity to assemble a new feeder, complete all cold end and make cold tests of our newly acquired two glass forming machines, which will operate on new forehearth in tandem. The biggest challenge was not availability of representatives from Europe at assembly and tests, with few exceptions, but with modern technology and mastery of our team we have been to overcame this Covid-19 obstacle What factors made you choose this furnace?

I will not hide that the biggest argument for construction of this furnace was economic efficiency. And of course, once you invest you are today in Russia forced to make environmental and energy efficiency measures. Russia signed the Paris Climate Protocol and from next year to 2027 will introduce a lot of new norms and we must be ready.

www.glass-international.com

What else did the investment involve?

We have purchased new inspection equipment, modernised all existing equipment including batch house, conveyors lines, cooling system. Therefore, in spite of postponing construction of a new furnace, we fully utilised given time (almost a year) with making such investments and improvements, mostly with our own stuff, which pulled down the total costs significantly. Anyway, the total investment was over €20 million.

Was digital technology a part of the investment?

Yes, partially. Some decisions still have to be made. I am a big fan and believer of digital technology in our industry. I do believe in the ‘dark factory’.

So we made a lot of preparation and on one line we installed a complete system of monitoring and evaluation of the process until packaging. We are in constant touch with companies operating in this area. Above that, Novosibirsk with its Akademgorodok – the Russian version of Silicon Valley has a strong scientific base for digital technology. We work together on a few projects with them around digitalisation of bottle manufacturing.

What is the glass market currently like in Siberia?

The current market, especially due to Covid-19, is shaky and fragile everywhere.

In Siberia we have been a little bit more lucky in our market, because nobody from our customers was producing beverages for restaurants, which have been here also closed for a long time.

So our bottles go to retail, and retail was not hit, because consumption moved to households and weekend houses unlike in European part of Russia, where consumer habits and share of glass bottles for restaurant consumption is much larger.

Also we do not export except Kazakhstan. Many of our colleagues in European part of Russia suffered due to Covid, closed restaurant market for their products and due evaporating exports to Europe. We have to fight with many challenges in the field of ecological payments, Russian government requires a 100% collection rate now and wants the responsibility transferred to bottle manufacturers. Two years ago, our company Sibirskoe Steklo together with Ruscam started the Association of Glass Packaging as an independent association from post-Soviet Steklo Soyuz to fight these issues.

We have been active and currently we are members of different committees at Ministries, Russian Parliament and government bodies.

This enables us to stop measures, which would have a negative impact on our market and at the end on health of consumer and environment. Plastic is still the biggest threat to us with increasing pressure of aluminium dose, which we expect this and next year. However, if exports rebound, I am not pessimistic about the prospect of stability on Russian market for glass bottles.

We are producing more ecological bottles, the transfer to NNPB technology is almost complete and many brands of vodka are delivered in NNPB bottles.

Once I arrived in Ekran to make restructuring of the factory, our average beer bottle weighed between 340-360 grams. Today, this is only between 265 and 285 grams.

We constantly work on increasing the share of cullet in our batch and investing into equipment for processing of cullet in glass factories. We do invest into a system of collection. This is not only economical and environmental measure, but also it makes glass bottles more attractive. We can see transfers in sizes of bottles. Bottles are getting smaller, from 500ml in a beer bottle to 465ml. Even 100ml bottles are popular in the vodka segment.

What message do you give your customers after this investment?

First of all, the message is that we are a very stable company. Financially stable with our team and reliable. Further, they can get green bottles in Siberia.

Also that we trust them, therefore we invested. We trust in their long term strategy in Siberia and we feel committed to their strategy. And I do hope that our investment presents for them stability in supplies, reliability and increased quality and also move to a more ecological production.

How would you like the company to evolve over the next five years?

I think that this question would be mostly relevant five years ago, where we have been with our team on the beginning of our big journey to make Sibirskoe Steklo a strategic company in Siberia. Now, five years later, with construction of new furnace No.1, limits of size of market, inability to export except to countries like Kazakhstan, Mongolia etc. due to large transport distances we are close to our limits.

But as you know, in manufacturing, you are never finished with evolution.

We still need to upgrade several forming machines, we need to extend proper warehousing capacities and we will work on digitalisation. This is most important.

Achieving higher efficiency without investments into digital technology will be not possible. Also environmental challenges will not keep our sleep intact.

We are just to acquire new location for sand in order to avoid transport of sand from 1700km distance and invest there.

Our investment into increasing cullet flow will continue. We do have projects, which is study phase, on how to acquire soda in Siberia. So you can see, there is always something what you can to grow and be responsible and efficient .

But mostly, I am happy for the journey which we went through with our holding RATM, with our owner Eduard Taran, and mainly with our team of professionals at Sibirskoe Steklo.

From the very beginning it was not easy, but finishing our largest furnace No. 1 is the nice ending of the most difficult part of our journey to make Sibirskoe Steklo an important factory within Russian glass container industry and absolute leader on territory between Ural and Kamchatka. �

Sibirskoe Steklo, Novosibirsk, Russia www.sibstek.ru

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With the passion and innovation to develop comprehensive engineering solutions, EME GmbH is all geared up for the future. Part of the SORG Group, we are committed to helping customers move forward and exploring new ways to make glass manufacturing more sustainable.

Discover more in our featured article.

eme.de

tc273_TECO_A4_Advert_2020_Style_v11.qxp_Layout 1 14/05/2020 15:21 Page 2

DESIGNING YOUR FURNACE

A TECO fact...

Did you know that a TECO-designed flat bottom furnace has more pull/m2 than a deep refiner design for equivalent quality?

DESIGNING, BUILDING AND MODERNISING YOUR FURNACES, FOREHEARTHS AND FURNACE EQUIPMENT ®

www.teco.com TOLEDO ENGINEERING / TECOGLAS / ZEDTEC / KTG ENGINEERING / KTG SYSTEMS / EAE TECH

Furnaces

Extended Life and Times of an Oxy-Fuel Furnace Collaboration between companies leads to successful projects. One such project between TECO and a customer had led to an oxy-fuel furnace operating successfully for 17 years reports Brian Naveken.*

� Fig 1. Project overview of major elements.

� Fig 2. Project timeline.

� Fig 4. Oxy-fuel furnace near completion.

� Fig 5. “Birthday” of furnace.

� Fig 3. Project timeline adherence to schedule.

� Fig 6. Degradation of spinel material in melter due to carryover.

Design based on total cost of ownership - 2003 A

project

defines

the

relationships,

roles and responsibilities of the design, engineering and construction team required to provide the realisation of a glass furnace from concept through shutdown. Originally, one of our clients was operating a TECO double square all-electric melter, to produce glass tubing. The client contacted TECO prior to their next rebuild scheduled for 2004-2005. Discussions on the rebuild centered on whether to rebuild the existing electric melter or build a new 200 USTPD oxy-fuel furnace with three new Zedtec forehearths. The rebuild was also to include converting the forming method from a Danner to a Vello process to increase productivity of tubing manufacturing necessitating an increase in the glass line elevation. A new oxyfuel furnace would involve batch plant

modifications, building modifications, an emissions system and an oxygen farm.

With all of these changes considered, higher quality, higher yield target and a 10-year versus four-year life, an oxy-fuel furnace was selected to achieve the lowest Total Cost of Ownership.

Construction begins – September 1, 2004 Construction on the furnace and forehearths began September 1, 2004 and was completed in 140 days, within budget and on schedule, using the Design-Build project delivery method.

The existing TECO electric furnace was decommissioned on November 21, 2004.

Continued>>

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C

ollaboration is synonymous with outstanding leadership and teamwork. Companies that work collaboratively benefit from greater resource access, communication and trust. It is also the key to innovation and innovative practices and is the cornerstone of Design-Build projects.

The bottom line is, companies that work together closely during a project and furnace campaign are more successful.

One such project is an oxy-fuel furnace producing glass tubing which is currently operating into its 17th year of continuous operation. The following is a timeline or diary of the lifecycle of this furnace.

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Furnaces

� Fig 7. Spinel material unaffected in refiner.

� Fig 8. Breast wall hot repair.

� Fig 9. Completed breast wall repair.

� Fig 10. Modeling Validation.

� Fig 11. Tuckstone noses broken off.

� Fig 12. Replacement of broken tuckstones.

Campaign Year 1 – January 2005

Fig 10, validates the impingement of the batch on the breastwall.

a result of the furnace age, the client is increasing the TECO furnace audits from two times per year to three times per year.

Commissioning and heat-up of the furnace and forehearths began on January 7th. On January 19th, packed glass tubing is being produced at the initial target of 176 USTPD. In May, the pull rate is increased to 191.1 USTPD. The first TECO furnace audit is scheduled for six months from heat-up and twice per year thereafter.

