5. Some glass technologies

Let's turn now to a description of some of the modern technologies used in industrial glass plants.

It all begins with a furnace in which the composition is melted (a mixture of raw materials containing the future constituents of glass in the right proportions). This melting is achieved using powerful burners or, in some cases, electric currents fed into the mass of liquid glass by large electrodes. Once melted, the glass flows to a section of the furnace, where it is slightly overheated to allow the gas bubbles it contains to rise to the surface, where they burst, leaving a glass as homogeneous and bubble-free as possible. This phase of homogenization and bubble evacuation is known as glass refining.

A melting and refining furnace can cover an area of around 100 m ² and be 1 to 2 m deep. It...