INDUSTRY PROFILE #18
GLASS CONTAINERS
(Batch Process)
Prepared By
William B. Hillig
Reviewed By
Victor R. Palmeri
William D. Walker
Published By
VOLUNTEERS IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 500,
Arlington, Virginia 22209 USA
Telephone: (703) 276-1800,
Fax: (703) 243-1865
Telex: 440192 VITAUI,
Cable: VITAINC
Internet: vita@gmuvax.gmu.edu,
Bitnet: vita@gmuvax
Glass Containers (Batch Process)
ISBN:
0-86619-320-0
[C] 1991, Volunteers in Technical Assistance
INDUSTRY PROFILES
Introduction
This Industry Profile is one of a series briefly describing
small or medium-sized industries. The
Profiles provide basic information for starting
manufacturing plants in developing nations.
Specifically, they provide general plant descriptions,
financial, and technical factors for their
operation, and sources of information and expertise.
The series is intended to be useful in
determining whether the industries described warrant further
inquiry either to rule out or to
decide upon investment.
The underlying assumption of these Profiles is that the individual
making use of them already has some knowledge and experience
in industrial development.
Dollar values are listed only for machinery and equipment
costs, and are primarily based on
equipment in the United States.
The price does not include shipping costs or import-export taxes,
which must be considered and will vary greatly from country
to country. No other investment
costs are included (such as land value, building rental,
labor, etc.) as those prices also vary.
These items are mentioned to provide the investor with a
general checklist of considerations for
setting up a business.
IMPORTANT
These profiles should not be substituted for feasibility
studies. Before an investment is made
in
a plant, a feasibility study should be conducted.
This may require skilled economic and
engineering expertise.
The following illustrates the range of questions to which answers must
be obtained:
*
What is the extent of the present demand for
the product, and how is it now being
satisfied?
*
Will the estimated price and quality of the
product make it competitive?
*
What is the marketing and distribution plan
and to whom will the product be
sold?
*
How will the plant be financed?
*
Has a realistic time schedule for
construction, equipment, delivery, obtaining
materials
and supplies, training of personnel, and the start-up time for the plant
been
developed?
*
How are needed materials and supplies to be
procured and machinery and
equipment
to be maintained and repaired?
*
Are trained personnel available?
*
Do adequate transportation, storage, power,
communication, fuel, water, and
other
facilities exist?
*
What management controls for design,
production, quality control, and other
factors
have been included?
*
Will the industry complement or interfere
with development plans for the area?
*
What social, cultural, environmental, and
technological considerations must be
addressed
regarding manufacture and use of this product?
Fully documented information responding to these and many
other questions should be
determined before proceeding with implementation of an
industrial project.
Equipment Suppliers, Engineering Companies
The services of professional engineers are desirable in the
design of industrial plants even though
the proposed plant may be small.
A correct design is one that provides the greatest economy in
the investment of funds and establishes the basis of
operation that will be most profitable in the
beginning and will also be capable of expansion without
expensive alteration.
Professional engineers who specialize in industrial design
can be found be referring to the
published cards in various engineering magazines.
They may also be reached through their
national organizations.
Manufacturers of industrial equipment employ engineers
familiar with the design and installation
of their specialized products.
These manufacturers are usually willing to give prospective
customers the benefit of technical advice by those engineers
in determining the suitability of their
equipment in any proposed project.
VITA
Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) is a private,
non-profit, volunteer organization
engaged in international development.
Through its varied activities and services,
VITA fosters
self-sufficiency by promoting increased economic
productivity. Supported by a volunteer
roster
of over 5,000 experts in a wide variety of fields, VITA is
able to provide high quality technical
information to requesters.
This information is increasingly conveyed through low-cost advanced
communication technologies, including terrestrial packet
radio and low-earth-orbiting satellite.
VITA also implements both long- and short-term projects to
promote enterprise development and
transfer technology.
GLASS CONTAINERS
(Batch Process)
===============================================================================
PREPARED BY: William
B. Hillig
REVIEWED BY: Victor
R. Palmeri
William D.
Walker
===============================================================================
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The Product
The products are glass containers (bottles, jugs, and jars)
needed by food, pharmaceutical, and other
manufacturers for packaging their products.
