The temperature required in the fusion of sheet-glass and of other glasses produced in tank furnaces is much lower than that attained in steel furnaces, and it is consequently pos Since the discovery of the Rntgen rays, experiments have been made to ascertain the effects of the different constituents of glass on the transparency of glass to X-rays.
A certain proportion of soda ash (carbonate of soda) is also used in some works in sheet-glass mixtures, while " decolorizers " (substances intended to remove or reduce the colour of the glass) are also sometimes added, those most generally used being manganese dioxide and arsenic. Another essential ingredient of all glass mixtures containing sulphate of soda is some form of carbon, which is added either as coke, charcoal or anthracite coal; the carbon so introduced aids the reducing substances contained in the atmosphere of the furnace in bringing about the reduction of the sulphate of soda to a condition in which it combines more readily with the silicic acid of the sand.
The fusion of sheet-glass is now generally carried out in gas-fired regenerative tank furnaces.
In a sheet-glass tank there is therefore a gradient of temperature and a continuous passage of material from the hotter end of the furnace where the raw materials are introduced to the cooler end where the glass, free from bubbles and raw material, is withdrawn by the gatherers.
The process of sheet-glass manufacture described above is typical of that in use in a large number of works, but many modifications are to be found, particularly in the furnaces in which the glass is melted.
