Glass

Introduction
Glass having no definite composition can be physically defined as a hard,
rigid, undercooled, brittle, non-crystalline substance having no definite melting
point and sufficiently high viscosity to prevent crystallisation. It is usually
transparent, but sometimes opaque or translucent. Chemically glass may be
defined as a fused mixture of silicates, alkali and alkaline earth compounds and
other constituents such as calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, tin oxide, barium
oxide and lead oxide.

The major ingredients of glass are sand, lime and soda ash, and any other
may be considered to be minor ingredient. Lime, silica and soda ash still form
over 90% of all the glasses of the world. Other ingredients, such as borax, boric
acid, potash, zinc oxide etc. are added to give certain other properties to glass.
So these are called minor ingredients. Glass is a completely vitrified product.

The most important characteristics of glass are hardness, transparency,

refractive and dispersive capacity, high electrical insulation and low thermal
conductivity, capacity of absorbing decorative colours without loss of
transparency, low cubical expansion and chemical inertness under ordinary
conditions.

Properties of glass
The important physical and chemical properties of glass are:

(1) Glass is usually transparent, amorphous and a completely vitrified product.

(2) When fused with excess of fusion mixture, it decomposes into alkali
silicates and carbonates of other metals.

(3) They are hard, rigid and have no definite melting point.

(4) They have sufficiently high viscosity (greater than 1013 poise).

(5) They are insulator of heat and electricity.

(6) They can incorporate colouring material, preserving transparency.

(7) They are not attacked by air and oxidising agents.

(8) Ordinary glass is attacked by alkali, but it is very resistant to acids, except
hydrofluoric acid. Glass is a silicate and HF reacts with it to form SiF 4 gas and
fluorides of metals.

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

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

(9) Ordinary glass is alkaline in reaction. Water slowly reacts on glass to form
NaOH. This reaction is enhanced in the presence of acids. If bottles containing
acids are kept for a long time, silicic acid has been found to be deposited on the
glass of the bottles.

Raw materials for manufacture of glass

The raw materials from which glass is made must contain glass forming
oxides such as acid, alkaline and alkaline-earth metal oxides and other oxides
which form the glass body such as quartz sand, boric acid, borax, soda ash,
sodium sulphate, caustic potash, limestone, magnesite, barite (BaSO4), kaolin
(Al2O3.2SiO2.2H2O), Litharge (PbO), zinc carbonate, feldspar and also crushed
glass and waste products of other processes e.g., blast furnace slag.

(a) Sand:

Quartz sand containing no or little iron oxide is used. Its iron contents should
not exceed 0.045% for table ware and 0.015 for optical glass, as iron affects
colour of most glasses very adversely. Silica content in sand required for the
table ware and optical glass should be at least 99.5%. The sand particles should
pass through 20 mesh sieve.

(b) Soda ash:

Na2O is principally supplied by anhydrous soda ash (Na2CO3) which is obtained

in the finely divided form. Other sources of Na2O are sodium bicarbonate, salt
cake and sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is useful in oxidising iron silicate to
less visible yellow ferric silicate and also helps in accelerating the melting.

(c) Calcium oxide:

Calcium oxide or lime (CaO) is supplied by lime from dolomite

(CaCO3MgCO3).
(d) Salt cake:

Salt cake and other sulphates, such as ammonium and barium sulphate are
frequently used in almost all types of glass. Such cake has been found to
remove the troublesome scum from tank furnaces.

(e) Feldspars:

Feldspars have the general formula R2O.Al2O3.6H2O, where R2O is either Na2O
or K2O or a mixture of both. They are used as sources of Na2O or K2O and
alumina, as they are cheap, pure, fusible and easily available. The alumina
content serves to decrease the melting point of the glass and to retard
devitrification.

(f) Borax:

It is used as a source of Na2O and B2O3. The latter increases the hardness or
refractory character of the glass. Glass containing B2O3 can withstand sudden
change of temperature. Besides its high fluxing power, borax not only lowers
the expansion coefficient, but also increases chemical durability.

(g) PbO:

It increases the refractive index of the glass. Lead also increases the electrical
resistance of the glass. Hence lead glass is used in the manufacture of brilliant
cut glass wares and also in making electrical light bulbs.