Glass containers are also used by
households. A factory
for making glass containers can be expanded to make such
other items as tableware (cups, drinking
glasses, pitchers) and building materials (glass blocks,
electrical insulators).
Glass is a hard, brittle material produced by heating a
mixture of sand, limestone, and soda ash (i.e.,
silica, calcium oxide or carbonate, and sodium carbonate) to
very high temperatures (1,300[degrees]C to
1,600[degrees]C).
Other minerals or metal oxides may be added for color or to improve the
properties of the
glass. Glass items
can also be made by melting and re-forming used glass, or cullet, a process
that can
be used where the basic raw materials are unavailable.
In order to avoid induced fragility or even spontaneous
breakage caused by stresses resulting from
too rapid cooling, the glass products must be
annealed--slowly and carefully cooled--as they change
from a deformable material to a rigid state.
The Facility
There are many processes by which the hot, viscous glass can
be formed into the desired shapes.
Bottles are made by blowing a thick bubble of glass into a
mold to give it the desired external shape
and to form such features as screw threads or emblems.
Such articles as dishes and electrical
insulators
can also be made by forcing hot, soft glass into a die
cavity. This can be done manually or
with a
machine. Even sheet
glass can be made in moderate quantities by flattening molten glass with a
water-
cooled iron roller.
However, making high quality window glass in large quantities requires
an
investment that is beyond the scope of this paper.
This profile describes small batch production plants with a
work force of 10 to 50 people that produce
500 to 25,000 containers a day.
The two kinds of batch process are pot process and day-tank
process.
In the pot process, the glass is produced in refractory clay
"pots" that hold 25 to 1,500 kg of raw
materials. A circle
of 6 to 24 pots is arranged just inside the walls of a large circular
furnace. This
semi-continuous process can produce about 500 or more
bottles a day.
The day-tank process is more continuous and requires some
machinery; it can produce about 25,000
bottles a day. One
day tank can hold up to 10 tons of molten glass.
A refractory-brick-lined tank is
filled with the raw materials at the start of the
operation. The tank is then heated to
melt the materials
into glass. Usually
on the day after melting and homogenization have occurred, a plug is removed
from the tank and the molten glass is directed into the
bottle-blowing (or other) machinery.
When the
tank is empty, it is cooled and the process is
repeated. The process can be repeated
every 2 or 3 days.
Oil or natural gas is used to produce the necessary
temperatures needed to make the glass.
If they are
not available, coal or wood can be used to produce gas,
which is then burned to heat the furnace or
tank. The
availability of suitable refractory clay to make the pots or the linings of the
tanks is crucial
in deciding whether to start a glass manufacturing business.
GENERAL EVALUATION
Outlook
Economic. The
economics depend on local conditions and market opportunities.
Fuel costs are a major
consideration. As in
other industries, a good product with good quality and value-pricing can offer
good profits. There
will be competition from plastic and metal containers.
However, glass containers
will remain in demand because they do not contaminate their
contents and they allow the consumer
to inspect the contents for quality.
Technical. Glass
fabrication is a complex venture. The
basic technology is not likely to change, but
the product can be improved through quality control.
The composition of the raw materials should
be monitored as should the composition and reliability of
the glass produced. The larger and more
mechanized the operation, the greater the need for control
and for technical expertise of the
production workforce.
Manufacturing Equipment Flexibility
Once the glass melting capability is in place, a wide range
of products can be made. As each new
forming technique is introduced, many trials and adjustments
will be required before the process can
be expected to work reliably in a given plant.
Knowledge Base
Glass manufacture is an old art.
Much information is available about glass composition, materials,
and
general procedures.
However, practical experience remains an important factor in the
successful
operation of a glass plant.
Entering glass manufacture is very risky without previous acquaintance
with the technology of glass making.
Anyone seriously considering it as a
business venture is strongly
advised to visit some small glass plants.
In the United States there are a number of
little factories
producing glass products on the scale envisioned in this
profile.
Quality Control
Depending on the buyer's requirements, the consistency and
quality of the product may be crucial
to the success of the business.
For example, the appearance of the container and the contents as
seen
through the eye of the consumer may be important, as is
consistency of the shape, which may affect
the reliability in sealing the container.
Furthermore, the more the desire to make
products uniform
and the more automatic the machinery for making the
products, the greater the need for controlling
temperature and the viscosity of the molten glass.
