CHALLENGE

Glass manufacturer Encirc required a furnace at their Elton plant capable of melting 900 tpd. The furnace was needed to support Encirc’s growing demands for container glass in the industry.

This new furnace is the largest container glass furnace in operation, in the world.

SORG APPROACH

SORG’s long-standing relationship with Encirc meant we were perfectly placed to help them tackle this challenge.

The challenge was to implement the required enlargement of the melting surface to increase performance while maximising reuse of the furnace steel and the peripherals, such as platforms and furnace cooling. A detailed inventory was necessary. This resulted in special solutions for the subsequent use of the buckstays, the widening of the furnace grating, etc. The additional weights had to be calculated and the load capacity of all components had to be checked. This applied especially to the furnace crown. Some components had to be strengthened. Statics for the foundations and the steel structure were created. The entire furnace design has also been brought up to date with the latest refractory design as well as melting technology.

Nikolaus SORG, worked alongside SKS to support the design and construction of the new furnace. Altogether there were up to 180 SORG Group employees on the construction site at any one time.

RESULTS

SORG’s engineers improved on the current furnace design by making it bigger, better and more versatile than before. Encirc have now achieved one of the most stable glass production environments in the industry.