(h) K2O:

Nitrates of either sodium or potassium act to oxidise iron. K 2CO3 or KNO3 or

potash feldspar is used as a source of k2O which increases the softening and
mobile melting points of glass. KNO2 or K2CO3 is used for highest grades of
glass, such as tube decorative and optical glass.

(i) Phosphoric oxide:

P2O5 is seldom used as Na2HPO4 in the table ware glass for imparting bright
appearance. It is also added in the form of Meta phosphoric acid to special
optical glasses such as phosphate crowns.

(j) Magnesia:
It is the constituent of electric light bulbs, sheet glass, tubing for gauge glasses,
chemical glass wares, etc.

(k) Selenium:

It is used as decolourizer in small amount in some glasses. The purpose of

decolourizer is to destroy the unwanted colour centres.

(l) Cullet:

It is the crushed or broken glass from imperfect articles, trim or otherwise waste
glass. It facilitates the melting and is utilized as a waste in the batch materials
i.e., mixture of raw materials from which glass melt is produced. It may be as
low as 10% of the charge or as high as 80% and so decreases the cost of
production to a lesser or greater extent.

(m) Refractory materials:

Special refractory materials have been used in glass manufacture. They include
sintered zircon, alumina, mullite, chrome alumina, Zirconia-alumina, silica, etc.
In modern furnaces, regenerator utilises basic refractories because of the alkali
dust and vapours.

The raw materials discussed above can be classified into the following
groups:

(1) Fundamental materials: These are sources of acidic as well as basic oxides.
Examples are SiO2, B2O3, P2O5, Al2O3, CaO, MgO, PbO, BaO, ZnO, FeO,
Fe2O3, Na2O, K2O, Li2O, etc.

(2) Fluxes: Examples are KNO3, NaNO3, B2O3, As2O3, Sb2O3, Na2B4O7 (borax),
CaF2, (NH4)2SO4, etc.

(3) Colouring agents: Common colouring agents are copper oxide (CuO), cobalt
oxide (CoO), iron oxide (FeO), manganese dioxide (MnO2), gold chloride
(AuCl3), nickel oxide (NiO), carbon (C), sulphur (S), selenium (Se), etc.

Different shades brought about by different colouring agents are grouped as:

Red: CdO (1.4%), Se (1%)

Ruby red: Colloidal gold or ruby gold, Cu2O (copper ruby)

Light yellow: Cerium oxide (2%), TiO2 (2%)

Deep blue: CoO (0.1%)

Greenish blue: CuO

Emerald green: Cr2O3 (0.15%), CoO (0.001%)

Amber: FeS (0.3%)

Fluorescent greenish yellow: uranium oxide

Black: MnO2 + Fe2O3.

(4) Decolourisers: Examples are MnO2, As2O3, Sb2O3, NiO, CoO, Se metal, etc.

(5) Oxidising agents: NaNO3, KNO3, BaO2, Pb3O4, MnO2 are used as oxidising
agents. These are added to avoid oxidation of reducible oxides to the lower
stage of oxidation, by the action of furnace gases during batch melting
reactions.

(6) Opacifiers: Examples are cryolite (Na3AlF6), calcium phosphate

[Ca3(PO4)2], SnO2, As2O3, etc.

(7) Reducing agent s: Carbon as coal, coke or charcoal, zinc, aluminium and tin
oxide (SnO), etc. acts as reducing agents.

Chemical reactions involved

The basic part of the ingredients react with acidic part(i.e.SiO2) in the tank or
pot furnaces(in which batch materials are mixed and heated to form glass melt)
at high temperature to form silicates of the bases. In the borosilicate glass,
however, SiO2 is replaced by B2O3. CO2 and SO3are evolved during the
formation of glass. The various complex reactions may be summarised as under

Na2CO3 + xSiO2 Na2O . xSiO2 + CO2

CaCO3 + ySiO2 CaO . ySiO2 + CO2

Na2SO4 + zSiO2 Na2O . zSiO2 + CO2

The last reaction may proceed as follows;

Na2SO4 + C Na2SO3 + CO
 2Na2SO4 + C 2Na2SO3 + CO2

Na2SO3 + zSiO2 Na2O . zSiO2 + CO2

The ratios of Na2O/SiO2 or CaO/SiO2 are not molecular ratios. The ratio may be
of the type Na2O/ 1.8SiO2.

