Briquetting of recycled glass fines for energy and CO2 reduction in the glass industry

The global glass manufacturing sector uses 140 - 220 Terawatt-hours of energy and emits 50-60 million tonnes of CO2 per
year. Manufacturing inefficiencies are such that, without intervention and increased product demand, global CO2
emissions from glass making are forecast to increase by 20% by 2019. In the UK alone the glass industry produces over 3
million tonnes of glass per year, using 4.5 Terawatt-hours of energy (1.4 Megawatt-hour per tonne of glass melted), and
emits 2 million tonnes of CO2. The energy required for melting glass in a furnace accounts for 75% of the energy
consumption. Melting furnaces typically have 50-60% efficiency, however, the introduction of recycled glass (cullet)
significantly reduces glass melting energy requirements and CO2 emissions. The availability of quality cullet is an industrywide
challenge - 20% is rejected every year and sent to landfill.
We are proposing a feasibility study for a novel briquetting process that will turn rejected cullet (fines) into valuable waste
material re-introduced into glass manufacture. The proposed technology has potential to (i) reduce the glass industry's CO2
emissions by up to 8%; (ii) Secure the long term UK & global supply of cullet and (iii) reduce the industry's energy costs by
4-8%. This application is for a lab based project utilising a test briquetting line, with laboratory scale glass melting and testing equipment. The project feasibility steps will be as follows: (1) exploration of the materials and binders required to
achieve optimum speed and efficiency of glass raw materials melting in the furnace; (2) determining the physical, chemical
and dimensional requirements of the briquettes for manufacturing and processing purposes, and how the briquetting line
needs to be designed to accommodate these; (3) lab scale glass melting trials to determine the effect of the briquettes in
the furnace; (4) characterisation and analysis of the resulting samples to understand the impact of the consolidated cullet
and binding materials on the quality of glass produced vis-a-vis energy consumption; (5) energy and cost savings analysis
to determine the environmental and cost implications of each briquette permutation; and (6) Dissemination of findings.

This project will test the feasibility of developing a glass fines briquetting technology to turn waste material (rejected cullet
fines) into a valuable raw material that can be successfully reintroduced into glass manufacture, to achieve significant
reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The tasks and outputs are listed below with pathways for
dissemination:
1. Optimum Composition of the Briquettes - Recycling Waste into Energy Efficient Raw Material: The partners will undertake
testing processes to assess the feasibility of briquetting of the waste cullet fines, to provide engineering and scientific
benchmarking for the new technology. A critical aspect of this will be to test various options for the composition and
characterisation of the binding material to enhance physical and chemical properties of the resulting briquettes, and to
enhance glass melting behaviour.
Outcomes and Dissemination: The outputs of this process will feed directly into a set of technology recommendations for
production and scale up of a prototype technology. The proven hypothesis will be used to inform this next stage, and to
educate and engage the 10 major UK glass manufacturers in the latter stages of technology development. It is hoped that
the findings will enable us to secure strategic partnerships with 2-3 of these companies, to develop in-factory platforms for
the demonstrator technology, so the briquettes can be tested in-process across a range of glass quality compositions and
applications. SHU will be responsible for publishing a minimum of 2 research papers from the materials composition and
testing process. These will be published and disseminated through academic and industrial publications, and at technology
related events UK and internationally. The partners already have working relationships with the 4 market leading glass
manufacturers in Europe, and will commence discussions with each of them to educate and engage them in the proposed
technology. As part of the feasibility exercise SHU will identify applications beyond the glass sector, to include ceramics,
metals and food manufacturing.