Glass

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 Glass

 Raw Materials
 Classification
 Manufacturing process
 Applications of glasses in Chemical industries

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 Definition

Physically glass may be defined as a hard, brittle, undercooled,

non-crystalline substances having no definite melting point and
sufficiently high viscosity to prevent crystallization.

Chemically glass may be defined as a fused mixture of silicates,

alkali and alkaline earth compounds and other glass
constituents such as calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, barium
oxide, Lead oxide etc.

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 Physical Properties of Glass

 They are usually transparent, amorphous solid

 Hard, brittle and have no definite melting point
 Sufficiently high viscous
 insulator of heat and electricity
 They can incorporate coloring materials, preserving
transparency.

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 Chemical Properties of Glass

 Glass is not attacked by air and oxidizing agents.

 Ordinary glass is readily attacked by alkalies and form metal
silicate.
SiO2 (s) + 2NaOH(aq) Na2SiO3 (aq) + H2O (l)

 Usually glass not reacts with acids, except hydrofluoric acid.

Na2O.SiO2+ 6 HF 2 NaF + SiF4+ 3 H2O

CaO. SiO2+ 6 HF CaF2 + SiF4 + 3 H2O

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 Raw Materials

Major ingredients:
i. Sand (SiO2)
ii. Limestone (CaCO3) or Lime (CaO)
iii. Soda ash (Na2CO3)
Minor ingredients:
i. Potash (K2CO3)
ii. Borax (Na2B4O7 .10 H2O)
iii. Boric acid (H3BO3)
iv. Different types of metal oxides (MxOy) etc.

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 Manufacturing Process of Glass

1. Melting
2. Forming and shaping
3. Annealing
4. Finishing

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 Glass Manufacturing Process

Secondary components
e.g. Potash (K2CO3),
Boric acid (H3BO3) etc.

1. Sand (SiO2) Annealing

3 primary Shaping Finishing
Tank
2. Limestone (CaCO3) components molten glass glass
Furnace
mixture glass materials materials
3. Soda ash (Na2CO3)

Cullet Pieces

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 Explanation of Manufacturing Process of Glass

1. Melting in Furnace :
In a tank furnace, the primary raw materials (e.g. silica, soda ash,
limestone), cullet and other secondary components as desired
mixed for heated at high temperature. The mixture become
transparent liquid glass at 1450-1500o C.
1450o C
Na2CO3 + CaCO3+ 6 SiO2 Na2O.CaO.6 SiO2 +H2O

2. Shaping of Molten Glass:

In factory, the shaping of molten glass into bottles or sheets or useable
material is done by the automatic machinery.
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 Explanation of Manufacturing Process of Glass

3. Annealing:
When the glass materials prepared above melting point then that
cooled slowly because glass being a bad conductor of heat. If the
cool done suddenly then the glass material developed great
internal strain and likely to crack. The process of slow cooling
of prepared glass materials is known as annealing of glass.

4. Finishing:
After annealing, the glass materials are made polished by rolling-
polishing mechanism and then sent to market.

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Functions of various important components of glass

1. Sand or Silica (SiO2):

It is major component of all types of glass. It is fuses at high
temperature with other ingredients and give desired shape.
Silica glass transmits 92% of the radiation in the wavelength of
visible region. For this reason it can use different purpose.

2. Soda ash (Na2CO3):

Soda ash plays a vital role by reducing the furnace temperature
necessary to melt the silica used, thus reducing the energy
required to produce glass.

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Functions of various important components of glass

3. Limestone (CaCO3):
It gives the durability and hardness of glass.

4. Cullet:
It is broken glass, which helps to lower the melting point of charge as
flux and increases production, saving wastage.

5. Potash (K2CO3):
It gives hardness and fire resisting properties of glass.

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Functions of various important components of glass

6.Borax (Na2B4O7 .10 H2O):

It gives hardness or refractory character of glass.

7.Boric acid (H3BO3):

To produce glass with a better chemical and high temperature
resistance, boric acid is applied on glass products.

8. Transitional Metal Oxide ((MxOy):

To prepare colored glass, one or more transition metals such FeO,
Cu2O, Fe2O3, Cr2O3 etc. are mixed with primary components.

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 Classification of Glass

Soft Glass / Common Glass/ Soda Glass:

This type of glass contains sodium and calcium silicates. Glass tube,
common glass material like different bottles are made of soft glass.

Hard Glass/ Potash Glass:

Hard glass melt at high temperature on heating. This type of glass contains
potassium and calcium silicates. Burette, pipette, beaker and hard glass
apparatus are made of potash glass.
 Classification of Glass

Lead Glass/ Optical glass:

Optical glass is very transparent. This type of glass contains sodium,

potassium and lead silicates. Optical glass is used for electric bulbs,
optical instruments preparation etc.

Pyrex Glass / Boro Silicate Glass:

Pyrex glass contains zinc-barium boro silicate as additional silicates.

This type of glass is used for laboratory equipment
 Classification of Glass

Fibre Glass:

Fibre glass is a boro silicate type. It is used to make ceiling glass

materials and woolen clothes.

Colored Glass:

Different colored glasses are prepared by mixing one or more transitional

metals such FeO, Fe2O3, Cu2O, Cr2O3 etc. with primary components. It is
used in decorative work.
 Classification of Glass

Opal Glass / Semi-transparent Glass:

Opal glass contains sodium, calcium, zinc silicate

and calcium fluoride. It is used to prepare shade of
lamp.

Soluble Glass:

It is that type of glass which is soluble in water. It is

prepared by melting a mixture of silica and sodium
sulphate or potassium carbonate. The soluble glass
is used for mixing with cement to make it resistant
to the acids.
 Classification of Glass

Laminated safety Glass:

This type of glass is made by two hard glass sheets is attached a

thin transparent sheet (of butyral ethtylene-vinyl plastic) as passed
and fused at high temperature and pressure. It is used for car
windows and as safety glass.

Bullet-Proof Glass:

This type of glass is made by pasting a number of sheets of

laminated glass. Bullet-Proof glass is used in private cars embassy
building and different important buildings as doors and windows for
safety.
Classification of Glass
Etching of Glass
 Etching of Glass

A thin layer of molten wax is given on a glass sheet and then with a
fine metal pen, a picture, any design or any writing is engraved on it. If
hydrofluoric acid ( HF ) is poured on engraved parts, HF reacts with
silica (SiO2) producing soluble compound ( hydroflouro silicic acid-
H2SiF6). As a result, previous drawn design is engraved on glass plate.
Later remaining wax is removed and washed with water. This types of
drawing design on glass is called etching of glass.

Na2O.SiO2+ 6 HF SiF4+ 2 NaF + 3 H2O

SiF4+ 2 HF H2SiF6
 Glass Recycling

Glass is a 100% recyclable material. Glass recycling is done by 3

steps:

I. Old glass materials are collected and classified into colored

based group.

II. Old glass are washed with water and dried up in open air and
then broken into small pieces by grinding machines.

III. Then broken glass pieces are mixed fresh raw glass materials
and melt in a furnace. The melted glass is used to prepare
different glass ware.