Manufacture of glass
The steps involved in the manufacture of glass are (a) formation of batch
material (b) melting (c) shaping or forming (d) annealing and (e) finishing.

(a) Formation of batch material

The lumps of ingredients such as limestone, burnt limestone, dolomite,

feldspar, etc. are crushed to coarse powder. Other ingredients such as quartz
sand, soda ash, etc. are also obtained in proper particle size. The requisite
quantities of different ingredients are separately weighed and then mixed
uniformly in the form of coarse powder. This mixture of powdered ingredients
is called batch material. The batch is now transferred either to the tank of a tank
furnace or to the pots in a pot furnace.

Batch materials for some typical glasses are (1) coloured bottle glass: sand,
soda, limestone and dolomite (2) window glass: sand, soda ash, salt cake,
limestone and coal (3) white glass: sand, red lead, soda ash, NaNO 2 and NaCl
(4) dark blue glass: sand, soda ash, lime spar and cobalt oxide (5) amber
coloured bottle glass: sand, soda ash, limestone, salt cake, coal or coke and
graphite (6) vegetable green glass: sand, soda ash, lime spar, potassium
chromate and arsenous oxide (7) chemical glass ware: sand, hydrated alumina,
lime spar, KNO3, soda ash, magnesia and calcined borax.

(b) Melting

Glass furnaces are of two types- pot furnace and tank furnace. The glass melt
is produced from the batch either in pot furnace or in tank furnace. Both
furnaces can be regenerative type or recuperative type. The purpose of
regeneration is to utilize the heat of waste gases for heating the incoming gas
and air used for burning. The regenerative furnace works in two cycles and has
two sets of check-work chambers, called regenerators.
 The purpose of recuperation is the utilization of sensible heat of waste gases
and as a result giving a higher temperature in the furnace. In recuperation,
however, the incoming gases flow only in one direction and too continuously.
The hot gases pass through one set of passages while going to stack and air
passes through adjacent passages and get preheated before entering the furnace.

Pot furnace:

In this type of furnace, the glass is melted in either closed open pots, placed
inside the combustion chamber of the furnace in a circle. A pot is a large
monkey shaped crucible made from high alumina fire clay, such as mullite
(3Al2O3.2SiO2). A pot is of about two tonnes capacity. The number of pots
generally varies from 6 to 20 except in the case of optical glass, where only one
pot is used. Pot furnaces are either rectangular or circular in shape. The furnace
is generally fired on the regenerative principle of economy, because this is the
most economical system and hence is most commonly used. Much heat is saved
by this regenerative principle and a higher temperature is achieved.

REGENERATIVE POT TYPE

The burnt gases from the furnace are allowed to pass through one set of
chambers sacked with open fire brick work, called regenerators, which become
highly heated as a result of hot burnt gases passing through them.
Simultaneously air is being preheated by passing up the other previously
regenerative chamber and is mixed with the fuel gas burned. The flow
directions of air and fuel are reversed at intervals of 20-30 minutes. The
incoming air and fuel gas are led through regenerators, while the burnt furnace
gases go to heat another check work, now considerably cooled in the previous
air gas run. The air rising through the regenerator is again preheated and the
flame passes through the furnace to an outgoing pot and completes the second
cycle after entering to another set of regenerators. In this manner, heat of the
burnt gases is utilized in heating up the incoming gas and air previous to
burning.

RECUPERATIVE POT TYPE

Pot furnaces are used for small production of special glasses or where it is
necessary to protect the melting batch from the products of combustion. Pot
furnace has widely been used in the manufacture of optical glass, art glass and
plate glass. In pot furnaces, the process is discontinuous and the shaping of the
articles from the glass melt is carried out at temperature somewhat lower than
the fusion. As the pots in the pot furnace can be stirred, a great uniformity, as is
required in optical glass, can be obtained.