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Campaign Year 2 – 2006 The breastwall in the melter section of the furnace experiences severe degradation due to the use of decrepitating dolomite in the batch. During the design phase of the project, the client wanted to use a spinel material as the hot face material in the complete furnace superstructure, including the crown. Due to the lack of production proven experience with this material and its use in critical areas, specifically the crown, the spinel material was only used in the breastwalls and frontwall. The crown was constructed of fused cast AZS and Alpha Beta Alumina.

The spinel material results in being a great material for this glass type except for areas experiencing batch attack due to the dolomite being used (Fig. 6). As a result, the melter (the refiner was not affected, see Fig. 7) breast walls and tuckstones needed to be replaced and a hot repair was performed. The spinel material was replaced with a bonded AZS. TECO performs a series of CFD models.

The results of batch dust particle trace,

Campaign Year 6 – 2010 The first overcoat of the furnace is performed by Dreicor.

During this time, hotspots are identified in various locations on the tank walls.

After the overcoat materials were applied, a water cooler is added to all the hotspot locations, and flux line water coolers are also added.

Furnace output is increased when a fourth ZEDTEC forehearth for smaller diameter tubing production is added, which increases the maximum pull up to 215 USTPD. The TECO design furnace is able to achieve output above the nominal design of 200 USTPD. A second tuckstone repair is undertaken in the melter section due to the noses of the tuckstones falling off (Figs. 11 & 12) after the hot repair, which exposes portions of the mantle plate steel.

Campaign Year 7 – 2011 The throat is overcoated by Dreicor using a chrome material. The downcomers on both sides have begun to show wear with some resultant instability. Bracing and grating is added to the top third of the downcomer.

Campaign Year 11 – 2015 The furnace reaches its normal rebuild time and it is still running exceptionally well with no major repairs needed. As

Campaign Year 13 – 2017 Dreicor overcoats the furnace for a second and last time. A third overcoat will not be possible as it would expose too much of the mantle plate steel. Note: Utilising continuing improvement philosophy, the TECO 2003 design has now been changed to allow for three overcoats.

The target wall of the right exhaust port was overcoated (Fig. 13).

Campaign Year 14 – 2018 The connection between the downcomer and the flue has become compromised at the lintel arch (Figs. 14-16). The repair is accomplished from the inside. The furnace pressure and operation is adjusted to manage the reduced flue opening.

Forehearth 1 is shut down and gated off due to reduced demand for larger diameter tubing. Furnace pull is reduced correspondingly.

Campaign Year 15 – 2019 The mantle plate is beginning to be exposed due to the wear and degradation of the side wall blocks at the flux line (Fig. 17). As a precaution, the glass level is reduced to prevent any possible glass leaks.

Continued>>

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Furnaces

� Fig 13.Over coat of exhaust target wall.

� Fig 14. Lintel flue arch failure (outside).

� Fig 17. Exposed mantle plate steel.

� Fig 15. Lintel flue arch failure (inside).

� Fig 18. Current picture melter and refiner breast wall.

� Fig 16. Lintel arch repair.

Campaign Year 17 – 2021 As of this writing, the furnace is still operational.

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Conclusions It is remarkable that an oxy-fuel furnace has reached a 17-year lifetime, considering the batch problem issue with the superstructure within the first two years of operation. The credit for this accomplishment is twofold.

One is the outstanding teamwork between management, engineering and operations personnel and their diligent commitment to preventive and routine maintenance, enabling the client to reach its production goals.

Second, is the collaboration between the client and TECO over the lifetime of this furnace on these key points: � The client was proactive. They self-monitored and maintained areas identified by TECO audits, taking care of

any issue before they became a problem. � Continuous improvement – The client employed Six Sigma operating practices and operational improvements advised by TECO. � The client asked TECO to complete timely furnace audits two times per year starting in year one of its campaign, and then going to three times per year after the furnace had reached its normal design lifetime. The value of adherence to the audit report recommendations by TECO that were followed faithfully by the plant cannot be overstated. � The client performed routine and preventive maintenance programs for burners and burner blocks, flux line and skew line re-sealing, ceramic welding and patching, and adding support grating and cooling as warranted. � The client collaborated with TECO when planning all future work and repairs, such as adding an additional forehearth,

adding water coolers, performing ceramic welding and the timing on all overcoats.

A design–build contractor such as TECO, is a team member throughout the entire furnace campaign, and part of the success of this overall team.

As part of the TECO Group, Toledo Engineering, Tecoglas and KTG Systems offer complete capabilities in glass furnaces of all types, with KTG Engineering supporting this facility as glass plant equipment manufacturers.

Zedtec are the TECO Group specialists in forehearth and working end technology.

EAE Tech provide high quality industrial automation engineering services and custom control systems. Dreicor. is a single-source contractor that specialises in procurement, fabrication, installation and process construction for the glass manufacturing industry.

The TECO Group has been designing, building and modernising for the world’s primary glass manufacturing industry since 1927. �

*Manager of Technical Sales, TECO, Toledo, USA www.teco.com

18 0 Glass International June 2021

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Industry 4.0

Building Information Modelling – The future for glass plant design Dr Daniel Schippan* & Florian Steinberger** discuss how Building Information Modelling (BIM) can help design the glass plants of the future.

I

www.glass-international.com

n 2021, Industry 4.0 is the current state of the art and the technical revolution keeps advancing.

The digitalisation of humans and machines does not only occur in manufacturing, but can also be seen in value added and development processes of whole factories and production centres.

The transition to industry 4.0 requires an interlinking of all necessary data and

adding such to newer intelligence.

The term Building Information Modelling was derived from this process (BIM).

What is BIM? Building Information Modelling is a planning method used in building construction with the aim of centrally managing all building characteristics and

installations from the outset.

The modelling has as its main aim, the integration of new intelligence to a virtual model through a better coordination and administration of the interfaces.

The advantage arises from preservation of technical relevant data while crosslinking all important documents for specific objects in the whole model.

Using BIM, industry 4.0 acquires

� A compressor room designed with new dimensions and external data through use of BIM

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Industry 4.0

new components through which the virtual models, similar to machines in manufacturing and production, are linked to one another, thereby adapting to the technical possibilities in the year 2021.

Dynamic process and use for factories Working with BIM is not a static but a

� 2D Layout & Intelligent 3D Model

dynamic process and is thus applied throughout the life-cycle of the building installations and machines.

The process begins in a design phase and extends through planning, execution and management as well as renovation of whole projects.

Glass plants are not made up of just civil engineering components but also contains components from a variety of other engineering disciplines. The original concept of BIM must therefore be expanded to be more inclusive. cm.project.ing has succeeded in implementing BIM for the following departments and has brought this to bare in the management of whole glass plants: � Architecture � Core Technology � Utilities � Electrical � Construction and Development � Project management -> Simulations

Properties of objects BIM should enable the user to display the most important properties of glass plant components in one window.

For example, building and construction data, plant components and piping information, core components such as furnaces, IS machines as well as batch plants.

Whereas 3D models served purely visual function, BIM offers the possibility of incorporating extra elements, that bring the models of glass plants to life.

In addition to the geometry, the 3D Model displays extra data of elements such as weights, dimensions, sizes, manufacturer and article numbers, all in one window.

This enables a clear identification of elements-properties by the user, eliminating ambiguity when interacting with external participants and centralising interface management.

Access to external data’s By linking additional documents such as drawings, schedules, schematics and datasheets, the virtual glass plant receives further information as new intelligence.

The aim is a timely and efficient information processing while maintaining a comprehensive overview of a whole project.

For example, should the need arise for repair or installation of a furnace, the exact specifications would already be contained in the 3D model and retrievable within seconds.

Depending on the life cycle of a glass plant, the linked documents could be adapted to new situations.

In the plants design and subsequent, planning documents such as energy balance, thermal simulation and building or architectural drawings are stored, and in later stages, installation, commissioning, exhibition and assembly plans with their associated operating manuals.

The possibilities to linking new documents is limitless and adaptations based on new circumstances can occur at any given time.

4D time and 5D cost simulation Dynamic processes can be visualised with the aid of BIM by adding time and cost as dimensions to virtual models.

The planning and material procurement can be optimised using time simulation and in so doing, detecting and resolving conflicts in time before construction begins.

In other to simulate the resulting cost, material quantities and their cost implications can be added to the time simulation.

To create the simulation, existing project management plans could be utilised and intelligently linked to the Continued>>

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� PID Diagram & Intelligent 3D Model.

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Industry 4.0

� SLD Diagram & Intelligent 3D Model.

model of the glass factory.

Early simulations facilitate the optimisation of the project schedule, its profitability, as well as boosting execution quality by reducing errors.

To round-off the process of optimisation, comparisons between the target and actual end point can be made with a precise analysis of the constructions and cost dynamics involved.

