Glass

 physically described as a hard, brittle, transparent, non-crystalline solid having no definite

melting point

 considered as a highly viscous (prevent crystallization) super cooled vitrified liquid, which
is not attacked by organic and inorganic substances, solutions of salts, acids (except HF),
oxidizing agents, reducing agents and many others

 with respect to chemical composition glass may be defined as a fused mixture of some
nonvolatile inorganic oxides resulting from the high temperature decomposition of some
alkali and alkaline earth compounds (such as Na2CO3, CaO, Na2SO4 etc.) along with some
acidic oxides like SiO2, B2O3 etc.
Properties of glass physical properties:
1) amorphous solids with high viscosity
2) "vitrified" liquid
(a) Physical properties: 3) no definite MP
4) non-conductor
(i) Glasses are usually transparent amorphous solids. 5) can have pigments and still be transparent

(ii) These are completely vitrified product.

CHEMICAL properties:
1) Inert, oxidizing agents (eg air) don't attack
(iii) They are hard and rigid and have no definite melting point.don't attack except HF:
2) acids
Na2O.SiO2 + 6HF = 2NaF + SiF4 + 3H2O
(iv) They possess very high viscosity ( ~1013 poise) CaO.SiO2 + 6HF = CaF2 + SiF4 + 3H2O
3) alkalis readily attack
(v) They are non-conductor of heat and electricity. 4) can react slowly w water, which can be
accelerated by an acidic environment &
produce NaOH & Silicic acid
(vi) They can incorporate pigments without losing their transparency.
Na2O + H2O --> NaOH
Na2O + H+ --> Na+ + H2O
SiO2 + H2O -> Si(OH)4
(b) Chemical properties

(i) Glass is very inert. Air and oxidizing agents do not attack glass. It does not react with acids except
hydrofluoric acid.
RAW MATERIALS:
(ii) Glass reacts with HF and produces SiF4 and fluorides of metals.
1) SiO2
2) R2O (Na2O/K2O etc)
Na20.Si02 + 6HF = 2NaF + SiF4 + 3H20
3) MO (CaO/Al2O3 etc)
commercially expressed as
Ca20.Si02 + 6HF = CaF2 + SiF4 + 3H20
xR2O.yMO.SiO2
(iii) Ordinary glass is readily attacked by alkalis.

(iv) Ordinary glass is slowly reacts with water to form NaOH. This reaction is enhanced in the presence of
acids. Thus if bottles containing acids are kept for a long time, silicic acid has been found to deposit on
the glass of the bottles.
Raw materials

There are varieties of glasses and for different glasses there are hundreds of new formulations. But it is
worthy to point out that in all these glasses lime, silica and soda are preferably present as the major
ingredients.

The major ingredients are

(a) silica, (b) lime and (c) soda

Other ingredients present in glass are considered as minor ingredients. Commercially used glass is
represented as xR2O, yMO, SiO2.

where, R stands for monovalent alkali metal like Na, K etc., M stands for an atom of bivalent metal like Ca, Pb, Zn etc.

The approximate composition of ordinary glass called soda lime glass is Na2O.CaO.6SiO2 . In some cases
CaO of common glass is replaced by Al2O3, B2O3, P2O5 etc. thereby produce glass of some special
properties. Thus the main ingredients of glasses are:

(a) SiO2, (b) Na2O/ K2O, (c) CaO / Bi2O3 / Al2O3 etc.
1. Glass formers

The raw materials that are used essentially and extensively in the manufacture of glass are known as
glass forming agents or glass formers.

Chemically glass is a mixed fused oxide. Therefore, the glass forming agents are mainly oxides. The
examples are silicon dioxide or silica, magnesium oxide, boron oxide, aluminium oxide, calcium oxide etc.

Commonly used glass such as bottle glass, window glass, and ordinary drinking water glass contains 70-
75% silica as glass former.

