Steklarna Hrastnik orders €7 million furnace

Slovenian group Steklarna Hrastnik is to undergo a scheduled two-month refit.

Technologists at the Vitrum-owned business unit shut down the G melting furnace earlier this week, and will shut the H melting furnace on February 1.

Furnaces G and H will be replaced by a new €7 million glass melting furnace with a higher capacity and improved energy efficiency in glass melting.

The new furnace will be driven by oxy-fuel combustion technology that uses pure oxygen to combust natural gas. German company Sorg will construct the new melting furnace.

The new melting furnace will have a similar capacity as furnaces G and H combined, between 80 and 90 tonnes a day. Burners in the furnace will be installed transversally to the direction of glass melting and will uninterruptedly supply a precisely defined mixture of natural gas and pure oxygen.

Oxy-fuel technology will contribute to a higher quality of glass, while an energy efficient production will have a lesser environmental impact.

Commissioning of the new melting furnace is planned to take place after the refit in early March.