*

Global communication via platforms and clouds Technological development has made it possible to explore ways in data exchange and communication.

Until recently, SharePoint represented the state of the art.

Nowadays, there are other platforms and clouds that offer extended options for users.

As a result, technical drawings must not be shared, but can be viewed or accessed directly in the Cloud.

The project manager can view all files simultaneously, the same way installers on site as well as project executives during meetings and presentations.

This access is independent of the end device used, be it smartphone, tablet or notebook.

The platforms offer the option of creating operating instructions and design tasks, which can be accessed at any time it is needed without the loss of information even in the case of later queries.

Complementing the function of the cloud application are statistical tools necessary for the evaluation and graphical illustration of progress.

* latest swabbing-robot installed in July 2017 in Germany

Benefits of BIM

CM project ING.indd 3

The advantages of BIM are: � Planning security and early error analysis � Seamless information exchange and minimised interface losses � Central interface management � More efficiency and additional optimisation. � Cost control and reliable scheduling � Quality assurance and improvement � More certainty through time and cost simulations �

*CEO, **State Certified Engineer cm.project.ing, Jülich, Germany www.cmprojecting.de Glass International June 2021

21/06/2021 14:11:40

HOLISTIC BUILDING PERFOMANCE

Holistic Glass Plant Engineering www.cmprojecting.de

Computer Simulation Environment Flow and heat simulation

Noise emissions simulation

Noise pressure level [dB(A)]

Noise pressure Mass level concentration [dB(A)] [µg/m³]

Pollutant dispersion simulation Mass concentration [µg/m³]

Plant design

A holistic simulation approach to building performance Dr Daniel Schippan* and Denis Barnstorf** explain how CFD simulation technology can help customers when designing a plant.

T

omorrow’s production has to meet high standards. Efficiency and future security are just as important for plant operation as cost savings and error reductions in the planning phase.

Special attention is paid to ensuring the highest quality standards in production and products.

But optimal working conditions for employee and machine as well as harmony with the environment and nature are also demanding goals.

These requirements apply not only to newly designed glass plants, but also to existing factories, which are subject to a continuous optimisation process.

Achieving all these ambitious goals is daily motivation for cm.project.ing.

Since all sub-disciplines have a mutual influence, only a holistic view during the entire planning phase is effective.

Constantly updated and coordinated simulations show both the external influences on the plant and production (environmental conditions) and the influence of the plant on the environment (noise and pollutants).

External conditions, heat, ventilation, noise emission, and pollutant dispersion are all nonconstant and need to be coordinated with each other.

This has a high benefit in all planning and replanning processes to achieve optimal efficiency and performance of the factory.

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Flow and heat simulation with CFD technology ‘Computational fluid dynamics’ simulation is a mathematical calculation and visualisation of fluid dynamics and flows.

With this technology it is possible to analyse flows of any kind and to identify their behaviour and influence.

With the help of CFD simulation, a glass factory can be analysed and optimised in its entirety or in specific sub-areas with regard to optimal air flows.

Different sub-areas such as the area of forming machines, working areas and utility areas have different but high demands on the local conditions.

Optimised ventilation concepts are dissipating

the huge amount of heat with optimal working condition for machine and employee as result.

Because cm.project.ing uses CFD simulation technology in a holistic planning approach,

� IS machine with particle traces and heat.

the plant building receives more attention for optimisation.

In addition to efficient ventilation of the building for heat dissipation, high air flows are avoided in the glass forming area for product quality.

Optimisation of working conditions is also considered, as well as the impact of thermal loads on interior spaces. The holistic approach of analysing air flows and thermal conditions has a significant added value for the glass industry and getting more and more important.

Noise emissions simulation For the protection of the local community and the environment, the prediction of sound propagation is becoming increasingly important, and regulations, restrictions and limits are becoming stricter.

Sound has negative effects on humans and nature above a certain level and duration. To simulate outdoor sound propagation and analyse

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Plant design

Pollutant dispersion simulation

� Melting furnace with particle traces and heat.

Glass factories have several sources of exhaust gases that release pollutants and dust in different compositions and concentrations.

The amount of exhaust gases and the composition of pollutants depend on the technology planned for the process.

The concentrations and distribution in the environment are critical and have a significant impact on nature.

Therefore, strict limits of concentrations in the environment must not be exceeded. The dispersion strongly depends on the environment and its conditions (annual wind situation, terrain), but also on the chimney height and other productionrelated elements. cm.project.ing takes a holistic approach to factory planning and design.

The analysis of the annual wind situation, the testing of different chimney heights and the use of different firing and filtering technologies optimise the planning process.

In exchange with local authorities and constant reconciliation of factory planning and dispersion simulation ensures that regulations are met.

� An annual wind rose.

Holistic approach � Noise map of the surrounding area.

In taking a holistic approach to a glass factory, cm.project.ing focuses not only on the internal process and product to achieve the best possible production.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

predictions, special knowledge about the planned factory and its sound sources is required. cm.project.ing has the knowledge and experience about sound sources in glass production and its behaviour and propagation.

By striving for a holistic approach in the planning and design of the factory, excessive sound emissions and unfavorable propagation patterns can be identified and avoided through constant comparison during the planning process of the planned factory, including the technology and its sound propagation in the surrounding area.

This investigation creates planning certainty with regard to the locally applicable conditions and noise limits. Likewise, it avoids time-consuming and expensive sound emission-preventing modifications or retrofits.

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Plant design

PUT YOUR FUTURE IN SAFE HANDS Design / Engineering Procurement / Construction Design-Build Turnkey Projects, Plus: Furnaces / Batch Plants / Tin Baths Heat Recovery Systems / Lehr

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WWW.HFT.COM +1 724 941 9550 info@hft.com HEAD OFFICE: 3009 Washington Road McMurray, PA 15317-3202 USA United Kingdom | China | Singapore | Philippines

� Pollutant map of the surrounding area.

Instead, it also identifies, investigates and prevents problems at an early stage that arise due to inefficient building design or sensitive connections to the surroundings and environment.

The building design need to be considered as an important influence on the overall efficiency of a factory.

A holistic view of ventilation systems and heat generation combined with the use of CFD simulations leads to an optimisation of plant efficiency and product quality.

Great benefits are created for operators in terms of indoor and working conditions. The impact of the plant on the environment is part of the holistic design.

With regard to noise emissions from buildings and external sources, dispersion simulations optimise layout planning and prevent any problems with limit values being exceeded at an early stage.

To carry out sound optimisations retrospectively, during ongoing production, is always very time-consuming and expensive.

By simulating the distribution of dust and pollutants in the environment, cm.project.ing prevents problems with exceeding official limits and thus creates planning security with regard to all exhaust gas sources and effects.

Special know-how is required for each simulation area in order to provide the customer with advantages in the planning and operation of the newly designed glass plant. cm.project.ing has combined all these areas into one powerful set and offers the scope as a complete package to provide even more benefits for the customer in terms of efficiency, optimisation and planning reliability.

Experience with different laws and rules for setting limits in different countries also leads to planning success. �

*CEO ** CFD Simulation Engineer cm.project.ing, Jülich, Germany www.cmprojecting.de

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Batch plant

Engineering solutions for the future EME explain how offering a complete range of services has allowed it to be part of the Glass Futures facility design.

I

� Pic 1. Unique process flow diagram. full flexibility while at the same time integrating the latest technology and best technical solutions.

In addition to the technology selection, EME engaged with other key stakeholders from the Glass Futures team.

These stakeholders provided input into critical aspect of the design, such as health and safety, structural integration into the main building, utility interfaces as well as day to day operational aspects.

“It is important for Glass Futures to get the design right and include a much greater level of operational flexibility than you would expect in a commercial glass manufacturing batch plant where the expected limits of operation are clearly defined. This has been a significant challenge for Glass Futures and EME throughout this collaboration”, said Peter Liggett, Capital Projects Manager of Glass Futures.

The EME team was presented with an abundance of data and challenges to overcome.

To bring all this together in a

meaningful way, that was easy for the customer to work with while still having complete technical details, EME has developed a unique process flow diagram.

The flow diagram is designed in such a way that it provides a graphical representation of the technology and process of the batch house.

One of the biggest challenges for both Glass Futures and EME was that our design had to allow for the most flexibility possible.

This is because St Helens is a state-ofthe-art research and development facility, therefore it is logically impossible to define exactly all the raw materials and recipes from the start.

Understanding this, EME developed a solution that allows for a variety of materials to be used flexibly within the plant.

Raw material handling and unloading operations are to be carried out using a variety of innovative methods. A wide Continued>>

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n this modern day and age customers are looking for a partner that can offer them a complete range of engineering services.

EME provides everything its customers need, ranging from Feasibility Studies through to fully Engineered Projects.

100 years of experience combined with a passionate and expert team of engineers and specialists allows the company to deliver Innovative Engineering Solutions in line with customers’ requirements.