2. Fluxes

Pure silica has a very high melting point. Hence to melt silica at a lower temperature modifiers are
necessary. The substances that are used along with glass formers to melt the glass forming agents at a
relatively low temperature are called fluxes. Borax, feldspar are usually used to lower the melting
temperature of silica. In ordinary glass 12-17% fluxes and in borosilicate glass (used for making
laboratory apparatus) 4-10% fluxes are used.
3. Stabilizers

To stabilize the characteristic properties of glass, the substances that are used along with glass formers
and fluxes are called stabilizers. Glass forming oxides usually melt at a very high temperature. When
liquids from such a high temperature are cooled down to room temperature, they usually form thick
liquids and could not achieve the characteristic properties of glass. In some cases they form crystals at
low temperature. In most cases they form brittle glass. Using stabilizers these problems may be avoided
and good quality of glass can be obtained. Like glass forming agents these are also oxides of some
metals e.g. alumina (Al2O3), calcium oxide (CaO), magnesia (MgO) etc.

4. Refining agents: Since glass is a very high viscous liquid, in most cases small gaseous bubbles are
trapped into the liquid batch. This produces defects in the finished glass. In order to remove these gas
bubbles from the molten glass batch some chemicals are used, These are known as refining agents.
These include:

(a) Na2SO4, (b) NaNO3, (c)NaCl, (d) As2O3, (e) CaF2 etc.

They produce gas bubbles, increasing bubbles’ volume and facilitating ascension.
 5. Opalizing agents: These are the materials, which allow the mixture of raw materials of glass to be melted
in the normal way and permit the separation of fine crystals or droplets in the glass during manufacturing.
This produces an opalescent appearance to the finished glass. Calcium fluoride and calcium phosphate
are the two common examples of opacifier. Tin oxide, cryolite (Na3A1F6), CoO etc. are also used as
opacifier.

6. Colouring agents
Glasses obtained from pure sand (SiO2), lime and soda is clourless and transparent. But for some special
uses particularly for decorative purposes coloured glass is required. So, to manufacture coloured glass
colouring agents are added along with major and minor ingredients. The commonly used colouring agents
are:
(a) Copper oxide (CuO), (b) cobalt oxide (CoO), (c) iron oxide (Fe2O3), (d) manganese oxide (MnO2), (e)
gold chloride (AuCl3), (f) nickel oxide (NiO), (g) carbon, (h) sulphur etc.
1) Formers: Soda ash + Limestone + Sand + Cullets
2) Fluxes: reduce MP (borax, feldspar)
3) Stabilizing agents: prevent crystal formations when cooling (CaO/MgO/Al2O3) CULLETS: broken glass
4) Refining agents: remove gas bubbled in molten glass (Na2SO4/NaCl) pieces for recycling as new
5) Opalizing/Opacifying agents: provides milky appearance (CaF2/Ca3(PO4)2) glass after decolorizing
6) Coloring agents: carbon, sulfer, transition metal oxides etc
7) Decolorizing agents: MnO2, As2O3, Sb2O3 [MnO2 is also colorizing agent]
7. Cullet or broken glass: The rejected articles and broken glass are crushed and recycled as the raw
materials. This is known as cullet. Cullet reduces the manufacturing cost of glasses as well as it takes
active part in easy melting of raw materials of glass. However, the broken glass may have different colours.
Therefore, broken glass may impart undesirable colour to the product. Undesirable colour may also be
produced due to the presence of impurities in the raw materials. Thus in the manufacturing process
decolourizing agents such as selenium, MnO2, As2O3, Sb2O3 etc. are used to remove the undesirable colour
of glass.
Manufacturing process

The over all manufacturing process of glass can be split up into six steps:

(i) Primary preparation of raw materials

Primary prep of raw:
(ii) Formation of batch material 1) Washing:
1.1) w water to remove dirt, gravel etc
(iii) Melting 1.2) "oil froth floatation" to remove hydrophobics
2) bio-product separation: by hand or using sieves
(iv) Shaping 3) crushing
4) magnetic separation: see fig
5) chemical separation: suitable solvent for extraction
(v) Annealing and (eg Fe-compounds are removed with H2SO4 soln:
forms FeSO4 which can be washed w water)
(vi) Finishing

BATCH MATERIAL: uniform mixture of the raw materials

in definite proportions
Primary preparation of raw materials

The first and primary condition of glass manufacturing process is the purity of raw materials. However,
most of raw materials obtained from nature are ores and minerals. In most cases they contain lot of
external (such as fibre, torn cloth, leaf, saw dust, ash, soil etc.) and internal (such as iron, other magnetic
materials etc.) impurities. These impurities should be removed from the raw materials before sending
them for the batch mixing. The following steps are usually followed to remove the impurities from the
raw materials.

