A review of decarbonization options for the glass industry

Zier, Michael; Stenzel, Peter; Kotzur, Leander; Stolten, Detlef

doi:10.1016/j.ecmx.2021.100083

Cited by 41 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…The main constituents of glass are: silica sand (SiO2), soda ash (Na2CO3), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and dolomite (MgCO3). The proportions of raw materials used and additional additives vary to a small extent for flatand container-glass products (Gaines et al, 1994;Zier et al, 2021). Fibres for glass wool products use a similar composition of raw materials with a lower proportion of silica sand which is compensated by a greater proportion of calcium carbonate, soda ash and boric oxide (Gaines et al, 1994;Zier et al, 2021).…”

Section: Raw Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The key strategies to reduce the emissions associated with glass production by 2050 proposed within these studies include: alternative raw material input to reduce process emissions through increased use of cullet, the use of pre-calcined raw materials and/or alternative raw materials; the use of alternative fuel sources to reduce combustion emissions such as oxyfuel combustion, liquid biofuels, all-electric melting, hybrid furnaces and/or hydrogen and; remediation options such as carbon capture utilization and/or storage (CCU/CCS) -see appendix A1 (British Glass, 2021). Zier et al presented a comprehensive review of the decarbonization options in the German glass sector terms of CO2 reduction potential and economic viability (Zier et al, 2021). They investigated the various existing and future energy sourcing options for powering the glass furnace and concluded that electrical melting and/or hydrogen combustion were the most promising options to drastically reduce combustion emissions.…”

Section: Efforts To Decarbonize the Uk Glass Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The raw material composition for FG and CG is similar. For GW, the composition is slightly different (Kellenberger et al, 2007;Zier et al, 2021). For the purpose of this study, the energy associated with raw material sourcing and transportation for each glass product has been taken to be equivalent at 4.05 MJ / kgglass produced and 0.32 kgCO2eq / kgglass.…”

Section: Energy Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such problems can lead to refining difficulties; reduced furnace lifetime; product colour changes; reduced mechanical strength due to differing thermal expansion coefficients between the glass and inclusions; fumes from organic contamination; and emissions of particulate matter arising mainly from the volatilisation and subsequent condensation of volatile batch materials (Maria et al, 2013). The effects of polymer contaminants on the altered carbon content of the glass melt can be mitigated to some extent by adding sodium or potassium nitrate as an oxidising agent to stablise the redox state of the glass (Beerkens, 1999;Maria et al, 2013;Zier et al, 2021).…”

Section: Barriers To the Use Of Post-consumer Culletmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To prevent these problems, preliminary purification and sorting of post-consumer cullet is normally required (Maria et al, 2013;Zier et al, 2021). This can involve a series of reprocessing steps: waste glass is passed through a series of separation techniques including magnets, screens, cyclones, eddy current separators, cameras and Xray equipment, in order to sort and grade the quality of reprocessed cullet.…”

Section: Barriers To the Use Of Post-consumer Culletmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mapping the flat glass value-chain: A material flow analysis and energy balance of UK production

Hartwell

Coult²,

Overend

2022

Preprint

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Glass is one of the UK’s eight energy-intensive industries. As such, it is under scrutiny to decouple growth in production from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The energy input associated with glass production can be reduced by using recycled glass (cullet) in new glass production, which enables lower furnace operating temperatures and reduces demand for primary raw materials. However, efficient systems for flat glass collection are yet to be established in the UK, resulting in a limited supply of cullet available for the flat glass markets and missed environmental opportunities. This study identifies the existing supply-chain inefficiencies of the UK glass industry in three stages. Firstly, the mass flows of materials within the three main glass sectors: container glass, flat glass and glass wool, are mapped from natural resource through to primary application and subsequent endof-life management based on a reference year of annual production figures. The map is presented in the form of a Sankey diagram which draws attention to several opportunities for increasing resource efficiency; namely in the stark contrast in glass collection rates between the flat and container glass industry. Using the collected data on the annual mass flows of materials in the UK flat glass sub-sector, the energy (MJ) and GHG emission (CO2-eq) saving potential of enhanced end-of-life collection methods are assessed, based on three alternative recovery scenarios. These scenarios consider the use of alternative distributions of recovered flat glass cullet in the three primary glass sub-sectors. The emission savings resulting from each recovery scenario is evaluated, based on the estimated tonnage yield of finished flat glass products. It is shown that together with improved manufacturing yield, the reutilization of end-of-life flat glass as cullet in new production could reduce the annual emissions of the UK flat glass value-chain by up to 18%. Finally we review the existing barriers to recycling different glass types based on acceptability criteria and available take-back infrastructure, and thus find that the advancement of improved recycling rates will rely on establishment of the business opportunity and/or supporting policy for efficient systems of flat glass collection.

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