EME says it is proud to be able to say that not-for-profit, research and technology organisation, Glass Futures is one such customer that needed an innovative and flexible engineering solution for their new Global Centre for Excellence in St Helens, UK. It believes that one of the most important aspects of developing a solution for a customer is to listen carefully to their needs and allow them to convey the vision they have for their project.

During the bid phase for the Batch House Specification contract, EME actively engaged with the Glass Futures’ team to understand the end goal of the project as well as the objectives for the first phase, the development of a Detailed Specification and Design for the Batch Plant.

As a result of this it was able to offer our services to Glass Futures at a competitive price without any compromise!

In the early stages of the project, EME spent many hours in discussions with the expert team that Glass Futures had put together to fully identify their needs.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic EME and Glass Futures had to make use of online meetings, sharing ideas and concepts remotely, to fine tune all the details.

A clear goal from the onset was to provide a solution that provided

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Batch plant

� Pic 2. A birds eye view of the 3D equipment

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model integrated into the building design.

range of silos for storage of various amounts of material have been allowed for.

In addition, different state-of-theart weighing technologies are to be implemented to ensure the ability to create any recipe the experts at Glass Futures dream of.

In parallel to the creation of the process flow diagram, EME’s engineering team developed the layout concept for the equipment.

At Glass Futures it had the challenge of designing the solution into a limited fixed space within a predefined building.

In addition, the solution needed to be designed in such a way that it could be installed into the building once it was already completed.

EME overcame this challenge by applying its experience in innovative planning and modular design. Thus, the design allows for specific technology to be installed at the start of the project with future expansions already being accounted for.

Flexibility being a key driver of the plant design resulted in the implementation of some complex solutions.

The ability to run cullet through the mixer, or bypass it and add the batch after mixing, presented difficulties due to space and height limitations.

This was, however overcome with customised vibratory feeding equipment with diverting capabilities.

While it is always exciting for our engineers to develop complex solutions, they are also acutely aware of the importance of simplicity in design. As such they applied their many years of experience to design the most ergonomic and practical solutions.

Typically, a focus on personal safety

and ease of maintenance are important drivers in the design process.

The use of 3D technology is essential to the process of design, not to mention critical to effectively communicate our solutions to the customer.

For the Glass Futures project, EME developed a 3D model for the equipment and relevant maintenance access platforms and then integrated it into the building design model provided by Glass Futures’ structural engineering partner.

Through a process of detailed reviews, the models were checked and updated, not only resolving collisions and potential problems, but also bringing in special specific requests. The result is a truly remarkable solution!

Aston Fuller, General Manager of Glass Futures said: “Specifying projects aiming to carry out research and development in an industry that typically runs 24/7 for decades in a row is a unique challenge.

“I have seen both EME and a large number of other organisations in the glass supply chain rise to the challenge

and begin thinking in an innovative way, which is vital to allow the glass industry to build a facility designed to carry out the ground-breaking research that the glass industry needs.

“We look forward to welcoming our members, EME and their Customers to see this plant in action when it opens in late 2022.”

With the process fully defined and the physical design of the plant complete, EME moved on to developing a detailed technical specification for the solution.

The specification considers the need for flexibility, process monitoring and ease of maintenance.

As such, all equipment has been specified taking these factors into account, issues like inspection and sampling openings, level and material presence sensors and advanced handling technology were all considered in detail.

Being a plant designed for the future of glass, it was critical that modern technologies were selected for the process.

The control system will be designed with the most modern philosophy on plant wide automation systems allowing for one of the most modern facilities in the world.

In addition to this, EME has included state-of-the-art custom solutions as part of the specification, such as the implementation of QR and RFID systems that provide automated stock management and integration into ERP systems.

Plant overview and operation from remote devices is a given, a simple and precise recipe for scale management from the palm of your hand goes without saying, as well as a built-in runtime-based maintenance management system.

� Pic 3. Floor level 3D equipment model included into the building design.

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Batch plant

Included in the specification are the design considerations for the plant to ensure that the delivered solution will meet the desired outcomes.

This includes the process flow diagram, site plans, detailed building layouts, 3D model and more.

EME has included details on local regulations relating to construction and health and safety, thus ensuring that this critical aspect will not be overlooked.

In addition, the utility requirements and interface are well defined to ensure problem free integration into the rest of the facility. The installation requirements clearly defined, with details relating to critical items such are laydown areas, contractor access and lift plans being provided.

EME included with the specification, technical documentation and drawings, a preliminary project schedule and budget, providing a Complete Engineering Solution.

The Complete Engineering Solution was reviewed multiple times with Glass Futures to ensure that it embodied the vision that it has for its batch plant and necessary processes. Exceeding Glass

� Pic 4. Example of Installation Detail for a Vibratory Feeder.

Futures expectations, EME is looking forward to seeing the project move into the next phase.

Mr Liggett added: “It has been a pleasure working with the EME team over the last few months to get to a solution for our detailed batch plant design at the Global Centre of Excellence.

“The comprehensive technical specification package will form the basis

for our next procurement phases for the supply, installation, commissioning, training and handover of highly specialised equipment at our site in St Helens, Merseyside.” �

EME GmbH, Erkelenz, Germany www.eme.de

Your molds under supervision

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WHEN QUALITY MATTERS www.parkinson-spencer.co.uk

Batch plant � Zippe’s dosing belt conveyor.

Ongoing developments at Zippe during Covid-19 Despite the ongoing pandemic, Zippe Industrieanlagen has remained focused on delivering batch plant developments for its customers.

Dosing Belt Conveyor BWS (Belt Weighing Scale) Dosing belt conveyors play an increasingly important part in batch and especially cullet systems and have several advantages in comparison to belt scales.

Reason enough for Zippe to develop an own, in-house model that exceeds the performances of the products available on the market.

During 2020, the performance of the system was further improved. The Zippe dosing belt conveyor was not only redesigned, but its weighing accuracy further enhanced, making it more precise than ever.

Weighing accuracies up to +/- 0.5% are possible and could be standard now by using the ZIPPE evaluation electronics

and redesigned mechanical belt conveyor components.

Since 2016 more than 100 Zippe weighbelt feeders have been sold and are in use worldwide, and since 2020 the redesigned dosing belt conveyors with upgraded functionality are available.

ZMART Scraper Control (Intelligent Mode) Zippe strives to ensure that its machines have the latest state of the art technology and constantly improve our products.

To reduce wear and to minimise the portion of fine material in scraping conveyors are two areas that are considered as particularly important by Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

F

or more than 100 years the core business of Zippe Industrieanlagen has been the design and construction of high-performance batch and cullet plants.

During the pandemic, Zippe remained true to its future-orientation by initiating several promising innovations and technological developments.

The past 12 months have been challenging in many ways. The global pandemic held the world in a state of emergency, it made work difficult and endangered the health of many people.

Regardless of the difficulties that had to be overcome, it was also a time of innovation at Zippe where significant technological advances were made.

Here are some of Zippe’s latest innovations:

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Batch plant

� The operating panel of the Zmart Scraper

� Remote assistance

Control.

via video call.

our customers.

Therefore, Zippe developed the innovative ZMART Scraper Control System.

Depending on the gob weight and quantity of gobs or hot bottles, this advanced control system module decides whether and at which speed the scraping conveyor operates.

Furthermore, the required operating time will be minimised and calculated individually. The production data necessary is affected automatically by standardised interfaces between the ISmachines and the scraping conveyor control system.

If required, these parameters can be entered and adapted manually via touch panel and thus allow a continuous and individual optimisation of the process.

Thus, high operational flexibility is achieved, the operation time is reduced to a minimum and, above all, this cost-saving alternative is permanently available.

The positive effects of the optimised scraper control system at a glance: � Reduced wear and therefore longer lifetime of the scraping conveyor � Minimisation of the fine cullet portion � Less maintenance works � Considerably lower energy consumption � Cost savings and carbon dioxide reduction Meanwhile, the ZMART Scraper Control System has been successfully commissioned at our customer O-I in Bernsdorf, Germany and operates to its

� Remote assistance has become the norm with the Covid-19 pandemic affecting travel.

fullest satisfaction.

Remote Services Due to the situation regarding Covid-19 and the resulting travel restrictions over the past months, the installation, commissioning, and service of the different machine and plant parts had to be reconsidered.

In this regard Zippe relies on remote support for customers with the help of Augmented Reality (AR), remote services, and teleservices.

In times when unrestricted traveling is not possible, Zippe is able to support its customers from a distance.

It is essential for the customer’s technician and the Zippe service specialist to ‘speak the same language’.

Previously, numerous e-mails including photo documentation were exchanged. It is now possible to support customers in a significantly more efficient and speedy fashion thanks to modern technology of Augmented Reality (AR).