Constraints and Limitations
Because of their bulk and weight, raw materials should be
conveniently and economically available
over an extended period.
Glass making is fuel intensive, so particular attention must be given to
energy cost and availability of fuel.
High temperature clays and refractories for
containing the molten
glass must be available.
Bricks can be shipped in, but it is not practical to transport clay
pots; these
must be made locally, or as part of the glass plant
operation itself.
The technical challenges are (1) generating the required
high temperatures, 1,300[degrees]C-1,600[degrees]C,
economically and reliably, and (2) containing the hot,
molten glass, which slowly dissolves the pot and
the tank materials.
Nearby sources of raw materials and fuel are essential.
Glass containers are fragile
and relatively beavy and bulky.
To avoid excessive transportation and handling expense, the plant
should also be near major markets.
MARKET ASPECTS
Users
Food processors, medicine manufacturers, household products
manufacturers, and beverage
producers.
Suppliers
Three raw materials are required for glass
fabrication--silica sand, calcium oxide, and soda ash
(sodium carbonate).
Of the three, silica sand occurs most widely, but a good source of iron-
free silica
sand is essential.
Sometimes it is difficult to find two sands or other minerals of the
same composition
in the same region.
Check with your local mining authorities for information.
Calcium oxide can be
obtained from shells, calcite, etc.
Sodium carbonate is widely used and usually
available in the market.
Sales Channels and Methods
Direct person-to-person contact with buyers for the food
processing plants, or other manufacturers
and wholesalers, is needed.
Sales will probably be won on the basis of price rather than uniqueness
of the product.
Geographic Extent of Market
The potential for supplying glass containers exists
everywhere. However, the glass
container producer
should limit the market to nearby areas to reduce transport
costs and remain competitive.
Competition
If glass-container producers are already established in the
area, the competition will be based on
price. Remember that
transportation costs are a big factor in the final cost to the customer.
Otherwise
the competition will be from alternative materials.
Plastics can often compete.
Glass has the intrinsic
advantage where transparency and inertness are important.
Unless there is capacity to use recycled glass as the raw
material, it is probably uneconomical to focus
mainly on the making of houseware items such as plates,
cups, or bowls. Drinking glasses may be
an
exception. In
general, items of this kind can be made more cheaply from ceramics than from
glass.
Market Capacity
Determined by local conditions, needs, and preferences.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
<FIGURE>
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PRODUCTION AND PLANT REQUIREMENTS
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Requirements
Annual
Output (bottles)
150,000
1,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Infrastructure,
Utilities Small
Plant Medium Plant
(small pot
(largest day-
process
tank process)
Land, sq m
2,100 10,000
Building, sq
m
200
500
Power, kW
50 200
Fuel (oil equiv.,
L/yr.)(*) 50,000
250,000
Water (no major
quantities required)
Other
Space to get
product out and raw material in
(*) As a rule of thumb, 1.5 kg of oil or coal are needed to
produce 1 kg of glass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Major Equipment
& Machinery Small
Plant Medium Plant
Tools &
Machinery; e.g.,
blowers for
furnaces
bottle blowing
machine
small machine
shop for molds,
repairs, etc.
furnace for
melting glass
annealer
mixer for glass
batches
industrial
weighing scale
Support Equipment
& Parts
wheel barrows
carts
air blowers and
burners
combustible
storage facilities
(*) TOTAL ESTIMATED COST
US$20,000
US$75,000
of equipment
& machinery only
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*) Based on US$ 1987 prices.
These are general guidelines on machinery costs.
Actual costs may differ
according to locality and market conditions at the time of
purchase.
3. Materials &
Supplies Small
Plant Medium Plant
refractory bricks
for furnaces, tons
10 25
glass melting
pots or glass tank liner
Raw Materials,
tons/yr
48
240
silica sand
30 150
soda ash
12 60
limestone
6
30
iron oxide (no
more than 0.15 % in all ingredients or
glass will be
excessively colored)
Supplies
silica sand and
calcite
(check with
your local mining authorities for information)
packaging
wooden crates
(for export)
straw, wood
fibers, paper (for cushioning individual pieces)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Labor(*)
Small
Plant Medium Plant
Skilled
college-trained
engineer
0 4
other skilled
people
3 6
Semi-skilled
5 15
Unskilled
8 25
(*) Estimated.