(a) Washing

As the raw materials contain soil, dust, waste materials from different sources, sweepings etc., the water
soluble impurities are removed by washing with water. The water insoluble impurities such as gravels,
grits, and small stones of different specific gravities are separated by flowing water. The water insoluble
impurities, which are lighter than water, are separated during water washing by floatation process. Oil
froth floatation process (removal of hydrophobic materials from hydrophilic) is also used to separate the
impurities from the raw materials.
(b) Separation of bio-products

Sand and other raw materials are found in nature in admixture with relatively bigger size bio-products
such as jute fibre, torn pieces of cloth, cotton, leaf, waste paper, waste polythene sheet or carrier bags
etc. These are usually removed by hand manually as much as possible. The relatively smaller size
impurities are removed by screening in suitable sieves with different mesh size.

(c) Crushing

In general the raw materials obtained from mines are in the form of big lump.

Cullet or broken glasses are also obtained in large size. These substances are first converted into small
size in hammer mill or beater mill. These are then crushed into small particles by using different types
of crusher. By grinding the surface area of the raw material increases, which enhances the action of
subsequent operations.
(d) Magnetic Separation

In most cases the water insoluble magnetic and non-magnetic impurities are not removed completely by
washing operation described above. After washing with water some magnetic and non-magnetic
impurities remained in sand and ores of calcium, aluminum, magnesium etc. These are separated by
using magnetic separator.

As shown in the figure, in this method the grounded raw materials containing impurities are placed on
the conveyer belt moving over two rollers (one is magnetic and the other one is non-magnetic). As the
raw materials move over the rollers both the centrifugal and the magnetic forces act on the magnetic
impurities. However, at the same time only the centrifugal force acts on non-magnetic grounded raw
materials. As a result, they are separated from each other as shown in the figure.
(e) Chemical separation of impurities

After magnetic separation, the raw materials are treated with suitable chemical reagents in order make
them free from other non-magnetic impurities. For examples, compounds of iron present in ore like raw
materials can be separated by converting them into water-soluble ferrous sulphate by reacting with
sulphuric acid. The water-soluble ferrous sulphate can be washed out easily with large quantity of water.
Similarly, the other impurities may also be removed by the similar chemical process. Although, chemical
separation of impurities is relatively costly, however, this method is followed for the manufacture of
good quality of glass.

Formation of Batch Materials

For the manufacture of good quality of glass, requisite amounts of different raw materials are mixed
together. A uniform mixture of different raw materials in a definite proportion is called batch material.
During the formation of batch materials both the quantity and quality factors are considered carefully, as
because, quality of glass is dependent to a large extent on these two factors.
Melting of Batch Materials

The most important part of glass making process is the melting of raw materials at a very high
temperature. The melting of raw materials is carried out in glass making furnace where heat is liberated
from combustion of fuel or heat is generated from electric current. By proper designing of glass making
furnace it is possible to reduce the unit consumption of fuel, increase furnace efficiency and thereby to
make the whole manufacturing process cost effective. The design of glass making furnace is usually
done by considering the following points:

(a) kind of fuel to be used

(b) composition of raw materials

(c) method of giving shape of glass articles

(d) required productivity of the furnace.

There are two different types of furnaces used for melting raw material in the glass manufacturing
process: (a) Pot furnace and (b) tank furnace
Pot Furnace
Pot furnace: Pot furnace is usually used for small
scale production approximately two tones or less. Are
crucibles made of selected clay or platinum. Either
rectangular or circular in form. This furnace is
essentially used in the manufacture of special glass
such as optical glass, art glass etc. Here the
advantage is, the molten batch can be protected from
the products of combustion. In pot furnace the batch
materials are melted either in closed or in open pots
placed inside the combustion chamber of the furnace
in a circle. The number of pots arranged in a furnace
varies from 6-20. Preheating of the empty pots are
done at 1400 °C .
 Tank furnace: For the large-scale production tank
Tank Furnace furnace is used. The capacity of a normal tank furnace
is approximately 1350 tones. A tank furnace has got
different sections. The batch materials are charged at
one end of a large tank. After melting, the raw materials
form a pool of glass in the hearth of the furnace across
which the flames plays alternately from one side to
other. The product glass comes out from opposite end
of the tank. In tank furnace the operation is being
continuous. The batch material for both pot and tank
furnace is mixed with cullet as it lowers the melting
temperature. They are heated to about 1400°C. At this
temperature the batch materials melt and react to form
molten glass. When the glass line level in tie furnace is
reached, the process of heating is stopped.
Both pot and tank furnace can either be (a) regenerative or (b) recuperative.

