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The flat glass produced by the float glass process has a tin-rich surface due to the contact with molten tin. The penetration of tin into the glass surface is assumed to involve coupled diffusion of stannous (Sn2+) and stannic (Sn4+) ions. The diffusion coefficients of these ions were calculated using the modified Stocks–Einstein relation with the oxidation velocity of stannous ions depending on the oxygen activity in the glass. The ion diffusion was analyzed using a coupled diffusion simulation with a modified diffusion coefficient to compensate for the negative effect of the glass ribbon’s stretching or compressing in the glass forming process. Tin penetration simulations for both green glass and clear glass show an internal local tin concentration maximum in green glass which is quite different from that in clear glass. The local maximum in the profile is associated with the accumulation of stannic ions where the greatest oxygen activity gradient occurs. Since more float time is needed in the manufacture of thicker glass plate, the tin penetrates to a greater depth with the maximum deeper in the glass and the size of the maximum larger for thicker glass.
The float glass process, which was originally developed by Pilkington Brothers in 1959 (Haldimann et al., 2008), is the most common manufacturing process of flat glass sheets. More than 80–85% of the global production of float glass is used in the construction industry (Glass for Europe, 2015a). In the float glass process, the ingredients (silica, lime, soda, etc.) are first blended with cullet (recycled broken glass) and then heated in a furnace to around 1600°C to form molten glass. The molten glass is then fed onto the top of a molten tin bath. A flat glass ribbon of uniform thickness is produced by flowing molten glass on the tin bath under controlled heating. At the end of the tin bath, the glass is slowly cooled down, and is then fed into the annealing lehr for further controlled gradual cooling down. The thickness of the glass ribbon is controlled by changing the speed at which the glass ribbon moves into the annealing lehr. Typically, glass is cut to large sheets of 3 m × 6 m. Flat glass sheets of thickness 2–22 mm are commercially produced from this process. Usually, glass of thickness up to 12 mm is available in the market, and much thicker glass may be available on request. A schematic diagram of the production process of float glass is shown in Fig. 5.2.The float glass process was invented in the 1950s in response to a pressing need for an economical method to create flat glass for automotive as well as architectural applications. Existing flat glass production methods created glass with irregular surfaces; extensive grinding and polishing was needed for many applications. The float glass process involves floating a glass ribbon on a bath of molten tin and creates a smooth surface naturally. Floating is possible because the density of a typical soda-lime-silica glass (~2.3 g/cm3) is much less than that of tin (~6.5 g/cm3) at the process temperature. After cooling and annealing, glass sheets with uniform thicknesses in the ~1–25 mm range and flat surfaces are produced. The ultra clear float glass process is used to produce virtually all window glass as well as mirrors and other items that originate from flat glass. Since float glass is ordinarily soda-lime-silica, the reference temperatures and behavior of this glass are used in the discussion below.
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