| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/P510725/1 |
| Title: |
Briquetting of recycled glass fines for energy and CO2 reduction in the glass industry |
| Principal Investigator: |
Bingham, Professor PA |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Faculty of Arts Computing Eng and Sci |
| Organisation: |
Sheffield Hallam University |
| Scheme: |
Technology Programme |
| Starts: |
01 October 2016 |
Ends: |
30 September 2017 |
Value (£): |
96,454
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shu.ac.uk |