Making Silos “Zmart” with the ZMART Inventory System Traditionally silos are connected to the internal control system and show filling levels, etc. We took the technology one step further by enabling improved levels of visualisation and options for Vendor Managed Inventory applications (VIM).

The ZMART Inventory System is a webbased software for data acquisition and visualisation of level data in raw material silos.

This service is suitable for level monitoring within a company and for Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) applications.

Advantages for the supplier: � Quick access to current and historic customer consumption data � Cost-effective production and inventory planning in own company � Higher client retention levels � Cost savings through optimised logistics � Improved relationships and long-

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� Silo inventory management.

term customer loyalty

Further advancements in preheating technologies

Advantages for the customer: � Security of supply: no more “out of stock” situations and costly rush orders � Avoidance of production stoppages � Cost savings through reduced administrative work � Higher efficiency and confidence in stock levels � Concentration on core business

Preheating technologies have also been further developed and improved. As the reduction of CO2 is becoming a major motivation for many of our customers, batch preheating is increasingly in demand, especially in the last 18 months.

One of the challenges is that many batch preheaters can increase the dust content of the flue gas as the batch is in

contact with the exhaust gases for drying and heating purposes.

This can create issues in the filtering equipment if it is not laid-out for the increased dust quantity. The objective of the latest technological development is to avoid this issue by minimising this carry-over.

In 2021 an advanced mechanism has been developed by Zippe engineers, theoretical models have been applied, and tests are running.

The result Zippe is targeting is a system that maintains the same high efficiency of preheating but ensure a highly reduced dust carry-over.

Zippe aims to achieve this by complex modelling, testing, and improving the air and pressure flow within the system.

During the pandemic, two orders were placed for large scale preheaters for European container glass producers which are in the realisation phase. �

Zippe Industrieanlagen, Wertheim, Germany www.zippe.de

HIGH GLASS From Refractories to Hot Gas Filtration

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Experts in industrial glass applications RATH offers you the complete range of highest-quality refractory materials for the entire glass making process, including corrosion-resistant feeder expendables, forehearth systems and the original Emhart Glass System. Also benefit from our filtration of hot gases with our catalytic and non-catalytic filter elements. Contact our experts for your solution!

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T hi si snotas ol arecl i ps e

Wi r eEdgedet ect i on

wi t hz er ocompr omi seby

Batch plant

ForglassBox – 21st century technological support for producers Piotr Knast* and Marian Klisch** explain how the company designed an engine that can make complex calculations at the tap of a button via a smartphone app.

W

hat if it were possible to perform complex, sophisticated calculations and select raw materials of defined chemical composition for a batch, from which flint (colourless), amber, green and olive glasses with desired properties could be melted – and to do it anywhere, anytime, on a smartphone?

Forglass, the Polish glass melting technology supplier, has answered this question and created the first

calculating engine that takes advantage of the powerful processors on modern mobile devices and enables the glassworks technologists to perform complex, sophisticated calculations on a smartphone that is always in their pocket.

The application, called ForglassBox, allows the user to select specific raw materials and assumptions (limits) for batch and glass according to its colour requirements, and it calculates the technological and physicochemical

properties of these glasses, including: � Temperatures at which the glass reaches desired viscosity; � Liquidus temperature; � Cooling time; � WRI, RMS, RGT, linear thermal expansion coefficient; � Density; � Specific electrical conductivity; � Heat capacity and; � Effective thermal conductivity.

www.glass-international.com

Continued>>

� fig.1, fig.2 etc, as explained in text

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� Figs 4, 5 and 6 The ForglassBox application has builtin “intelligence”, which also corrects the chemical composition of the glass selected for calculations, if the selected raw materials make it impossible to obtain the assumed concentrations.

The aim of the developers of the application was to turn the modern smartphone into a handheld computing centre for the technologist.

Unlike the computer, smartphone is a device that all people involved in the manufacture and processing of glass, as well as designers of equipment for the glass industry carry in their pocket and can access anywhere and at any time.

The application is “smart”, which means that when calculating the proportions of individual raw materials, it takes into account not only the given chemical composition, but also the Redox Number of the batch, necessary to obtain the expected colour of glass and optimises the amount of sulphates, taking into account the needs of fining and SO3 saturation concentration in the glass of the given colour after forming.

The application compares the chemical composition of the glass selected for calculations with the compositions of the raw materials selected for the batch

and suggests the necessary corrected proportions of Al2O3/Al2O3+SiO2, K2O/ (K2O+Na2O) and MgO/(MgO+CaO).

The calculated glass properties can be used to design temperature profiles for melting, fusing, tempering and annealing, optimising the furnace’s thermal power requirements from combustion space and boosting, as well as furnace geometry.

Application architecture The architecture of the application is userfriendly, offering less advanced users the option to select any of the ready-made packages from an extensive list, while advanced technologists can modify most of the parameters in order to adapt them to the specific requirements of the production facility, local raw materials and their own habits.

For the first group, a glossary of terms used in the application and in glass practice is included. For the second group of users (although certainly not limited only to them), the application provides a constantly updated list of innovative and tested solutions from Forglass.

Both above and below are the examples of calculations that can be performed with the ForglassBox application, including screen shots that intuitively guide the

user through the steps.

Fig.1 shows that the user can select from the list of glasses [flint reduced glass, flint oxidised glass (UWF), olive glass, amber glass, emerald green glass, HT green glass], for which he needs to calculate the batch.

Perform additional or new calculations/ operations on glasses, for which calculations had already been made and saved them in user-defined glasses collection, the user can access them at the bottom of the screen.

Fig.2 contains the fields to select the concentration (as [wt %]) of glass components: SiO2, Al2O3, Na2O, K2O, MgO, CaO, MnO, Fe2O3, TiO2, Cr2O3, CeO2 i SO3 and the maximum allowable deviation of those oxides (down ?- or up ? +) in the glass melted from the batch calculated with the boundary conditions for selected raw materials.

The user can modify the concentration of a specific component by clicking the ‘edit’ button below the data section of a given oxide.

The assumptions for calculations can be edited by the user after clicking ‘edit’

Continued>>

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Everyone is worried about corrosion resistance.

Not us.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Excellence Made in Italy FUSED CAST REFRACTORIES www.refel.com

11-12 May 2022 CINTERMEX Monterrey, Mexico

20-23 September 2022 Düsseldorf, Germany

Batch plant

www.glass-international.com

� Figs 7, 8 and 9.

button to the right of the selected set of values.

The default values in each set are the most typical ranges of BRN, final SO3 and fining SO3 for the selected glass type. While the user can modify the values for BRN, final SO3 and fining SO3, setting values outside of the typical range for a given colour of glass can make it impossible to achieve.

Also, setting values for SO3 that are tool low or too high may result in technological problems such as underfining or foam on glass surface.

The application informs the user of these conditions if it detects that they may occur (Fig.3).

Fig.4 contains the list of raw materials selected for batch calculation.

The user can modify the name and composition of selected raw materials by clicking the > symbol to the right of the name of the material.

Materials with alternatives have the additional button that can be clicked to reveal another screen, which allows the user to choose alternate material.

Properties of a raw material selected for batch calculation are also shown. User can change its name, source, etc. User can

also adjust (change) the concentration of various oxides, according to the chemical composition of the raw material to be used in the batch (Fig.5).

After making all the necessary changes in 1) chemical composition of glass; 2) limits (boundary conditions); 3) raw materials selected for the batch; and 4) their names and chemical composition, user can start batch calculation on this screen (see fig.6).

The results are shown on the screen with the batch calculated for the userdefined amount of glass/batch/sand (Fig.7).

Fig.8 shows the chart for chemical composition of glass: � IN: selected by user for calculations � IN corr.: selected by user after correcting the concentration of Al2O3, K2O and MgO to levels possible to achieve from selected raw materials � OUT: resulting from the batch calculated by the application Additional screens (fig.9) show the list of calculated technological properties: � Temperatures relative to viscosity - 100 dPas (lgh=2) - 1 000 dPas (lgh=3)

- 10 000 dPas (lgh=4) - 100 000 dPas (lgh=5) - 1 000 000 dPas (lgh=6) - 10 000 000 dPas (lgh=7) - Littleton Point (LP = 44 668 359,2 dPas; lgh=7,65)* - Annealing Point (AP = 25 118 864 315 095,9 dPas; lgh=13,4)* � Cooling time (CT)* � Working Range Index (WRI)* � Relative Machine Speed (RMS)* � Rigid gob temperature (RGT)* � Liquidus temperature (Tliq)* � Primary phase crystallisation field (most probable crystalline phase appearing during glass crystallisation)* � Variance between rigid gob temperature - RGT and liquidus temperature (? RGT – Tliq)* � Variance between temperature corresponding to viscosity for lg?=3 and liquidus temperature (?Tlg?=3 – Tliq)* * – definitions of terms used can be found in the Glossary of terms �

*CEO, ** Head of R&D, Forglass, Kraków, Poland https://www.forglass.eu/en/forglassbox

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FIC SGT advert 2020 AW_FIC-Society advert 2019 27/01/2020 16:29 Page 1

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It is a non-profit making organisation serving a worldwide membership publishing journals and text books, organising meetings and conferences on glass related topics.