Actual numbers vary according to the specific processes and local
availability of labor.
REFERENCES
Technical Manuals and Books
Dralle, R. Die Glasfabrikation, Oldenbourg, Munich and
Berlin, 1911. (This is in German.
It is old,
but describes in detail almost all aspects of practical
glass making.)
Grayson, M., and D. Eckroth, Encyclopedia of Chemical
Technology. New York:
Wiley & Sons, 1978.
McLellan, G. W., and E. B. Shand (eds.), Glass Engineering
Handbook, third edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1984.
Scholes, S. R., Modern Glass Practice.
Chicago:
Industrial Publications, 1951.
Thorpe, J.F., and M.A. Whiteley, Thorpe's Dictionary of
Applied Chemistry. New York:
Longmans,
Green & Co., 1941.
(This gives many glass formulations, plus a good overview.)
Uhlmann, D. R., and N. J. Kreidl (eds.) Glass Science and
Technology. New York:
Academic Press,
1980.
Periodicals
Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society, Columbus, Ohio
USA.
Glass Technology, was Journal of the Society of Glass
Technology, Society of Glass Technology,
Sheffield, U.K.
Glastechnische Berichte, Deutsche Glastechnische
Gesellschaft, Mendelssohnstrasse 75-77, D-6000
Frankfurt 1, Germany.
RESOURCES
Equipment Suppliers, Engineering Companies
Elored Company, 2491 Fairwood Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43207
USA
Emhart Machinery Corporation, Hartford Division, 123 Dayhill
Road, Windsor, Connecticut 06002
USA
General Glass Equipment, General Glass Building, Absecon,
New Jersey 08201 USA
Globe Trading Corporation, 1801 Atwater Street, Detroit,
Michigan 48207 USA
Hanrez, 41 rue Trazegnies, B-6031 Monceau-sur-Sambre,
Belgium USA
MOHR Industrial Group, P. O. Box 1148, Dearborn, Michigan
48121 USA
Directories
Ceramic Industry Data Book, American Ceramic Society.
Handbook of the Glass Industry, Ogden-Watney Publishers,
Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, New York, New
York 10941 USA
VITA Resources
VITA has a number of documents on file dealing with
industrial processes. In addition, VITA
can
assist with plant design, equipment acquisition, etc., on a
fee-for-service basis.
`INDUSTRY PROFILE SERIES'
VITA is pleased to present this series of industrial
profiles.
These Profiles provide basic information for starting
manufacturing
plants in developing nations.
Specifically, they provide general
plant description, financial, and technical factors for
their
operation, and sources of information and expertise.
Dollar values
are listed only for machinery and equipment costs, and are
primarily based on equipment in the United States.
The price does
not include shipping costs or import-export taxes, which
must be
considered and will vary greatly from country to country.
No other
investment costs are included (such as land value, building
rental,
labor, etc.) as those prices also vary.
The series is intended to be useful in determining whether
the
industries described warrant further inquiry either to rule
out or
to decide upon investment.
The underlying assumption of these
Profiles is that the individual making use of them already
has some
knowledge and experience in industrial development.
These profiles should not be substituted for feasibility
studies.
Before an investment is made in a plant, a feasibility study
should
be conducted. Each
profile contains a list of questions to which
answers must be obtained before proceeding with
implementation of
an industrial project.
All profiles are available in English only.
They are priced at
$9.95 each. You may
take advantage of the introductory offer and
order any three profiles for just $25.00 or order the entire
set of
nineteen profiles for a bargain price of only $150.00.
=====================================================================================
BAKED, LEAVENED BREADS
Richard J. Bess
Describes a small bakery operating with a single shift and
producing 100 tons of baked products a year.
It also describes a
medium-sized plant operating on the same basis but producing
250
tons of baked goods a year.
(IP #19) 6pp.
BLUE JEANS
Edward Hochberg
Describes one plant operating with one shift and making
15,000
dozens of blue jeans a year, and another that produces
22,000
dozens a year.
(IP # 6) 8pp.
DIMENSION HARDWOOD
Nicolas Engalichev
Describes a medium-sized mill operating with one shift that
produces 4,500 cubic meters of dimension hardwood per
year. Some
information is also provided for a mill twice as large.
