A new £5.4m white flint furnace is now fully operational at pharmaceutical, food and drink glass manufacturer Beatson Clark.
With a daily capacity of approximately 200 tonnes of glass, the furnace has the same size melting area of 70.6m2 as the Rotherham firm’s previous furnace, except that its improved design will mean greater efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions. The new furnace now uses the flame length to burn more gas, thereby reducing NOx (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) emissions by more than 20%.
Improvements to the regenerators and an increased wall height have increased the combustion volume, which means that more heat can be recycled. Meanwhile a new burner system with an oxygen trim facility ensures combustion is optimised, further increasing efficiency.
The furnace rebuild is part of a major £10m investment which Beatson Clark has made in plant and equipment this year.
A successful repair was made to the amber furnace in December 2011 and Beatson Clark has also installed new vision based inspection equipment at its factory.
Beatson Clark’s furnace manager, Dean Duke, said: ‘The new furnace and the major maintenance work that has been undertaken will enable us to continue to produce quality glass for our customers for years to come.’
