Obiettivo To reduce high energy requirement of glass smelting by continuous recycling of waste glass used as source of raw material in fibre glass production.The energy required to produce glass fibre for thermal insulation is intrinsically very large when starting with basic raw materials. The aim of this project, which was undertaken by a relatively small manufacturer, was to demonstrate that raw materials could be replaced up to a high proportion with recycled glass (cullet) from external sources. It is therefore of a different composition from that normally used to produce fibres, and has different handling characteristics. Significant reductions in energy consumption were expected as a result of this replacement.The project included the following activities :- location of adequate supplies of suitable cullet- establishment of cullet collection system countrywide- preparation of the cullet for use including sorting and crushing- design of a system for handling abrasive cullet- full scale trials in the company's plant- quality assurance for the finished product.Limited technical success was recorded in the project. Numerouspractical problems caused time over-runs, which in turn made accurate determination of the economies achieved very difficult, as the melter had aged significantly in the period of the project. It was not possible to replace raw materials with as high a proportion of foreign cullet as originally to replace raw materials with as high a proportion of foreign cullet as originally hoped, nor was extended running possible.Due to operational problems such as irregular supplies of foreign cullet, and continuing problems with frothing at high foreign cullet contents, it has not been possible to reach the target of one year's continuous operation at 75% cullet. Operating costs are therefore not available for stable continuing operation at the target level.There are no technical obstacles to the adoption of this technology by other manufacturers. However, the project has not yet reached its targets, and partial success may not interest others. The economic returns will vary very much fromplant to plant, as will the detailed design of the processing and handling equipment. General projections of payback times can not be made.For the future, although the project is now finished, it is hoped to extend the running periods and to increase the amount of cullet used to much higher limits. This experience should be valuable to other, particularly small, producers, and could lead to economically viable replication.Glass collected for this plant is first washed to avoid contamination then sorted according to colour before introduction to the furnace.The plant will produce 500 T/y of fibre glass 75 % of which is composed of treated waste glass. Utilization of glass collected in this way will reduce the temperature necessary for smelting (+- 1.500 C) and save 20 % of furnace fuel.Total energy recovery is expected to be in the region of 550 TOE/y (250 TOE as a result of lower furnace temperature and 300 TOE due to off-plant savings). Programma(i) ENG-ENALT 2C - Programme (EEC) of demonstration projects relating to the exploitation of alternative energy sources and to energy saving and the substitution of hydrocarbons, 1983-1985 Argomento(i) 1.4 - TREATMENT OF WASTE Invito a presentare proposte Data not available Meccanismo di finanziamento DEM - Demonstration contracts Coordinatore MOY INSULATION LTD Contributo UE Nessun dato Indirizzo GREENHILLS INDUSTRIAL ESTATE WALKINSTOWN 12 DUBLIN Irlanda Mostra sulla mappa Costo totale Nessun dato
