Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Task 3 : The Process of Making Glass

The process of making glass can be divided into three basic steps. The first step is the input of the raw materials, the second step is the process within the furnace, and the last step is the output production.

Initially, we insert the raw materials, which are sand, soda, and limestone, into the furnace chamber. After the insertion of the ingredients, the process of making glass begins. The process includes heating, stirring until the mixture becomes homogeneous, and exiting the chamber in two outlet streams. The first outlet stream is used to make thin plate glass. In order to make the glass thin, the stream is pumped into a roller to undergo cold work process, in which the glass is thinned into desired thicknesses, before the mixture gets dry. The second outlet stream is used to make glass bottle. For us to have the shape of a bottle, the stream is inserted into a mould and after the mixture gets dry and has the shape as the mould does, the mould is then cleaned and can be used again.

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