The work of the Gusevsk branch of the State Institute of Glass has adequately covered the theoretical questions of using rare-earth elements as a glass colorant. A number of publications exist dealing with the decolorisation of glass using rare-earth oxides. At the same time, the complex action of rare-earth compounds as active additives simultaneously influencing the fining, chemical and physical decolorizing of tableware glasses has not been adequately investigated. The empirical approach to the use of small additions as rare-earth colorants in glasses, as well as in the form of decolorisers and fining agents often leads to an economically unjustified consumption of scarce raw materials. The Gusevsk branch has studied the complex influence of additives on the process of fining and colorising of tableware glasses. Physical decolourisation was examined as a process of colorising with small additions of colorant. Also studied was the effect of arsenic, antimony, and cerium in various compositions of such glasses.