a) Regenerative furnace

Regenerative furnace means in this furnace heat of waste gases will be utilized to heat the incoming
gases and air, which will be used, as fuel and thus it will produce higher temperature than that of fuel,
which will not be preheated.
Regenerative furnace operate in two cycles with two
sets of checkerwork chambers. The flame gases after
giving up some heat across the furnace containing the
molten gas, go downward through one set of chambers
stacked with open brickwork.

A great deal of heat is removed, the checkerwork

reaching temp ranging from 1500 °C to 650 °C.
Simultaneously, air is preheated through the other
previously preheated regenerative chamber.
 b) Recuperative furnace

Recuperation also does the same function as regeneration viz., transfer of heat of the waste gases
to stack chamber where the air and fuel gases are preheated thereby produce higher temperature
in the furnace. However, the recuperation differs from regeneration from the point of view that in
recuperation the incoming gas flows continuously in one direction only. The hot gases pass
through one set of passages while going on to the stack, the air passes through adjacent passage
and is preheated as it goes to the furnace.

POT vs TANK furnace: REGENRATIVE vs RECUPERATIVE furnace:

1) small scale (~2 T) (special/high quality glasses) | Large 1) Heat utilization:
scale (~1350 T) (regular glass) alternates heat transfer between two adjacent
2) 6-12 clay/Pt pots open/closed in circular manner | Large chambers (idle chamber is pre-heated by the active
open tank lined w refractories chamber) | leaving hot gases pass through a
3) Contact w hot gases only | Direct contact w flames passage adjacent to the chamber, thus heating the
4) provides protection from combustion products | faster chamber more
melting & continuous operation 2) Operation:
5) pots pre-heated to 1400 C | pre-heating not required cyclic | continuous
3) high initial cost & complexity but better | low cost &
* Checker pattern of bricks -> trap the hot gases in for longer worse but easy maintenance
Reactions:
During melting at high temperature the basic parts of the ingredients of glass (i.e. Na2O, K2O, CaO etc.) react
with acidic part (i.e. SiO2) to form silicates of the bases. In the borosilicate glass, however CaO is replaced
by B2O3 . During the formation of glass in conjunction with the silicate formation, CO2 and SO2 are also
evolved.

The various reactions occurring during glass formation may be summarised as follows

(1) Na2CO3 + x SiO2 = Na2O. xSiO2 + CO2

(2) CaCO3 + y SiO2 = CaO. ySiO2 + CO2
(3) Na2SO4 + z SiO2 = Na2O. zSiO2 + SO2
The equation (3) may proceed as follows-
Na2SO4 + C → Na2SO3 + CO
2Na2SO4 + C → 2Na2SO3 + CO2
Na2SO3 + z SiO2 → Na2O. zSiO2 + SO2
1 Soda ash + Limestone + Silica

1. At 600◦ C: vaporization of water & unwanted oxides & salts eg

As2 O3 , Sb2 O3 , NaCl, KCl etc
2. At 900◦ C: production of NaSiO3 & breakdown of Limestone:
Na2 CO3 + SiO2 −−→ Na2 SiO3 + CO2
CaCO3 −−→ CaO + CO2

3. At 1000◦ C: production of CaSiO3 :

CaO + SiO2 −−→ CaSiO3

2 Salt cake + Coke + Limestone + Silica

1. At 600◦ C: reduction of salt cake by Coke to Na2 S:

Na2 SO4 + C −−→ Na2 S + SO2
CO2
◦
2. At 860 C: indirect production of Na2 SiO3 from CaCO3 & Na2 S:
CaCO3 + Na2 S −−→ (I)Na2 CO3 + (II)CaS
From (I) : Na2 CO3 + SiO2 −−→ Na2 SiO3 + CO2
From (II) : CaS + Na2 SO4 −−→ Na2 S + SO3 + CaO
Na2 S + SO3 −−→ Na2 O + SO2 + S
Na2 O + SiO2 −−→ Na2 SiO3

