Development Trend Of Glass

According to the historical development stage, glass can be divided into ancient glass, traditional glass, new glass and future glass.

(1) In the history of ancient glass, ancient times usually refer to the era of slavery. In the history of China, ancient times also include Shijian society. Therefore, ancient glass generally refers to the glass made in the Qing Dynasty. Although it is also being imitated today, it can only be called antique broken glass, which is actually a fake of ancient glass.

2) Traditional glass is a kind of glass materials and products, such as flat glass, bottle glass, container glass, art glass and decorative glass, which are produced by melt supercooling method with natural minerals and stone as the main raw materials.

(3) New glass, also known as new functional glass and special functional glass, refers to the glass with specific functions such as light, electricity, magnetism, heat, chemistry and biochemistry, which is obviously different from traditional glass in composition, raw material preparation, processing, performance and application. It is a high-tech intensive material with many varieties, small production scale and fast upgrading, Such as optical storage glass, three-dimensional waveguide glass, spectral hole burning glass and so on.

(4) It is difficult to give a precise definition for future glass. It should be the glass that may be developed in the future according to the direction of scientific development or theoretical prediction. No matter ancient glass, traditional glass, new glass or future glass, all have their commonness and individuality. They are all amorphous solids with glass transition temperature characteristics. However, personality changes with time, that is, there are differences in internal and external functions in different periods: for example, new glass in the 20th century will become traditional glass in the 21st century; Another example is that micro glass was a new kind of glass in the 1950s and 1960s, but now it has become a mass-produced commodity and building material; Similarly, photonic glass is a new functional material for research and trial production. In a few years, it may be a widely used traditional glass.

From the perspective of the development of glass, it is closely related to the political and economic situation of the society at that time. Only with social stability and economic development can glass develop. After the founding of new China, especially since the reform and opening up, China’s output of flat glass, daily glass, glass fiber and optical glass has ranked the first in the world. By the end of 2008, the number of communication optical cable lines reached 6.76 million km, and the optical production capacity and technical level were at the forefront of the world.

The development of glass is also closely related to the needs of society, which will promote the development of glass. Glass has always been mainly used as containers, and glass containers account for a considerable part of the output of glass. However, in old China, the manufacturing technology of ceramic ware was relatively developed, the quality was better, and the use was convenient. It was rarely necessary to develop unfamiliar glass containers, so that glass remained in imitation jewelry and art, thus affecting the overall development of glass; In the west, however, people are keen on transparent glassware, wine sets and other containers, which promotes the development of glass containers. At the same time, in the period of using glass to make optical instruments and chemical instruments in the west to promote the development of experimental science, China’s glass manufacturing is in the stage of “imitation jade”, so it is difficult to enter the palace of science.

With the progress of science and technology, the demand for the quantity and variety of glass continues to increase, and the quality, reliability and cost of glass are also paid more and more attention. The demand for energy, biological and environmental materials for glass is more and more incisive. Glass is required to have multiple functions, less resources and energy, and less pollution and damage to the environment, Green development and low carbon economy are always the development direction of glass industry. Although the requirements of green development are different in different historical stages, the general direction is the same. Before the industrial revolution, our glass production used wood as fuel, forests were cut down, and the environment was destroyed: in the 17th century, Britain banned the use of this material, so coal-fired crucible kilns were used. In the 19th century, regenerator pool was introduced; in the 20th century, electric melting was developed; in the 21st century, non-traditional melting was used, that is, instead of traditional pool and crucible, module melting, immersion combustion melting, vacuum wet cleaning, high-energy plasma melting, etc. Among them, modular melting, vacuum clarification and plasma beam melting have been tested in production. Modular melting is based on the preheating batch process before the 20th century, which can save 6.5% of fuel. In 2004, Owens Illinois company of the United States conducted a production test, and the energy consumption of traditional melting method is 7-5 w / KS. A, while the energy consumption of modular melting is 5 mu / kgam, The energy consumption can be saved by 333%. As for vacuum clarification, it has been produced in 20td medium-sized tank rich, which can reduce the energy consumption by about 30%. On the basis of vacuum clarification, the next generation melting system (NGMS) with high-speed melting, homogenization and negative pressure has been established.