subject: Glass Melting Technology [print this page] A new industrial glass melting technology has been developed by Gyrotron Technology Inc. that is free from the problems of common glass melting processes using large melting tanks. The traditional melting process of the glass making ceramics is very long because this mix contains high temperature components such as SiO2 (melting point over 1,600C or 2,900F), Al2O3 (melting point over 2,000C or 3,600F), and others. Melting them is not easy. The low temperature components such as lead, borax, arsenic, alkaline, etc (flux) as well as the air trapped in the original batch creates gases during the melting process that need to be removed. This is also not an easy task to do in viscous fluid.
The new glass melting technology based on the possibility of the gyrotron beam to melt (batch) ceramics powder rapidly. In the technology continuously flowing glass making ceramics melts direct in its way to the melting furnace and/or inside of it. This opens the possibilities for designing small melting glass tanks. They can be made for any small capacity. Elimination of large glass tanks saves energy, space, and time, while simplifying tool changes and realignment of the production line.
There is also the possibility to make glass products without using a tank at all but by melting the batch direct in the forming tool. For example, the raw glass making material for borosilicate, soda-lime, and other kind of glass can be rapidly melted using the glass melting technology direct in the tube and rod forming machine. Another advantage of the glass melting technology is that the material being heated does not come into contact with the electrical, gas or fuel sources; e.g., electrodes, gas, oxygen, crude oil and so forth.
The new glass melting technology is also able to pre-sinter and refine very fast small portion of the ceramics (pellets, beads, etc) that makes it easier to further their melting in existing glass melting tanks. Because the melting point is not an issue for the gyrotron beam it can also pre-melt said pellets or beads in a vacuum or at normal pressure. The productivity of the production of such pre-sinter and pre-melt pellets can be very high and the production cost will be acceptable keeping in mind that using such pellets in current glass production furnaces will significantly reduce the temperature and production time.
The high power density of the gyrotron beam and its ability to heat volumetrically is used in the new glass melting technology for melting glass tubes (pharmaceutical and scientific glass) in a fraction of a second without significantly heating the whole part. This allows to manufacture a vial virtually without the sodium leaching contamination associated with conventional production methods.
Many industries can benefit by using the new glass melting technology. For more information about glass melting technology please visit .www.gyrotrontech.com