3. At 900◦ C: breakdown of Limestone:

CaCO3 −−→ CaO + CO2
4. At 1000◦ C: production of CaSiO3 :
CaO + SiO2 −−→ CaSiO3
5. At 1200◦ C: direct production of Na2 SiO3 from salt cake:
Na2 SO4 + SiO2 −−→ Na2 SiO3 + SO2 + O2

3 Red lead + Potash + Silica

1. At 600◦ C: decomposition of Red lead:

Pb3 O4 −−→ PbO + O2
2. At 700◦ C: production of PbSiO3 :
PbO + SiO2 −−→ PbSiO3
3. At 750◦ C: production of K2 SiO3 :
K2 CO3 + SiO2 −−→ K2 SiO3 + CO2

1
Reaction involved during melting

(i) When sand (SiO2) is heated with soda ash, silica (SiO2) being an acidic oxide displaces carbonic acid
from the carbonate and sodium silicate is formed:

Na2CO3 + a SiO2 → Na2O. a SiO2 (NaSiO3) + CO2

When this is allowed to cool a solid glassy mass is obtained, which is known as water glass. Water
glass is soluble in water.

ii) On strong heating lime stone also reacts with silica and produces calcium silicate:

CaCO3 + b SiO2 → CaO. b SiO2 (CaSiO3) + CO2

When this melt is cooled a solid glassy mass is obtained. This is insoluble in water but soluble in acids.

iii) Similarly when a mixture of salt cake and silica is fused a glassy mass of sodium silicate is obtained
which is also water soluble.

Na2SO4 + c SiO2 + C → Na2O. c SiO2 + SO2 + CO2

iv) But if silica is mixed with both soda ash and lime stone or salt cake, limestone and carbon, sodium
calcium silicate is formed which on cooling sets to a glassy solid mass insoluble in both water and acid.

Na2CO3 + CaCO3 + 6SiO2 → Na2O.CaO.6SiO2 + 2CO2

2Na2SO4 + 2SiO2 + C → 2Na2SiO3 + CO2 + 2SO2

Na2SiO3 + CaCO3 + 5SiO2 → Na2O.CaO.6SiO2 + CO2

The glass formation is a high temperature process in which a series of intermediate steps take place.
The overall process of glass formation can be subdivided into following stages:

(a) When the batch material contains only soda, limestone and silica

(i) Up to 600°C evaporation of water and volatilization of some oxides such as, As2O3, Sb2O3, PbO, B2O3
and salts such as, NaCl, KCl, FeCl3, SnCl4, Na2SO4 etc. take place.

(ii) Within 700-900°C water soluble glass, sodium silicate is formed by the reaction between soda ash
(Na2CO3) and silica (SiO2): Na2CO3 + SiO2 → Na2SiO3 + CO2
(b) When the batch material is composed of salt cake, lime stone, silica and carbon:

(i) In between 600 - 800°C, salt cake (Na2SO4) reduces by carbon to Na2S.

Na2SO4 + 2C → Na2S + 2CO2

(ii) At 860°C the following reactions take place

Na2SO4 → Na2O + SO3

Na2S + SO3 → Na2O + SO2 + S

Na2O + SiO2 → Na2SiO3

At this stage lime stone reacts with Na2S to form mixed silicate of sodium and calcium, which is
insoluble in both water and acids.

Na2S + CaCO3 → CaS + Na2CO3

Na2CO3 + SiO2 → Na2Si O3 + CO2

CaS + Na2SO4 → CaSO4 + Na2S

CaSO4 → CaO + SO3

Na2S + SO3 → Na2O + SO2 + S

Na2O + SiO2 → Na2SiO3

(iii) At 900°C and above decomposition of lime stone (CaCO3) takes place: CaCO3 → CaO + CO2

(iv) At 1000°C and above CaO reacts with silica to form calcium silicate.

