Glass Melting Technology: A Technical and Economic ... - OSTI

Glass manufacturers of all products can identify critical common areas that could
increase profit margins and market share to combat competition with alternative
materials.
Future growth of the glass industry might take place in designated attractive industrial
parks where a mix of high energy consuming industries can combine to produce their
own energy, operate on or near the high mass raw materials source or near deep water
ports for ease of heavy shipping, or share low cost rail and water or pipe line
transportation systems.
Cooperative approaches for industries that seek a place within the US industrial economy
will require a concerted effort and an adjustment of the corporate attitude toward research
and development. In its current financial and technology state, individual glass
manufacturers cannot support the movement to correct the problems it faces; federal
funding is essential if the glass industry is to remain a vital part of the United States
economy.
Consensus for steps that can be taken to improve the economic strategy is widespread:
• Energy cost control.
Industry should take the lead in energy price stability and environmental compliance.
Expected rise in natural gas prices will increase the squeeze on the industry and impact
production.
• Collaborate within industry.
The insular business model should be changed so that companies work together for the
common good. To move glass-melting technology forward, a coherent and concerted
effort must be made.
Potential areas for industry-wide collaboration are:
Research and technology development;
Environmental issues—understand sources;
Identification and sharing of best practices;
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency cooperation;
Incentives for adopting best practice;
Greater reliability for scale-up technologies;
Glass industry research self funded by participants through a percentage of sales
dollars (US brick industry is doing this successfully.).
• Research and Development
Advancement of glass melting technologies has been hampered by the limitation of
research and development in glass melting due to small profit margins and low growth
rates that must be shared with corporate interests. Most R&D interests have had shortterm
goals and been narrowly focused, particularly on projects that would lead to new
products with high profit margins. Industry-wide leadership could foster melting R&D.
For innovative ideas, researchers might explore some extreme technology developments
of the 1990s that have been developed for such glass-melting applications as nuclear and
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