(IP #16) 8pp.
FISH OIL AND FISH MEAL
S. Divakaran
Describes two plants.
The first is a 20-ton per day plant operating
with an eight-hour shift and producing 8,000 tons of fish
meal and
4,000 tons of fish oil a year.
The second is a 40-ton plant
operating an eight-hour shift and producing 8,000 tons of
fish oil
and 16,000 tons of meal per year.
(IP # 8) 8pp.
GLASS CONTAINERS (BATCH PROCESS)
William B. Hillig
Describes small batch production plants with a work force of
10 to
50 people that produce 500 to 25,000 containers per day.
(IP #18) 8pp.
GLUCOSE FROM CASSAVA STARCH
Peter K. Carrell
Describes a plant that can operate 250 days a year on a
three-shift
continuous basis and produce 2,500 tons of glucose syrup.
(IP #17) 8pp.
LIQUID PETROLEUM GAS
Jon I. Voltz
Describes two plants, operating with three shifts for 52
weeks per
year. The smaller
has an annual manufacturing capacity of 2,220,000
barrels; the larger plant has an annual capacity of
4,440,000
barrels.
(IP #12) 8pp.
MEN'S DRESS SHIRTS
Edward Hochberg
Describes one small plant operating with one shift and
manufacturing
15,000 dozen men's dress shirts a year.
It also describes a
larger plant running a single shift and manufacturing 22,000
dozen
shirts a year.
(IP #13) 8pp.
MEN'S WASH AND WEAR PANTS
Edward Hochberg
Describes one plant operating with one shift and producing
15,000
dozens pairs of pants a year, and another that produces
22,000
dozens a year.
(IP # 4) 8pp.
MEN'S WASH AND WEAR SHIRTS
Edward Hochberg
Describes a plant operating with one shift, manufacturing
15,000
dozen men's wash and wear shirts a year, and another that
manufactures
22,000 dozen shirts a year.
(IP # 5) 7pp.
MEN'S WORK SHIRTS
Edward Hochberg
Describes one plant operating with one shift and
manufacturing
15,000 dozen men's shirts a year.
It also describes a larger plant
running a single shift and producing 22,000 dozen shirts a
year.
(IP # 2) 8pp.
PAINT MANUFACTURING
Philip Heiberger
Describes a small plant that will serve local needs, mainly
in the
trade-sales sector.
Its output may exceed 4, 000 liters per week
(L/wk).
(IP #14) 10pp.
PORTABLE METALLIC STOVE
Andre Charette
Describes a facility that accommodates two workers, a work
table,
and storage of materials and products.
The hammer and chisel method
permits production of five stoves daily.
The tooling-aids permits
production of up to 25 units daily.
(IP #10) 9pp.
PORTLAND CEMENT
Dave F. Smith & Alfred Bush
Describes a small plant producing 35,000 metric tons of
cement a
year.
(IP # 9) 10pp.
ROUGH-SAWN LOGS
Nicolas Engalichev
Describes plants (sawmills) operating with one shift that
can
produce 10,000 and 30,000 cubic meters (cu m) of product per
year.
(IP #15) 8pp.
SMALL CERAMICS PLANT
Victor R. Palmeri
Describes a small plant operating with one shift and
producing
16,000 pieces a year.
It also describes a medium-sized plant
running a single shift producing about 80,000 units a year.
(IP #11) 8pp.
STARCH, OIL, AND FEED FROM SORGHUM GRAIN
Peter K. Carrell
Describes a small plant operating with three shifts on a
seven-day
work schedule and processing about 200 tons of sorghum a
day. Two
shifts are down per week for maintenance.
This facility may be
considered a heavy industry because of the emission from the
boiler
and dryers and the noise from its high speed machinery.
(IP # 1) 8pp.
UNFERMENTED GRAPE JUICE
George Rubin
Describes a plant operating with one shift and producing
125,000
gallons of grape juice a year, and another that produces
260,000
gallons a year.
(IP # 7) 8pp.
WOMEN'S BROADCLOTH DRESSES
Edward Hochberg
Describes a plant operating with one shift and manufacturing
72,000
women's dresses a year (1,440/week, 288/day).
It also describes a
larger plant running a single-shift and producing
104,000 dresses a year.
(IP # 3) 8pp.
========================================
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