VARIETY. GLASS.
Think-tank
Industrial hot processes have one thing in common: they need viewing panels for optical control and monitoring. As large as possible. So that you can see all the details. As small as possible, so that heat loss is kept within limits. How to solve this dilemma? With an infrared (IR) reflective coating on transparent NEXTREMA glass-ceramic from SCHOTT:
The coating applied to one side of the glass-ceramic reflects the heat radiation back into the process and thus can significantly reduce heat loss, compared to an uncoated NEXTREMA pane. The degree of IR reflection depends on the wavelength of the heat radiation. The coated glass-ceramic is available in different shapes and formats and sets hardly any limits to the free view of the processes.
Which hot processes do we have in mind?
We have a few more ideas, for example
- Soldering ovens in electronics production
- Drying ovens
- Tempering furnaces
- Annealing and hardening furnaces
- …and countless other applications that you can probably think of right now.
Let’s talk about it!
You can find more information here on our website.
Applications in detail
Grilling on glass-ceramics
Our stylish grill plate, made of the high-performance glass-ceramic Nextrema from Schott, proves that a part that looks simple at first glance can be quite complex:
- Temperature resistant up to 920 °C
- Virtually no thermal expansion: can withstand temperature shocks of up to 800 degrees
- High permeability for thermal radiation
- Chemically inert – does not react with the food to be grilled and is therefore easy to clean
- Resistant to acids, alkalis, corrosion
- Mechanically very robust (impact resistant)
You can find more information and videos on this fascinating material here on our website.
Grilling on glass not only ensures good heat distribution and the best roasted aromas. Above all, no harmful smoke from half-burned fat condenses on the food to be grilled. Got curious? You can find detailed test and experience reports on the website of the BBQ.LOVE grill portal or with “our top chef from Upper Palatinate” Andreas Meier on the Facebook page of Schlossbrauerei Fuchsberg. The Grillsportverein Oberpfalz e.V. has also extensively tested the grill plate.
If you’ve got a taste for it now: You can order the glass-ceramic grill plate directly from us. Rectangular or round. In standard dimensions or in your desired format. As a single item, as a promotional gift or in series for your products. But always with the right scraper for quick primary cleaning. Just send an email to glaskeramik@irlbacher.com!
Ask the Irlbachers
Paul K.: “How is glass made?”
Martin Kreuzer, Operations Manager
The primary material of practically all optically transparent glass is silicon dioxide (SiO2) – quartz sand, like on white beaches. The finer and the purer, the better for glass production. The problem involved: Pure quartz sand has to be heated to over 2,000 °C in order to melt and be processed as quartz glass.
To lower this melting temperature significantly, so-called fluxes are added to the quartz sand. “Window glass”, the most common soda-lime glass in the world, consists of about 70% SiO2, plus about 15% sodium oxide (Na2O) and about 10% calcium oxide (CaO; unslaked lime). The remaining approx. 5% is made up of additives that are used to adjust certain properties of the glass, such as its colour. With around 1,100 °C, the processing temperature of soda-lime glass is almost 1,000 degrees below that of pure quartz glass.
For glass production, the raw materials are mixed and heated in a refractory-lined tank. When the temperature is high enough, the mixture begins to melt. To drive out the gases generated by the melting process, the temperature is raised further (“refining”). This prevents the formation of glass defects due to air inclusions (bubbling). The melt is then allowed to cool down to its processing temperature (“stand-off”) – and the glassmakers or the machines for the production of flat glass go to work.