Tank furnace:

In a tank furnace, batch materials are charged into one end of a large
rectangular tank built of refractory blocks. It also works on the regenerative
principle of heat economy and is heated by producer gas. Continuous furnace
tanks have been developed in recent year in which a layer of molten glass in
maintained by feeding the batch at the same rate as that at which it is withdrawn
from the other end. The glass forms a pool in the hearth of the furnace, across
which the flames play alternately from the side and the other.
 REGENERATIVE TANK TYPE
The batch is mixed with cullet and the pot or the tank is filled to the desired
height. The tank is heated to about 1400oC. At this temperature, the materials
melt and react to form molten glass. As the charge melts, test samples are drawn
from out from the tank or pot on an iron hook. When the melted mass is
transparent and free from bubbles of CO2 and SO2, it is said to be plain. The
tank gradually fills up with the molten glass. When the glass line level in the
furnace is reached, the process of heating is stopped and the furnace is allowed
to cool.

The process of charging, melting and drawing for shaping is continuously

carried out. At the refining end the melt becomes free from small bubbles of gas
called seeds. From the refining end, the melt passes to the drawing chamber
surrounded by working pits. The temperature in drawing chamber and working
pit is maintained at about 980oC. Sulphates which are not decomposed and
chlorides of calcium, alkali metals and aluminium, along with various other
impurities rise to the top in the form of a scum, called glass gall. The shaping is
done by drawing the melt from the working pits.

In tank furnaces, the process is continuous and they are used where the
output expected is large. Tank furnaces are therefore used in the manufacture of
sheet glass and bottle glass. In these furnaces, the charging of the batch and
withdrawal of the melted glass for shaping are continuous, and a higher
temperature is kept constant at the melting end than at the working end.

In regenerative tank furnace, the bottom of furnace consists of fire clay

bricks resting on steel joists supported on piers in order to provide free access to
air. The side walls are about 45 inches high and made of fire clay blocks. The
tank is divided into melting and working zones by a bridge wall with a hole,
called doghole in the middle, well below the glass surface. Gas and air for
combustion are preheated by passing through one set of regenerator chambers
and mix in the port and then move further to burn in the furnace above the glass.
The waste gases pass through the opposite port and heats up the other set of
regenerators and then goes to the chimney. One set of regenerators takes about
20-30 minutes for heating up and other sets of regenerators through which gas
and air pass for preheating, gets cooled. As a result, the direction of flame is
reversed and the sets of regenerators through which waste gases and air and gas
are passed get interchanged.

The recuperative tank furnaces are almost identical to regenerative tank

furnaces, except that instead of regeneration, recuperation principle is applied.

Advantages of regenerators

The advantages of a regenerator over a recuperating (counter-flowing) heat

exchanger is that it has a much higher surface area for a given volume, which
provides a reduced exchanger volume for a given energy density, effectiveness
and pressure drop. This makes a regenerator more economical in terms of
materials and manufacturing, compared to an equivalent recuperator.

The design of inlet and outlet headers used to distribute hot and cold fluids in
the matrix is much simpler in counter flow regenerators than recuperators. The
reason behind this is that both streams flow in different sections for a rotary
regenerator and one fluid enters and leaves one matrix at a time in a fixed-
matrix regenerator. Furthermore, flow sectors for hot and cold fluids in rotary
regenerators can be designed to optimize pressure drop in the fluids. The matrix
surfaces of regenerators also have self-cleaning characteristics, reducing fluid-
side fouling and corrosion. Finally properties such as small surface density and
counter-flow arrangement of regenerators make it ideal for gas-gas heat
exchange applications requiring effectiveness exceeding 85%. The heat transfer
coefficient is much lower for gases than for liquids, thus the enormous surface
area in a regenerator greatly increases heat transfer.

Disadvantages of regenerators

The major disadvantage of a regenerator is that there is always some mixing

of the fluid streams, and they cannot be completely separated. There is an
unavoidable carryover of a small fraction of one fluid stream into the other. In
the rotary regenerator, the carryover fluid is trapped inside the radial seal and in
the matrix, and in a fixed-matrix regenerator, the carryover fluid is the fluid that
remains in the void volume of the matrix. This small fraction will mix with the
other stream in the following half-cycle. Therefore, regenerators are only used
when it is acceptable for the two fluid streams to be mixed. Mixed flow is
common for gas-to-gas heat and/or energy transfer applications and less
common in liquid or phase-changing fluids since fluid contamination is often
prohibited with liquid flows.

The constant heating and cooling that takes place in regenerative heat
exchangers puts a lot of stress on the components of the heat exchanger, which
can cause cracking or breakdown of materials.

