For the last 100 years, the domestic glass industry has used the same basic equipment for melting glass on an industrial scale. Manufacturers employ refractory-lined furnaces of various sizes, fired with air or oxygen and with natural gas or oil as fuel. Over time and with improvements, furnace life has been extended. None of these improvements, however, has eliminated dependence on large, costly melters that burden the glass industry with high capital/energy costs, and reduce competitiveness against growing competition from foreign producers and alternative materials. This need has led to the formation of an unprecedented consortium including the Gas Technology Institute, 6 glass companies and several suppliers. This team will attempt to deliver submerged combustion melting to the glass-melting industry with the project, which began in September 2003.
