Introduction to the production process of glass bottles

How is glass produced? This question may be simple for experts, but it may still be interesting to ordinary consumers. Today, Sinbottle will give you a detailed introduction to the glass production process including: ingredients , Melting, forming, annealing and other processes. They are introduced as follows:

1. Ingredients, according to the designed material list, weigh the various raw materials and mix them evenly in a mixer. The main raw materials of glass are: quartz sand, limestone, feldspar, soda ash, boric acid and so on.
   

2. For melting, the prepared raw materials are heated at high temperature to form a uniform and bubble-free glass liquid. This is a very complicated physical and chemical reaction process. The melting of the glass takes place in the furnace. There are two main types of melting furnaces: one is a crucible furnace, where the glass frit is contained in the crucible and heated outside the crucible. The small crucible kiln only contains one crucible, and the large one can have as many as 20 crucibles. Crucible kiln is produced in gap type, and now only optical glass and color glass are produced in crucible kiln. The other is a tank kiln, where the glass frit is melted in the kiln, and an open flame is heated on the upper part of the glass surface. The melting temperature of glass is generally 1300~1600 degrees Celsius. Most of them are heated by flames, and a few are heated by electric current, which are called electric melting furnaces. Now, tank kilns are produced continuously. Small tank kilns are about a few meters long and large ones are more than 400 meters long.

3. Forming is to transform the molten glass into a solid product with a fixed shape. Forming must be carried out within a certain temperature range. This is a cooling process. The glass first changes from a viscous liquid state to a plastic state, and then into a brittle solid state. The forming method can be divided into two categories: artificial forming and mechanical forming.

   A. Artificial forming. Also:
   (1) Blowing, using a nickel-chromium alloy blow tube to pick and blow the glass in the mold while turning it. Mainly used to form glass bubbles, bottles, balls (for scoring glasses), etc.
   (2) Drawing, after blowing into small bubbles, another worker sticks it with the top plate, and the two blowing and pulling are mainly used to make glass tubes or rods.
   (3) Press, pick a group of glass, cut it with scissors to make it fall into the concave mold, and then press with a punch. Mainly used to form cups: plates, etc.
   (4) Free forming. After picking the material, use pliers, scissors, tweezers and other tools to directly make crafts.
   
   B. Mechanical forming. Because of the high labor intensity, high temperature and poor conditions of artificial forming, most of them have been replaced by mechanical forming except for free forming. In addition to pressing, blowing, and drawing, mechanical forming also includes:
   (1) The calendering method is used to produce thick flat glass, cut glass, and metal wire glass.
   (2) Casting method to produce optical glass.
   (3) Centrifugal casting method is used to manufacture large diameter glass tubes, utensils and large-capacity reaction pots. This is to inject the glass melt into a high-speed rotating mold. The centrifugal force makes the glass adhere to the mold wall, and the rotation continues until the glass hardens.
   
   (4) Sintering method, used to produce foam glass. It adds foaming agent to glass powder and heats it in a metal mold with a lid. During the heating process, the glass forms many closed bubbles. This is a very good heat insulation and sound insulation material. In addition, the forming of flat glass includes vertical pull method, flat drawing method and float method. Float method is a method for making glass flow float on the surface of molten metal (tin) to form flat glass. Its main advantages are high glass quality (flat and smooth), fast drawing speed and large output.

4. Annealing, the glass undergoes drastic temperature changes and shape changes during the forming process, and this change leaves thermal stress in the glass. Such thermal stress will reduce the strength and thermal stability of the glass product. If it is directly cooled, it is likely to rupture by itself during the cooling process or later during storage, transportation and use (commonly known as the cold explosion of glass). In order to eliminate the phenomenon of cold burst, the glass product must be annealed after being formed. Annealing is to keep the temperature in a certain temperature range or slowly cool down for a period of time to eliminate or reduce the thermal stress in the glass to the allowable value.

In addition, some glass products can be stiffened in order to increase their strength. Including: physical rigidization (quenching), used for thicker glasses, desktop glass, car windshields, etc.; and chemical rigidization (ion exchange), used for watch cover glass, aviation glass, etc. The principle of stiffening is to generate compressive stress on the surface of the glass to increase its strength.