(c) Shaping or forming

The manufacturing of different types of glass wares from the molten glass is
called shaping or forming. Glass may be shaped either by hand moulding or by
machine. Before mechanisation of the shaping process, both blown wares and
sheet or plate glass were produced by manual labour, i.e., by blowing with the
air from the lungs. This process was known as manual process of hand
moulding.

A sheet glass or window glass is prepared by gathering a gob of glass on the

end of a blow pipe and blowing it into a cylinder. The top and bottom ends of
the cylinder are cut off and then allowed to stand vertically on a stand. The
cylinder is cut open by a sharp iron knife on the inner wall of the cylinder and
then touching the line with a cold rod. The hollow cylinder is flattened into a
sheet by splitting or opening the cylinder by heating in an oven.

The blown ware is produced by drawing a gob of glass melt at the end of a
long steel pipe. The melt is then partially blown and then allowed to rotate
against a steel slab. This half blown article is then kept in a hinged steel mould
and blown into final shape. Blown articles thus formed are then taken out of the
moulds and placed in annealing chamber for annealing the article.

This tedious process has now been entirely replaced by continuous

mechanical processes in which collection of glass, blowing of the article with
the help of the moulds, removal of the article from the moulds after final
shaping, etc. are all carried out continuously and automatically. Forcault process
and Colburn process have widely been used as mechanised processes for the
production of sheet or window glass.

Plate glass is a special type of sheet glass which is now manufactured by

continuous process in which the molten glass is allowed to pass through two
water cooled rollers made of steel. These rollers give to the glass a plastic
ribbon configuration. The ribbon of glass then passes into an annealing chamber
or lehr, where it is cooled from 590oC to 38oC at the exit. After annealing, the
ribbon may be cut into sheets for grinding and polishing.

(d) Annealing

If the articles manufactured above are cooled suddenly, glass being bad
conductor of heat, they develop great internal strain and are likely to crack or
break on heating or even on keeping for some time. They cannot withstand
change of temperature or shock. The internal strain is also caused due to the
lack of uniformity. In order to avoid this cause, all the articles should be kept
above the critical or annealing temperature for a sufficiently long time. Since
glass is an insulator, rapid cooling will cool the surface of the glass more
quickly than the internal portion, causing an internal strain. To avoid this, glass
must be cooled very slowly and this process of slow cooling which is used to
reduce strain is known as annealing. It is therefore necessary to anneal all types
of glass, whether formed by machine or hand mould methods.

For every type of glass, there is a definite annealing temperature, and if glass
is maintained as near this temperature as possible, strain is rapidly removed.
Annealing is usually carried out by passing the articles through several hot
chambers (lehrs) around the furnace, the temperatures of which are gradually
falling. Thus annealing makes the glass wares more durable and resistant to
shock and change of temperature. So annealing chamber is the chamber in
which glass ware is stacked, heated and cooled slowly by closing the chamber
from all sides.

(e) Finishing

All types of annealed glass require finishing. Finishing is usually carried out
by cleaning, washing, grinding, polishing, cutting, sand blasting, enamelling,
grading and gaging. Washing and cleaning are of course, applied to all kinds of
articles, although the methods of finishing are adopted according to the
requirements.
Special types of glasses
(1) Fused silica glass

Fused quartz or fused silica is glass consisting of silica in amorphous (non-

crystalline) form. It differs from traditional glasses in containing no other
ingredients, which are typically added to glass to lower the melt temperature.
Fused silica, therefore, has high working and melting temperatures. The optical
and thermal properties of fused quartz are superior to those of other types of
glass due to its purity. For these reasons, it finds use in situations such as
semiconductor fabrication and laboratory equipment. It has better ultraviolet
transmission than most other glasses, and so is used to make lenses and other
optics for the ultraviolet spectrum. Its low coefficient of thermal expansion also
makes it a useful material for precision mirror substrates. The most important
properties of fused silica glass are (a) lowest specific gravity (b) highest
softening point (c) low coefficient of cubical thermal expansion (d) Highest
annealing point (e) unusual chemical stability and (f) transparency to ultra violet
radiation. Because of its low thermal expansion, it is used for telescope mirrors.