You can now join the SGT by going to www.sgt.org and selecting your journal choice and appropriate package. You will also be able to see the comprehensive history and activities of the society.

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Refractories

Italian refractory material provider invests in its development Glass industry veteran Vitaliano Gregori* recently joined Sigma Ref. He discusses his new role as well as the investments planned by the company for 2021.

www.glass-international.com

Congratulations on your recent appointment at Sigma Ref. When did you start and how is the new job so far?

Thank you. I see that the announcement of my change that I placed in a wellknown professional social media aroused reactions. In Sigma I started precisely on May 3rd.

Honestly, I must tell you that I am really very enthusiastic about the choice I made and this is due to the wonderful people I met and who welcomed me at all levels.

The company mood also helps a lot: it is highly operational and supported by a “normal” serenity in relationships between colleagues.

What will your new role entail?

Formally it is not a new role for me. I will continue to provide commercial service to customers in Latin America, just as I did in the last 14 years.

I will have relationships with customers that almost everyone already knows me and with which I have excellent relationships, both personal and professional.

I hope they can accept me with a new cap on my head, but so far it seems so.

I will also be supported on-site by the agency Glass Export in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bernardo and Sebastian Szulman and their collaborators Julia and Matias. I have already worked with them, being in good relations for many years.

My arrival at Sigma is a proof of the company’s willingness to also invest in human resources to implement commercial development, especially abroad.

In my specific case, in Latin America, which is an extensive market with great opportunities, although some countries suffer an important economic crisis which the present pandemic

� Mr Gregori is a veteran of the glass industry.

unfortunately increased.

Sigma’s background is in refractories. Is this a new area for you? Have you had to learn much about refractories and new technologies for this role?

Well, to answer that question, I need to tell you a little bit about my professional

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Refractories

discussions, necessary but not the main one.

Today it represents all my work: so now I am already engaged in the study of the details, both the chemical-physical ones and those of the production processes, especially the innovative ones adopted

by Sigma, including the problems that may arise due to the use.

I’m also studying at night and on weekends, just like I did at university. This gives me new energy and makes me feel “differently-young”.

I know it’s not going to be easy or

� Sigma consists of three companies, two sites in Italy, and one in Bulgaria.

glass plant. It was a fantastic school.

I don’t think that many sales managers in the sector can boast of having done it, but above all customers always felt that together we could discuss details of the most varied topics, “from furnace to stacker, including electronics, and, finally, arriving to the commercial terms”.

Well, in all this the refractory material was for me a component of my offers and

immediate, but for Sigma I want to be able to offer customers that 360° technical support that they always received from me.

In this task I am greatly helped by my “senior” colleagues Alberto Tedeschi and Luigi Mandelli, the two Sales Directors, as well as by Roberto Mari, the founder of Sigma together with his father: they are three true experts in the matter.

What was it about Sigma that impressed you the most during your discussions with them?

I personally know for many years the three managers I have just mentioned.

Especially Luigi, whom I have always met in the various events “Glassman” in which both participated and Alberto, to which many times I asked for practical advice on refractories.

For me their reliability as person and professional was and still is the flag of the Sigma Company.

But there are two other facts I want to mention you. If you read the message included in the video presentation on the website and that is also included in the signatures of corporate emails, you will find written “30 years - 3rd generation” and “Refractories with passion”.

The fact that the third generation is already operating in the company (Federico, Roberto’s son, is charged as C.O.O. here in Locate Varesino plant) is clear proof that there is a whole family that strongly believes in the product that developed and improved over the years.

And moreover, they make it “with passion”, that is not only investing in R&D and advanced technology, but they make it in heart, like all the people who work in Sigma.

When these three aspects come together, then you can overcome every obstacle, achieve fantastic results and give maximum satisfaction to your customers.

For me this is enough to have confidence in a company like Sigma. I did it by becoming a collaborator, I would definitely do it if I were a customer.

How have Sigma’s products evolved technically in recent years?

As in every sector, even in the field of technological refractories to be a global player it is necessary to devote ample resources to R&D and to production processes innovation.

I immediately realised that all this has always been in Sigma’s DNA thanks to the improvement of the intrinsic product, machinery, and production processes.

Here is not the right place to make long lists, but I can certainly mention “chemcasting” as a strong point of Sigma.

The development of specific chemical binders, instead of water, which dry in a very short time, combined with advanced machinery such as long-term vibration boards and controlled temperature Continued>>

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history. I have been operating in the field of technology for hollow glass production for 25 years.

I started as an Electronic Service Engineer dedicated to the container forming line, in short from feeder to stacker. Later I held roles of technicalcommercial and commercial but expanding my knowledge and scope of work to the whole hot-end area of a glassworks, then including the batchplant, furnaces and forehearths, also passing through the management of offers for complete turn-key projects of a

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drying plants, ensure that there is always high quality and a significant reduction in the production time of vibrated products.

Therefore a strong reduction in supply time to the customer, combined with capacity, when required and in specific situations, to produce blocks of really remarkable dimensions and weights, up to 3m and 1800kg.

The production of the pressed material takes place in fully automatic lines with modern and powerful hydraulic presses enslaved by robots.

Just as robots ensure the automatic and fast loading and unloading of the kilns for material thermal treatment up to 1700 ºC of temperature.

For those blocks that require machining, these are secured by multiaxis and laser position control grinders.

The pre-assembly service for large areas is ensured by the presence of a 200 sqm levelled steel table.

In addition, great efforts have been made to improve the material, such as the series “Excelsius” for zirconium-mullite feeder products that offers prolonged operating life, less defectiveness on the glass container, ultimately a better packto-melt of the customer’s production line.

Currently Sigma’s “winning horse” is still the “vertiflow” tube, a Sigma patent, which has been increasingly successful in all those glass plants that have tried it.

According to Sigma’s website, new investments are planned for 2021. Are you able to tell us about these?

Sigma is a group consisting of three companies: two productive (SIGMA Srl, Italy, the historic one, started in 1990) and Sigma Srlu, Bulgaria, started in 2014) and one dedicated to the trading of products (Refratrade, Italy).

The ongoing pandemic has only slowed, but not cancelled, the remarkable expansion, result of significant investments that have been continuously implemented in the company.

If we consider only the last 15 years, production capacity increased from 3,000 to 22,000 tonnes per year and human resources from 45 to 110.

Meanwhile, turnover grown more than five times with sales expansion in each continent. These are considerable figures and, as you just mentioned, they are going to increase thanks to the ongoing expansion of both the Italian and the Bulgarian production units.

For the customer all this means a further improvement of the production

flexibility, that already is a point of strength for Sigma, and always with high quality standards of the offered product.

In fact, the world’s leading glassmakers rely on Sigma for their purchases of refractory material, both for furnaces and forehearth, and for feeder variables.

You are a well-known ‘face’ of the industry. Are we still likely to see you at various trade shows and conference in future years still?

I actually feel like a “veteran”, but the spirit is always young. So many times, I’ve been introduced by you to the technical

� Mr Gregori speaking during a Glassman conference in South America.

“Today we live in a continuous succession of rapid events and people and companies face opportunities or need for change.

”

conferences at Glassman.

Surely, I will still attend with enthusiasm to the various shows in the industry. These are events that help to develop and consolidate the contact with customers, both actual and potential.

About the conferences, if the company deems it as opportune, I’ll take part actively, but as soon as I have finished my studies about refractories!

You have spent several years in the glass sector. What do you enjoy about it?

We are all users of glass products, but we do not realise the difficulty that exists for their production at acceptable costs and guaranteeing quality.

First as a technician and then as a commercial, I have always been in contact with plants, I have experienced technological developments, including those aimed at reducing energy consumption through small or large strategies.

As an engineer, what I like is understanding, living and offering the complex technology that underlies the production of glass artifacts, an apparently simple material that, basically, is “only melted sand and then worked”.

I’m sure I’ll have the same interest in the refractory materials industry.

Let me tell you my little secret: when I pick up a bottle and with professional deformation, I try to identify the producer, I think that maybe inside there is an infinitesimal part of my work and this gives me satisfaction.

With your experience, what do you think are the glass sector’s greatest challenges?

Concerning food and drinks, unless new containers could be developed in the field of bio-products, glass is certainly the most suitable material to contain them safely and with maximum hygiene. It is very likely that for many years it will continue to be so.

