Production facilities in glass industry are capital intensive and require long investment cycles, while market and energy price have become volatile. Depending on market, glass producers are now facing complex choices in energy sources: using current fossil fuel as natural gas, oxy-gas, hydrogen and completing it by electrical boosting before going to full electric furnaces.

A side effect of reducing GHG emissions by electrical boosting, is the higher corrosion rate of material in contact with glass, especially in melting bath areas. Exposed to these trends, all glass industry (container, flat, specialty, insulation, reinforcement, and display) is adapting its industrial strategy to use their current furnaces in the best way and is considering which furnace technology will be used for the next two decades.

This is why SEFPRO CARE has developed and propose complete repair solutions to perform hot & cold repairs for any glass market, providing flexibility, reliability in management of industrial asset as are glass furnaces.

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of possibilities offered for hot and cold repairs, using shaped or unshaped products, which are illustrated with two feedbacks from repair work done on regenerator chamber and container glass furnace.

With hot end sensing and robotics new possibilities for glass making are within reach. In addition, with Data Science and AI more new opportunities are unlocked. XPAR Vision continues to invest in these technologies.

During the presentation learnings will be shared and examples given. Based on these learnings it is concluded that combining AI and data driven KPI’s allow for setting new standards for glass manufacturing, defined by actionable data leading to improved forming process control and optimization. As such allowing for future-proofing glass making.

Batch and cullet melting represent the initial stages of the glass melting process. The stability of this process, influenced by factors such as pull, cullet level, glass color, raw material variations, rheological behavior, and the batch charger, is crucial for ensuring optimal glass quality in gas-fired furnaces. The potential instability necessitates continuous 24-hour monitoring and potential corrective control to minimize quality issues. Additionally, the increasing electric boosting levels resulting from the decarbonization process have the capacity to alter glass convection loops, displacing batch downstream in the process.

In cold top melting furnaces, the thickness of the batch plays a pivotal role in insulating the hot glass melt and minimizing heat loss. However, variations in pull and cullet can significantly impact batch thickness. Until now, there has been a lack of systems capable of measuring the actual batch thickness or height and incorporating this parameter into automatic model-based predictive furnace control.

This paper will present the latest developments and results for both gas-fired and cold top electric melters.

Glassmakers need sustainable solutions that reduce emissions, while upholding glass quality. Several technologies exist in the market at varying levels of readiness for decarbonization, but some are suitable for production than others. Hybrid melting is the most reliable solution to decarbonize glass making while still allowing for flexible production. It ensures that glassmakers can adapt to local energy market conditions and different business case situations over their equipment’s lifetime. This paper will present an analysis of Fives’ hybrid melting technology. It will also examine the impact of Fives’ revolutionary heat recovery and air preheating system to create further efficiency gains.

Artificial Intelligence is present in our everyday life. But what are the main benefits of AI in industry for real needs of glassmakers? Thanks to the standardization of communication protocols on a production line, the interoperability of robots allows an exchange of information. Thanks to deep learning techniques in intelligent inspection robots, it is now possible to anticipate production trends in addition to an accurate detection and categorization of defects. IRIS intelligent solutions can thus increase productivity by highly accurate defect identification, managing the settings optimization and integrating the production trends prediction. Decreasing the dependence on human factor is a key goal of IRIS AI-based strategic developments.

- energy saving and cost down through layout plan, building structure and construction, proper means of conveying
- valid solutions for conveying, storage, weighing, mixing and de-dusting, combined with robust equipment to reach stability and reliability
- visual production, automation and artificial intelligence

The glass industry is undergoing significant transformations to align with global sustainability goals, particularly in reducing the energy consumption and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

This presentation examines the latest advancements in glass melting technology that meet these sustainability requirements. Key focus areas include the evolution of common furnace types with a shift towards to eco-friendly end fired furnaces, hybrid furnaces and super-hybrid furnaces.

These furnaces types demonstrate improved thermal efficiency and reduced emissions.

Additionally the implementation of hydrogen firing as alternative combustion medium will be explained.

These advancements meet today's environmental demands and secure a sustainable future for the glass industry.