Glassmaker Pilkington uses biofuel to fire furnace in world first trial
St Helens glassmaker, Pilkington, has become the world’s first flat glass manufacturer to fire its furnace on 100% biofuel.
The exercise is part of an industry trial to find sustainable alternatives to natural gas.
A sustainable biofuel made from organic waste materials emits around 80% less CO2 than traditional natural gas used in the sector.
The fuel powered the glass manufacturer’s furnace entirely for four days, creating 165,000 m2 of the lowest carbon float glass ever made.
The trial aims to demonstrate that the furnace could run safely at full production on the low-carbon fuel without impacting product quality. It is part of a £7.1m project led by industry research and technology organisation Glass Futures, which is developing a £54m Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens.
Pilkington UK managing director, Neil Syder, said: “Our world-first trial with Glass Futures proves how biofuel presents a realistic low-carbon alternative to natural gas, which will allow manufacturers to cut thousands of tonnes of CO2 from their production, years ahead of alternative zero-carbon options becoming more readily available.
“Last summer, we became the first glass manufacturer in the world to fire a furnace with hydrogen, which represented a major step forward towards our future as a net-zero industry. But a significant body of work remains before hydrogen and electrification become feasible alternatives to natural gas for glassmakers, making biofuels an important transitionary fuel.”
He added: “The success of this trial is also important for the many sectors that rely on glass as an integral supply chain material. We’re now far closer to glass with less embodied carbon being accessible, which will help developers to create a more sustainable built environment.”
Aston Fuller, general manager at Glass Futures, said: “It is great to see a technology demonstrated on a container furnace one year ago be adopted onto a float line just one year later. Biofuel represents a real short term opportunity for the UK glass sector to lead the way in sustainability among energy intensive industries, and this trial is another great example of what can be achieved when industry, academia and public partners work together to tackle the major challenges and opportunities of the future.”
Energy & climate change Minister, Greg Hands, said: “These fuel switching trials, backed by over £7m in government funding, demonstrate how we are supporting industry to decarbonise and move away from relying on fossil fuels. This is vital to reducing emissions and driving forward the UK’s green industrial revolution.”
In a glass furnace, burning gas is pumped into a 20-metre-long chamber to heat it to 1,600 degrees celsius, causing raw materials including sand and recycled glass to melt to the consistency of treacle. This is then floated on top of a bath of molten tin, making the glass perfectly flat before being cooled.
Pilkington UK fired hydrogen on its glass furnace in August 2021 in a world-first trial as part of the HyNet Industrial Fuel Switching project to decarbonise industrial processes across the North West of England.
In 2022, Pilkington UK marks 70 years since Sir Alastair Pilkington first began working on the float glass process from the company’s base in St Helens.
