More than 500 visitors participated in the DGG/ESD- Conference in Magdeburg from May 30- June 2. PLANSEE hosted a session about refractory metals in the glass industry and invited leading experts to present the latest trends and developments. Highlights of the session were a broad range of innovative material solutions for the glass tank as well as current and future design of glassmelting technology.
Visitors showed great interest in MoZrO2, PLANSEE’s new corrosion resistant material for glass melting electrodes. MoZrO2 can demonstrate an up to 40% better corrosion resistance in aggressive glasses compared to common Molybdenum electrodes. It can significantly enhance the performance of the boosting system, especially in antimony oxide refined glasses, like those used in the solar glass production. The advantages of undoped Molybdenum electrodes (stability and long lifetime) are maintained by MoZrO2 while early breakage – due to grain boundary corrosion by an attack of antimony – can be prevented. Furthermore, the lifetime of the electrodes, also in coloured container glasses, can be enhanced which allows the pushing cycle to be reduced significantly.
The new material MoZrO2 for advanced glass melting electrodes was selected to be included in the FORGLAS- research cooperation, an initiative by the Bavarian government and the University of Bayreuth/Germany (www.forglas.de). PLANSEE is a member of the cooperation for all Molybdenum materials, beside leading German players in the glass industry like W.C. Heraeus GmbH, Schott AG, Nachtmann GmbH, Centrosolar Glas GmbH&Co.Kg, INTERPANE Glasgesellschaft mbH, Gebrüder Dörfner GmbH&Co and Füller Glastechnologie GmbH and many more.
The PLANSEE Glass Team is available for further discussions at the following events:
Society of Glass Technology Conference in Cambridge, UK
ICG Conference in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil
GLASSTEC in Düsseldorf, Germany
Glass Problems Conference in Columbus/Ohia, USA
Further information can be found at www.plansee.com. Please contact us with any questions you may have (by phone: + 43 5672 / 600-3250 or by e-mail: glasstechnology@plansee.com).
[10/06/2010]
