Glass Melting Technologies of the Future
GMIC Workshop

Thursday, February 22, 2001

Washington Hilton and Towers

Program

08:00    Welcome and Introduction
    Michael Greenman, Executive Director, GMIC

08:15   Glass Industry Overviews

Glass Melting Technologies of the Future – An Industry Perspective
    Dr. Warren Wolf, VP, Science and Technology, Owens Corning

The Case for Revolutionary New Melters
    Fred Quan, Manager, Technology Acquisition, Corning, Inc.

Trends Shaping the Melter of the Future
            --Energy, Materials, Understanding of Melter Dynamics, Controls, Regulatory.
    Dr. John Plodinec, Director, Diagnostic Instrumentation & Analysis Laboratory, Mississippi State University

10:00    Break

NOTE: Poster Session will be available during breaks and lunch to view additional proposed technologies whose presentations could not be included in available time.

10:15    New/Alternate Glass Melting Technologies

Advanced Rapid Glass Melting Processes
    Ray S. Richards, Associated Technical Consultants
            --This presentation will review previous efforts directed at rapid glass melting processes and conclude that rapid melting systems are possible and will involve several processing unit operations in series rather than the present “one big tank does it all” approach.

Rapid Fining System
    William Snyder – Praxair
            --An important part of the melting process is the refining needed to bring glass to the quality required in a particular forming process.  This presentation will build on the previous one to present possible approaches to fining that will function effectively with whichever advanced glass melting technology is developed.

Plasma Technologies and their Potential for the Glass Melter of the Future.
    Dr. Robert Kirkland, DIAL, Mississippi State University
            --He will cover technologies available, examples of ways they have been used in the past, and their potential for the glass melter of the future.

Microwave melting technologies
    Dr. Milan Hajek, Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals, Czech Republic
            --Moving forward from success in melting small volumes of “art” glass, Dr. Hajek proposes possible avenues to scale up and test microwave technology on continuous industrial equipment.

12:00    Lunch -- Keynote Speaker

“Glass Furnaces of the Future: What will they be? – A Common Sense View”
    Dr. Frank Simonis, TNO Insitute of Applied Physics, Eindhoven, Netherlands
            --TNO, with many years of experience working with glass companies all over the world, presents an insightful view of the future of glass furnace design from their unique perspective.

1:30    Individual Presentations (Continued)

Glass Melting by Submerged Combustion Melting (SCM)
    Drrs. David Rue and Hamid Abbasi, Gas Technology Institute
            --SCM can meet all the performance characteristics desired for a future glass melter.  A smaller footprint, no regenerators and very little refractory is anticipated to cost more than 80% less than a refractory glass tank.  Technical issues can be overcome with a strong development program.

Control of New Generation Furnaces with an Expert System
    Erik Muysenberg, Josef Chmelar, Robert Bodi -Glass Service BV. Czech Republic
            --Along with new melting technologies, the glass industry will need to introduce new control mechanisms to further optimize process and quality.  This paper will outline concepts of a new “Expert System” which will address the accuracy and stability of the process in an integrated whole with “feed forward” and “feed back” information shared.

2:30     Break

2:45     Roundtable Panel Discussions
Participants:  Phil Ross (Glass Industry Consultant), Warren Wolf (Owens Corning), Walt Scott (PPG Industries), Christopher Jian (Owens Corning), John Plodinec (DIAL, Mississippi State University), Dan Wishnick (Eclipse/Combustion Tec) and Bill Yellenick (Osram Sylvania).
            --This will be a facilitated discussion involving panel and audience to review the information presented, and to develop criteria for evaluating concepts for the "Glass Melter of the Future."

At the conclusion of the workshop, we will identify a task force that will develop plans for a possible solicitation, identify possible alternative funding sources, and assist DOE and GMIC in rapidly moving forward."

5:00    Close