CaO + SiO2 → CaSiO3

(v) At temperatures in between 1100 - 1400°C, salt cake reacts directly with silica to form sodium silicate.

Na2SO4 → Na2O + SO3

Na2O + SiO2 → Na2SiO3

2SO3 → 2SO2 + O2

(C) When the batch material contains red led, K2CO3 and silica as its components:

(i) At 600°C red lead decomposes to PbO and oxygen

Pb3O4 → 3PbO + 1/2 O2

(ii) At 670 -730°C lead oxide reacts with silica to form lead silicate.

PbO + SiO2 → PbSiO3

(iii) At 750°C K2CO3 decomposes to K2O and CO2 K2CO3 → K2O + CO2

At this temperature K2O reacts with silica to form potassium silicate: K2O + SiO2 → K2SiO3
Shaping of glass articles

After melting, the next step of glass manufacturing process is shaping. The manufacture of different types
of glasswares from the molten glass is called shaping.

Before the advent of modern technology, shaping for both blown glass wares and sheet or plate glasses
were done by manual labour. In this process air from the lungs is blown to a lump of molten glass taken at
the tip of a blowpipe. A sheet glass or window glass is prepared in this method by forming a cylinder by
blowing. The top and bottom ends of the cylinder are cut off and allowed to stand vertically on a stand.
The hollow cylinder is then heated in an oven and then flattened by opening it with a sharp knife.
This is a very tedious process and the quality of the article fully depends on the performance of the
skilled labour. With the advent of modern technology this tedious manual process has been entirely
replaced by the continuous mechanical process. In mechanical process collection of glass melt, giving
shape of the article by blowing and with the help of mould, removal of article from the mould after final
shaping are all carried out continuously and automatically. In machine moulding the important factor is to
be considered is that the design of glass machine mould should be such that the entire process should
1) ANNEALING/critical TEMP: the temp at which glass can be kept for a sufficiently long
be completed in a very few seconds. time to remove internal strains, and make glass more resistant to shock & temp
2) ANNEALING:
2.1) glass is heated to annealing temp & left alone for sufficient time
Annealing of glass articles 2.2) slowly, uniformly cooled down to room temp
3) Internal strain: happens due to uniform cooling of glass, where some parts compress
more than others, which makes glass susceptible to cracking
Annealing is a very important step of glass manufacturing process. It consists of following three
operations: (a) Heating the glassware to a temperature (above critical temperature), which is known as
annealing temperature. (b) Keeping the glassware at the annealing temperature for sufficiently long time.
(c) Cooling the glassware from the annealing temperature very slowly and uniformly to room temperature.
Annealing is required for almost all glass wares (except glass tube) because during rapid or normal cooling
there develops an internal strain which causes thermal instability of glass wares. Glass wares crack or
break on slight heating or locally cooling or even on keeping for sometime. The internal strain is caused
due to the lack of uniformity. The lack of uniformity results from the insulating property of glass. During
cooling the exterior surface of glass gets cold but the interior part of the glass still remains hot, which
causes internal strain. To avoid this non-uniformity or minimizing this internal stress the articles are heated
to a temperature (annealing temperature) at which if glasses are kept for some time the internal strain is
removed.
Then if the articles are cooled very slowly, no internal strain develops. This is because of very slow
cooling, both the exterior and interior parts of glass ware cool uniformly. In glass industry annealing is
usually carried out by passing the glass wares through several hot chambers (lehrs), where glass wares
are heated above its annealing temperature, kept for some time and then the temperature gradually falls
to room temperature. Annealing treatment makes the glasswares more durable, resistant to shock and
thermally stable.

Finishing of glass articles

This is the last step of manufacturing glassware. It includes cleaning, polishing, cutting, sand blasting,
enameling, grading etc. Although all these operations are not required for all glass wares, however, a few
of these are required for almost all glass wares.

FUSED SILICA glass [SiO2 only]:

1) expensive 99.5% SILICA glass: costly lab equipment eg prism,
2) strong, resistance to radiation (which spectrometer etc
causes browning), high temp, corrosion
3) used on space-ship windows, wind 96% SILICA [SiO2 + ~4%B2O3]: thermally resistant lab
tunnel windows etc equipment eg Condenser, Crucible
Special Glasses

1. Fused Silica Glass

2. 99.5% Silica glass

It is used for manufacturing relatively costly laboratory equipments such as prism, windows for optical
instruments like UV spectrophotometer. Infrared spectrophotometer etc.

