Bubbling (glass)
Bubbling (English for blistering , effervescence ) is a method for the industrial production of glass . If a gas ( air , oxygen and others) is blown into the molten glass during glass production , this process is called bubbling.
On the one hand, bubbling serves to support the refining process of the glass melt, in which reaction gases , in particular carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), are removed from the melt. As a result of partial pressure differences, the CO 2 released during the melt in the glass diffuses into the bubbles that are generated by the bubbling. The bubbles rise to the surface of the glass and burst there. Due to the stronger circulation of the glass in the melting tank, bubbling also serves to homogenize the glass melt in order to avoid the formation of streaks and thus visual impairments.
If the bubble curtain is placed near the thermal swelling point of the melting tank, a mechanical barrier similar to a wall is also formed in the melting tank. This barrier separates the developing glass flows better and thus ensures that only completely melted glass reaches the refining area of the melting tank. The flow rollers are often delimited by a wall between the melting and refining areas, this wall being exposed to considerable corrosion due to the strong flow.
literature
- Wolfgang Trier: Glass melting furnaces - construction and operating behavior . Springer, Berlin 1984, ISBN 978-3-642-82068-7 .