Glass Futures has successfully rolled the first glass from its world-first experimental glass furnace, marking a “pivotal moment” in the journey to deliver a transformative R&D asset for the global glass industry.

Glass Futures is a global innovation platform that brings together industry, academia, and government. At the heart of its pilot facility is an innovative 30-tonne-per-day oxy-fired pilot furnace, designed to showcase sustainable technologies and approaches.

According to a statement from the organisation, the achievement follows months of meticulous planning, engineering, and collaboration. The furnace, lit in June of this year, is designed to enable advanced analysis of glass flow and composition. After overcoming commissioning challenges, including melting glass in an area near the furnace exit where directing heat is more difficult, the team successfully achieved full commissioning of the furnace and began rolling glass through both the rolled plate line and annealing lehr.

Glass Futures will now begin its formal trial programmes, with this milestone having paved the way for groundbreaking research and innovation in sustainable glass manufacturing.

Programmes such as this one are funded under the UK government’s Industrial Fuel Switching (IFS) initiative from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. Their scope is to explore alternative energy sources such as waste-derived biofuels, electrical boosting, and hydrogen, aiming to revolutionise high-temperature industrial processes and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.