In my opinion, therefore, the challenge that the sector must constantly face is that of reducing the use of energy and the production costs combined with extending the operating life of the plants.

The reduction of direct production costs is possible upon measuring and analysing the different usages: nowadays, the applications of Industry 4.0 help a lot in this.

Small and medium-sized glass producers must also take an active part in this challenge, since the large ones are

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Refractories

� A mullite for a regenerator chamber.

� Sigma makes products for use in a glass refractory.

Why was now the right time to change role?

The answer is not so easy. Today we live in a continuous succession of rapid events and people and companies face opportunities or need for change.

It is never too late to learn something new and entering a new game, as we’re invited to do by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in her poem “Life is”: “... Life is

an opportunity, benefit from it... Life is a challenge, meet it... Life is an adventure, dare it...”. �

*Sales Manager for Central and South America Sigma Ref, Locate Varesino, Lombardy, Italy https://www.sigmaref.it/

Automatic Chutes

SCRAPER CONVEYORS

CULLET CRUSHERS vidromecanica@vidromecanica.com

www.vidromecanica.com

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already equipped to do so.

The technological development of refractory materials also greatly contributes to the extension of the operating life of the plants. it is enough to think that at the beginning of the last century the useful life of the furnace was limited to two years, operating at max 1300 °C as the refractory bricks dissolved.

Today we have materials that can operate up to 2000 ºC of temperature and withstand very well the thermal expansion and corrosion due to the melting process, ensuring furnaces and forehearths useful life that can exceed 10 years.

Relying on producers who demonstrate that they have a serious R&D becomes therefore a must. It is a false saving to want to buy a certain type of material only considering the one that has the lowest price without analysing the properties of the material itself.

There is a serious risk of having to pay for higher operating costs or a reduced service life, and this is a serious problem in a globalised market.

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Industry demand for larger glass plants and the reuse of infrastructure has made projects more complicated. In most cases, when enlarging furnaces, modifying equipment or installing new technology there is little or no accurate documentation of the current structure available.

This creates complications between the old and new, sometimes requiring complete structures to be refabricated – incurring additional costs and adding time to projects.

To help avoid the additional cost and installation time, SORG’s in-house laser scanning equipment and highly experienced team can offer the precise solution you’re looking for.

Surveying the existing installation provides the detailed information we need to form a basis for the new 3D designs, including steel work, furnaces and forehearths, pipe work, cable trays and equipment.

Laser scanning is an effective way of acquiring data without interrupting any on-site operations. It’s contactless, accurate and sources highly detailed measurements even in problematic areas.

Get in touch with our experts today to find out how laser scanning can benefit your project.

Find us at sorg.de

Company profile: Sklarny Moravia

� Sklarny Moravia is based in the town of Úsobrno and has been based there for nearly 200 years.

Czech glassmaker modernises container glass furnace Sklarny Moravia has recently updated its furnace, named Anna. We hear about the investments from Radim Bondy*.

What geographical markets does the company serve?

We sell more than 80% abroad former Czechoslovakia which we consider our home market. Great portion is sold in the EU region, however there is a significant sales portion in overseas – Canada, USA, even Australia, Mauritius etc.

This is based on our flexibility on small batches of custom-made bottles – typically a 40ft container is loaded with about 25.000 bottles to serve as a limitededition batch.

What is the capacity of the new furnace?

The daily capacity is about 22 tonnes of glass.

How many production lines are attached to it?

This furnace has one feeder and comes with one 6 station IS machine. This one is the only place where we currently use SG and DG. The cold-end is fully equipped with inspections machines which are essential in production of non-transparent glass.

What is the company’s capacity of glass overall?

The overall capacity is about 65-70 tonnes a day depending on the project type and technology used. The 45-tonnes per day furnace can go down to 6t or with specific clear glass type up to 50 tonnes per day.

Who supplied the new furnace?

The supply is a great project with several suppliers for new infrastructure, control systems, control room etc.

The major part – furnace has been delivered by the PKI Teplotechna Brno.

A local company with long history and many experiences. We´ve been doing business with them for a very long time.

Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

Can you tell me what type of glass the overhauled furnace will produce – what colour bottles, what size of bottles, what type of bottles etc.

It is a standard production of sodalime glass, however in special colours, our small furnace is dedicated to black and violet colour – glass which does not allow sun rays to penetrate walls and influence the content, something that is very important for wine makers and for the whole cosmetic business.

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Company profile: Sklarny Moravia

Does the furnace have a ‘name’?

The new 22 tonne furnace (so called small) is going to be called Anna. We wish to keep the tradition of naming furnaces with maiden names.

which is about EUR €1.1 million.

It might be look like a small drop in the vast ocean of glass, but for our small glassworks it is considered a money well spent.

How much was the investment?

The investment was over 27 million CZK

Did the investment include any other equipment at the same time, such

� The investment was said to cost the

as new inspection machinery for example?

The cold end is already fully equipped with several inspection machines including Bucher Emhart glass carrousel.

Significant investment has been made into (super)structure, new control room, new control systems – server, PLC, PC + necessary software.

Current situation is a 22-tonne furnace with BDF machine 6 station SG/DG – one line with a full set of inspection machines.

company approximately EUR €1.1 million.

Do you plan to have a ceremony to mark the ignition of the new furnace?

An inauguration ceremony took place on 11th June.

We planned to invite several local dignitaries to attend the event, however due to Covid restrictions it was mostly attended by our workers as a thank-you event after a long and hard covid season which they passed ‘with honours’. The furnace is already running on high throughput making rare violet glass for the Miron company. �

*Sales Director, Sklarny Moravia, Úsobrno, Czech Republic https://www.sklomoravia.com/

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46 0 Glass International June 2021 FoF_1p_Ad.indd 2

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Inspection

The future of inspection Spanish inspection systems supplier SYSVRA discuss how Industry 4.0 can bring about a new level of machine.

� SYSVRA say its Industry 4.0-ready machines can improve performance and control of a customer’s production process.

M

www.glass-international.com

adrid, Spain-based SYSVRA is a technological and innovative company in the glass manufacturing industry that has taken the inspection of glass bottles to another level with its artificial vision systems.

The glass industry has grown significantly due to the Covid-19, so container glass and vials manufacturers need technology to supply this high demand.

Due to this demand, SYSVRA has invested all its resources in improving its inspection systems for glass containers and vials manufacturing and integrating the Industry 4.0 concept into all manufacturing processes, from the forming machine to the packaging.

Thanks to the innovation of its systems, more and more customers are opting for SYSVRA, which is why in just one year this Spanish company has systems in production on three continents and has experienced exponential growth.

Industry 4.0 SYSVRA is committed to progress in industry and technology hence why it is linked to the concept of Industry 4.0, offering its customers a solution to improve the performance and control of their production processes.

In addition, SYSVRA supports this technology of centralisation and globalisation of data, even more so in this health crisis, since it is very important

that all these production processes continue to help as much as possible to overcome this pandemic.

The products mentioned below have the option of being able to communicate with each other through a central PC. SYSVRA can communicate any of its equipment with each other whether they are in the same production line or not, thus allowing the following features: � Acquisition of production data at plant level and uploading them to the cloud. Centralisation of factory data in a single control station. � Shift and work order management. � Creation of production and consumption reports, helping to know the profitability of � your production process. � Knowledge of the state of the production lines to perform preventive maintenance. � Real-time data visualisation and remote access from anywhere in the world.

The main goals for all of SYSVRA’s inspection systems are to: Improve manufacturing productivity Thanks to its HOT END GFC system, this company ensures that the forming machine has less than 0.99% of rejection in the glass tube and manufacturers minimise the return of its customers due

to defects in the printed silkscreen.

And with its COLD END GSC system, manufacturers will be able to control with guarantees the screen printing, rings and OPCs printed on their bottles.

Easy to set up All systems developed by SYSVRA are focused on and easy configuration by the user, so that they can be configured in a matter of minutes by any operator.

This feature is increasingly in demand as it allows there is no stoppage in production due to the configuration of these systems.

All SYSVRA systems have production recipes so that the configuration of a specific ampoule format can be saved/ load in a matter of seconds.

Remote setup and support In times of Covid-19, the difficulty of traveling between countries has been so difficult that it slowed down the implementation of this type of systems in any industry.

SYSVRA has made a concerted effort to solve this problem, making it possible to install all its systems remotely thanks to a technical infrastructure that allows connectivity with SYSVRA technicians, achieving a fast installation and a quality after-sales service, a very important part of the company’s philosophy.

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Inspection

� The HOT END GFC system is installed on the forming machine.

� SYSVRA’s GDI system is installed on the forming machine and inspects

Complete range of inspection systems for glass ampoule manufacture The complete range of SYSVRA inspection systems are increasingly being equipped in new and existing production lines for the manufacture of glass containers.