(2) High silica glass

The high silica glass, called Vycor glass is similar to fused silica in some of
its properties. It contains about 96% SiO2 and 3% B2O3 and the rest alumina and
alkali. It can be prepared from borosilicate glass which on heating separates
silica as a separate layer. The latter, following an HCl treatment at 98 oC and a
second heat treatment furnishes a glass containing about 96% glass, known as
high silica glass.

The most important properties of high silica glass are (a) highest softening
point (b) high annealing point which is second after fused silica (c) high
chemical durability and extremely stable to all acids, except hydrofluoric acid
(d) lower specific gravity than any common glass, but higher than that of fused
silica glass (e) low thermal conductivity (f) transparency to nearly all ranges of
wavelength (g) great capacity to resist structural changes during sudden
temperature fluctuations.

Due to high durability and high heat resistance power, it is widely used in the
manufacture of laboratory wares such as condensers, crucibles, etc.

(3) Optical glass

 Optical glass includes only those glasses with high homogeneity and special
composition which have definite optical characteristics of such accuracy as to
permit their use in scientific instruments. Most important requirements of an
optical glass are (1) its composition should be according to the required optical
properties (2) the batch should produce glass of sufficiently low viscosity (3)
the glass should not devitrify even upon long annealing (4) it should produce
nearly a colourless product without the use of colouring material (5) it should be
free from bubbles (6) it should have advantageous grinding and polishing
properties (7) it should be capable of withstanding the action of atmosphere.

Optical or Crookes glass generally contain phosphorus and lead silicate with
little cerium oxide. Cerium oxide is capable of absorbing ultra violet light. In
general, optical glasses are relatively soft and have low melting points. The
important properties of optical glass are (a) low viscosity (b) absence of bubbles
(c) no devitrification on long annealing (d) capacity to sustain optical clarity.
Optical glass is used in making optical instruments as lenses of telescopes,
microscopes, etc.

(4) Borosilicate glass

This glass is an example of optical glass and contains about 13-28% of B2O3
and 80-87% silica. It has low expansion coefficients, superior resistance to
shock, high electrical resistance and high chemical stability. The composition of
typical borosilicate glass is SiO2 = 80.5%, B2O3 =13%, K2O = 3% and Na2O =
0.5%. A glass of low thermal coefficient of expansion and high chemical
resistance is obtained by boron and aluminium oxides. These glasses are used in
the manufacture of baking dishes, laboratory glass ware, pipelines, insulators
and washers.

(5) Lead glass

These glasses are obtained by mixing lead oxide, silica and alkali with lead
contents as high as 92%. The important properties of lead glass are (a) high
refractive index (b) low hardness (c) high dispersion power (d) high density.
The density of high lead glasses can be as high as 8.0. They are widely used in
optical work, because of their high index of refraction and high dispersion. They
are also used in the manufacture of electric bulbs, neon tubing and radiators,
because of high electric resistance of the glass.

(6) Opal glass

 Opal glass or translucent glass is clear when melted, but becomes opalescent
as the glass is shaped. This is probably due to the separation and suspension of
minute particles of NaF and CaF2 in the medium, which disperse the light
passing through them. These glasses are used for the transmission of specified
wavelengths and for table wares. The batch material for the manufacture of opal
glass consists of Na2CO3, CaO, MgO, ZnO, CaF2, SiO2 and KAlSi3O8. The
proportion of different materials differs in different samples.

(7) Safety glass

There are two main classes of safety glasses, laminated and tempered or
strengthened glass. The laminated glass may be prepared by placing a non-
brittle plastic sheet between two thin plate glass sheets. The three sheets are
pressed together under moderate heat to seal the edges. They are then heated
under pressure in an autoclave to bring the plastic sheets in absolute contact
with the glass sheet. Ultimately the three sheets are made into one single sheet.
The edges of the sandwich may be sealed with a water resistant material. The
plastic used for this purpose are proxylin or cellulose acetate, polyvinyl acetate
and polyvinyl butyracetal. The later has widely been used and has a capacity to
elongate 300%.

The tempered glass is very strong and tough, and possesses high internal
stresses. The already formed glass vessel or sheet to be strengthened by
tempering or annealing is heated to 800oF, just below its softening point, and
then quenched in air or molten salt, or oil. The quenching produces a hard
surface, which resists bending and shattering forces. Such type of glass is used
for doors and windows of automobiles and for pipes. A third type of safety glass
is produced as sheet glass by incorporating a steel wire net in the molten glass
prior to formation of the sheet.

