How is glass made?
The process of making glass
Glass was discovered many years ago and is still used to this day all around us in things such as windows, crockery, bottles and light bulbs to name a few. Glass is made by glaziers who are highly qualified tradespeople that specialise in creating glass products.
Glaziers start the glass-making process with sand. Sand, particularly sand with a large silicon dioxide composition, is heated up to around 1700℃ where it melts into a liquid.
The inner structure of the sand particles changes as the extreme heating causes the sand to undergo a total chemical transformation. This is how yellow, grainy sand is transformed into a clear, smooth glass.
The industrial glass manufacturing process
Industrial glass requires a few extra tweaks to the general process stated above. Before the melting process begins, recycled glass, sodium carbonate and limestone are all mixed in with sand. The recycled glass reduces the amount of sand required to manufacture the glass, which lowers the total manufacturing cost.
Sodium carbonate is added to lower the boiling point of the sand mixture, which lowers the heating cost. By adding this, however, the chemical composition of the produced glass would cause it to dissolve in water. To prevent this, limestone is added to the mixture. This is the general-purpose glass used in everyday items.
How are different types of glass made?
Different types of glasses have different chemical compositions as different chemicals are added or removed from the glass mixture to change their properties. An example of this may be oven-proof glass, which has boron oxide added to the melting mixture. This makes the glass resistant to higher temperatures.
Another example could be tempered glass. After the melting process, the hot liquid glass is cooled rapidly to strengthen it. This type of glass is used in car windscreens and mobile phone screens.
Professional Glazier services
Glass one has a team full of experienced glaziers who are all fully trained and qualified. For any glazier enquiries call 0436 452 771 or complete our online glazier service request form today.