SYSVRA’s HOT END GFC system is installed on the forming machine and it measures the dimensions of the bottle and at the same time it regulates the oxygen supply to the correction burners.

The glass tube from which the containers are made may vary in diameter along its entire length, or the heat input in the preheating zone may be insufficient causing additional rejections.

To compensate for these variations, the HOT END GFC system automatically manages oxygen injection into the correction burners in a precise manner.

The HOT END GFC system has a camera, which measures each part of the ampoule in each chuck (mouth, stem, bulb, neck, body and eccentricity) and depending on the measurement, the system automatically adjusts the oxygen level of the correction burners to get the corresponding measurement as close as possible to its nominal value, achieving a raw material rejection of less than 0.99%.

With this concept of regulation by oxygen supply and not in the position of the flame by means of pneumatic cylinders, a longer service life is achieved as there is no stress on the mechanical parts and a much more precise regulation in the manufacture of the ampoule.

Thanks to the graphical interface, operators can detect at a glance the chuck with production problems, allowing them to operate the machine quickly and accurately.

The system also has production histories by work shifts and by measurement, allowing to control the production performance and to know

� The GDI system can also be installed as an additional functionality on the HOT END GFC itself.

possible stops and anomalies during the shift.

The GDI system is installed on the forming machine and inspects defects in the glass tube, which may be damaged or defective from the factory.

It is equipped with a high-resolution camera and a backlight designed by SYSVRA engineers specifically for the inspection of glass defects.

The system inspects defects such as knots, air lines or scratches in the tube and rejects the defective glass bottles

automatically.

Thanks to the versatility of SYSVRA systems, it can be installed as an additional functionality on the HOT END GFC itself, having two systems in one or as a separate system having the forming machine fully equipped.

SYSVRA customers have already reduced batch rejections by end customers due to cosmetic defects to 0%.

The OPC system developed by SYSVRA is differentiating due to its backlight and camera layout, specifically designed for OPC inspection (point and pre-cut) on glass containers.

It is integrated in the line before the oven where the ampoule is lifted from the chain positioning the neck to perform the pre-cutting.

This ensures that (as long as the neck is within a tolerance of +/-0.5mm) the cut is always the same and the printing of the dot is performed in the same step, thus guaranteeing the alignment between the two.

A camera and backlight are installed after the OPC is performed.

Their main objective is to control that the state of the point and cut of the ampoule is optimal for its correct rupture.

The measurement of point and the pre-cut, stains and breaks as well as the alignment between both are inspected.

And finally the COLD END GSC system.

This system is installed in the packaging after the oven and inspects the printing, rings and OPC of the manufactured bottles.

Through an easy-to-set mechanical design, an optimal print image of the ampoule is achieved for validation.

Thanks to customer feedback, SYSVRA has ensured that this system can be set up in a matter of minutes when there is Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

defects in the glass tube.

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Inspection

� The OPC system is designed to inspect both the point and pre-cut of glass

� The COLD END GSC inspects the printing, rings and OPC of the

containers.

manufactured containers.

a format change in production (e.g. from 5ml to 10ml).

Each print is compared with a master print. In addition, the system includes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) inspection for thorough validation of batches, expiration dates, etc.

This OCR feature has been a breakthrough in the COLD END GSC system being one of the first companies to bring this functionality to the industry.

Due to the speed of container glass production (100 per minute) and the

difficulty of performing OCR technique in this type of printing, SYSVRA developed a proprietary algorithm to make this functionality a reality in this system.

Conclusion It is important to note that end customers increasingly rely on companies specialised in quality control systems for the acquisition of these systems, since they provide specific remote support for any anomaly.

SYSVRA has technicians who, in

addition to possessing expertise in machine vision control tools, have extensive experience in manufacturing processes in the glass industry.

These characteristics and the ease of adapting its systems to the customer’s needs mean that SYSVRA, a dynamic company that began its journey more than four years ago, has great expectations in the glass industry. �

https://www.sysvra.com/en/ Madrid, Spain

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History

Prof. John Parker

A year devoted to glass T

uesday 18th May 2021 is a date etched forever in our memories, it being the point in time when the United Nations approved a resolution promoting 2022 as a United Nations International Year of Glass.

This carefully crafted document was submitted by the Spanish Ambassador with 19 co-sponsoring countries.

Its originators were the International Commission on Glass (ICG), the Community of Glass Associations (CGA) and the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Glass (ICOM), who built on a concept from the US that we were living in a ‘Glass Age’.

Its aims were to underline the scientific, economic and cultural roles of glass throughout the world in the context of the UN 2030 goals and to celebrate multiple key anniversaries.

Glass supports many vital technologies, facilitates sustainability and a green world; it enriches our lives, yet so often goes unnoticed.

This exciting journey began in 2018. Along the way 1500 Universities and research centres, societies and associations, museums, artists, educators, manufacturers and supporting companies in 80 countries on five continents added their support.

Having successfully negotiated the disruption caused by a pandemic, a draft Resolution outlining our ambitions was created by the Missions of several UN countries during April, it passed the UN silent process on 11th May. Our heartfelt thanks go to the Spanish Mission, particularly the Spanish ambassador Agustín Santos Maraver and Ana Alonso, who guided this process through the difficult twists and turns of diplomacy in stressful times.

Our thanks also go to all who responded to our vision, especially the many experts and colleagues that collaborated to create splendid videos and documents justifying our project; they were always ready and

overflowing with ideas and support.

The task of stimulation, diffusion and coordination of thousands of activities across the planet now begins.

Congresses, scientific and technical seminars, industrial fairs and glass schools will coexist with artistic exhibitions, books and technical publications, articles in the press and social media, on the radio and TV. Event planning will rely on grass roots input and networks of volunteers; delegation is unavoidable. Individual efforts will be guided and supported by national and/or regional committees which are now being set up throughout the world. But start anyway!

Contact lists will shortly be published through our web site (IYOG2022.org).

This will also be used for inputting and accessing advice, sharing best practice and creating lists of planned activities, sortable by geography, date and type.

Among the activities already agreed are: the printing of dedicated issues of international journals; exhibitions in museums, public and private glass collections; and the preparation of educational materials for universal dissemination. For example, the Spanish Research Council, CSIC, is committed to publishing a celebratory book and organising exhibitions on: a) IYOG objectives related to the UN 2030 Agenda and b) creating a Circular Economy based on recycling and glass containers. English and Spanish versions of exhibition materials will be offered to all supporting countries with translation into other languages also possible.

Many international events are already confirmed. A two-day celebratory Opening Conference is planned in Geneva on 1011th February 2022. Several industrial fairs will focus on IYOG beginning with VITRUM (October 2021). First in 2022 will be Mumbai (March), followed by the great China Glass Expo (April), then glasstec in Düsseldorf (October) as well as

possibly Monterrey, Mexico in May. All will run satellite events to celebrate Glass.

The most important scientific event will be the ICG Congress in Berlin, marking the 100th anniversary of the DGG. A conference in Egypt will celebrate the centenary anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun.

A US Glass Day in Washington DC will focus on art and museums. The number of proposed activities grows daily.

National annual events are already being re-imagined to integrate IYOG celebrations. Our hope is that local groups will dream big dreams, consider new possibilities and then solidify their ideas of what they can organise, how they will be financed and advertised.

Centrally we are working on creating communication channels to share thoughts and examples of best practice, firstly via local committees, then an International Council and finally on into the public domain.

Another task is fundraising, particularly to finance the opening event in Geneva.

The IYOG web site will shortly have a tool for accepting smaller donations but if you are able to give more or wish to have your name attached to a specific event please contact the ICG treasurer directly through the same site. Similar fund-raising teams will also be needed to support local events.

IYOG2022 is a dream come true for so many in the Glass World, one we scarcely dared to anticipate.

We are preparing for the challenges ahead, limited only by our imaginations.

But now is the time for you too to act, dream you own dreams, create new contacts, imagine new possibilities, unravel hard problems, and help build a greener, more equal and transparent future. �

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

www.glass-international.com

Prof John Parker* and ICG President Prof Alicia Duran discuss how IYOG2022 came about and what happens next.

51 Glass International June 2021

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Don’t just look at it, look into it.

Tiama Xlab – the revolutionary 3D sampling solution Turn virtual reality into reality with the new Tiama Xlab.

This highly flexible laboratory module can be installed at the hot end, the cold end or in the laboratory. It loads the container automatically and makes a 3D scan, generating an image composed of millions of facets.

The 3D image can be rotated and “dissected” on all sides. Virtual volume, capacity, and vacuity can be measured as well as glass distribution fully mapped.

You can also analyse engraving, embossing and much more. Practically all container types and shapes can be inspected and it’s non-destructive because the image (and not the container itself) is “cut” virtually.

For an online presentation of the Tiama Xlab please contact us at marketing@tiama.com.

Data – the deciding factor