(8) Fibre glass

Fibre glass is nothing but molten glass processed mechanically to a flexible

thread of filament. A hot platinum nozzle filled with molten glass forces out the
fluid in the form of a thin continuous thread which when caught by a rapidly
moving disc gets converted into fibre through elongation and twist given by the
disc. Glass fibre, known as staple fibre, is not brittle, but possesses high tensile
strength. Fabrics made of glass fibre are bad conductors of heat and electricity
and are non-inflammable. Hence articles made of fibre glass are fire proof.
(9) Glass wool

Glass wool is obtained by the action of steam jets on dripping streams of

molten glass down from small holes. The glass wool (which consists of
innumerable tiny fine fibres) formed in this manner is carried away by a
conveyor belt on which it is hurled. So it is fibrous wool like material composed
of intermingled fine threads of filaments of glass and has a number of important
properties. For example, (a) it is non-combustible (b) it is fire proof (c) it has
low electrical conductivity (d) it is heat proof (e) it does not absorb moisture or
water (f) It is chemically resistant to a number of chemicals (g) it has a low
density (h) it has low thermal conductivity (i) it has high tensile strength (about
8 times that of the steel).

(10) Pyrex glass

This glass is a mixture of sodium aluminium borosilicates, representing a

type known as hard glass. It is used in the manufacture of costly and high
temperature laboratory equipment, thermometers, etc.

(11) Photosensitive glass

This is high alumina soda lime glass which is sensitive in the ultra violet
region. It can reproduce the object in live natural colours from an ordinary black
and white negative, recorded in the visible region. The positive on the glass is
developed by thermal treatment only at 540-550oC. The desired photo activity
in U.V. region can be obtained by admixture of high alumina soda lime glass
with small amounts of Cu2O, NaCN, SnO2 and abeitic acid in appropriate
amounts. A blue colour is promoted by NaCN in absence of tin oxide. In
presence of tin oxide, an impression in red is observed. By manipulating the
ingredients in glass, brown and yellow images can also be possible. A potash-
alum glass, mixed with LiSiO3, cerium and silver salts in appropriate
proportions have also been used as photosensitive glass.

(12) Photochromic glass

Such glasses have a large number of microscopic particles of silver halides

trapped in the three dimensional silicate networks in fixed concentration. On
exposure to light, temporary colour centres consisting of silver particles are
produced and these add up quickly producing darkness. The intensity of the
darkness depends upon the concentration of silver. Because reversible
darkening is controlled by the radiations in the ultra violet region, quite
abundant in day light, the photo blackening does not occur markedly in the lamp
light in the night.

(13) Insulating glass

It is transparent glass that can be prepared by two more plates of glass

separated by 6-13 mm thick gap, filled with dehydrated air and then sealing
around the edges. Insulating glass provides high insulation against heat and so
used as a thermal insulating material.

(14) Rare earth glass

It is found that unusual colours and characteristics are developed when some
rare earth oxides are mixed with glass. For example, Alexandrite, heliolyte and
royalite known as moser glass contain 4-5% Nd2O3, small amounts of Nd2O3
and PrO3 and small amounts of Nd2O3 and Se respectively and have unique
capacity of displaying two different colours at two different thickness ( in the
same wavelength region) or at two different wavelength regions ( in the same
thickness). For example, heliolyte glass (5% Nd2O3 + 5% PrO3) is olive green in
thin layers but brown red in thick layers. Alexandrite (4-5% Nd2O3) is bluish
purple in day light and brilliant red in lamp light. The neodymium glasses have
recently been used in the study of lasers.

(15) Vitreosil glass

It is prepared by heating pure sand (SiO2) to its melting point (above

1750oC). It cannot be shaped easily, because of high viscosity of the glass and it
also contains some bubbles because of the absence of any flux in its preparation.
The final product is translucent and its thermal expansion is lowest. If vitreosil
glass is heated for a long time above its melting point, finally a transparent
glass, known as clear silica glass is obtained. This glass is used mainly for
wares for chemical plants, for chemical laboratory wares and for electrical
insulating materials in electrical heaters and furnaces.

(16) Jena glass

It is a mixture of zinc and barium borosilicate and is used in making

laboratory glass ware.