3. 96% Silica glass

• 96% silica, 3% B2O3 and trace amount of other materials such as alumina and alkali

• less expensive than 99.5% silica glass but still it is more expensive than other types of glasses

• Low coefficient of expansion

• low thermal conductivity

• high capacity to resist changes at sudden fluctuation of temperature

• This glass is used for manufacturing laboratory apparatus such as condenser, crucible etc. which
resist heat up to 800°C
 ALKALI SILICATE GLASS [Na2O + SiO2]:
4. Alkali silicate glass 1) water soluble
2) used for:
• Only two component glass 2.1) making cardboard boxes
• Composition varies from Na2O.SiO2 to Na2O.4SiO2 2.2) fireproofing agents
2.3) egg preservative agents
• Water soluble glass is an example of this class 2.4) soap/detergent builders
This glass is widely used as adhesive for manufacturing corrugated paper box. This is also used as fire
proofing and egg preservative agents. The higher alkaline variety of this glass is used as detergent and
soap builders.
5. Sodalime glass SODA LIME GLASS [~ 15%Na2O + 10%CaO +
75%SiO2 + trace (MgO + Al2O3)]
1) basic glass: glass wares, bulbs, table etc
2) poor thermal resistance

POTASH LIME GLASS [K2O + CaO + SiO2]

1) costlier than sodalime
2) used for regular chemical apparatus eg flasks,
burettes etc

Soda-lime glass is widely used as glass containers, flat glass, table ware glass, bulbs, automobile,
window glasses etc. where high temperature resistance and chemical stability is not important.
6. Potash-lime glass

• Made from silica (SiO2), potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
• Approximate composition K2O CaO SiO2
• Acids alkalis and other solvents less attack than ordinary soda lime glass
• Costlier than soda lime glass BOROSILICATE aka PYREX GLASS [~ 10%Na2O +
10%B2O3 + 80%SiO2 + Al2O3/ZnO]: high quality
• It is used for manufacturing chemical apparatus. glass for lab, table etc

7. Borosilicate (Pyrex Glass) LEAD GLASS [PbO + SiO2]

1) high RI => brilliant look
• Boric anhydride B2O3 is used in place of lime 2) jewels, aristocratic table ware, electronic tubes etc
• 80-87% silica 10-20% B2O3 and less than 10% Na2O sometime contains 2-3% Al2O3 and small amount of
ZnO
• high chemical resistance low coefficient of thermal expansion
• popularly known as Pyrex glass
• This glass is extensively used for manufacturing laboratory ware, industrial glass ware, table ware etc.
8. Lead glass
This glass is specially used for optical work. A special variety of lead glass is used
for manufacturing high quality table wares. Lead glass containing high percentage
(92%) PbO is used for radiation protection. Lead oxide glass has high refractive
index which provide them a brilliant look. These are also used for manufacturing
electronic tubes, cut glass articles, imitation diamond, jewels, aristocratic table
wares, optical instruments like prism lenses etc.

9. Oxide glass OXIDE GLASS [90%Al2O3 + 10%GeO2]:

1) very clear [light loses 5% intensity in 1 km]
2) for optical fibers

SAFETY aka Laminated GLASS:

1) a thin layer of plastic sandwiched by layers of glass
2) windshields
3) the plastic is cellulose/polyvinyl acetate etc

tempered glass: not annealed & cooled quickly to

create internal stress, so breaks into tiny pieces
10. Safety glass
• made by sandwiching thin plastic sheets between alternate sheets of glass under pressure and heat
• after sandwiching pressure is applied till the layers are merge into one another.
• when such composite glass breaks it does not fly like a splinter of glass (which is very dangerous)
rather it converts into small pieces that are held with each other
• the plastic sheets used for this purpose are pyroxylin or cellulose acetate, polyvinyl acetate or
polyvinyl butyl acetate etc
• This glass is particularly used for manufacturing window shield of high velocity auto vehicles.