GW: What products are made by NSG Group in North America and which markets and regions are served?

NSG Group’s Architectural business in North America produces raw float glass for use in the automotive, residential, architectural, solar and various other specialised market segments. In addition, we also fabricate automotive glass products for the OEM and aftermarket segments. The business supplies float glass products to customers around the globe.

GW: Have any major investment projects been completed by NSG Group into American manufacturing operations in recent times and are any planned in the near future?

The most recent investment in the US was our 500,000ft2 facility located in Luckey, Ohio. The facility produces online TCO (transparent conductive oxide) coated glass to support the growing solar market. Construction began in the first half of 2019 and new float furnace started operations in November 2020.

GW: How would you describe prevailing market conditions in the sectors served?

The Architectural business increased sales price reflecting strong demand, although shipments were constrained in North America. There was also continued strong demand of solar energy glass. Please reference NSG Group’s latest Q2 results1 for more details.

GW: What are the main activities and responsibilities in your role as Furnace Engineer?

Oversee function, repair and efficiency of furnace projects and deliver in the time and budgets proposed.

GW: Currently, what is the main focus for you and your team?

Preparing the specifications, engineering, and contracts for a large rebuild next year in Laurinburg, NC. Every vendor has asked for more time to prepare for final inspection. This in turn requires another look at the schedule.

GW: How do you measure the performance of the company in the area of furnace design and performance?

Our furnace design technology has a historical performance [record] for delivering high quality glass for many decades. Each plant has issues with safety and access for maintaining the furnace high-wear points. I do not believe we can cold engineer a furnace to last much longer but we can engineer access for future hot patches and over coats to be done safely and often.

GW: How do you keep track of technology and materials developments that could lead to further advances in melting furnace design?

The most important way is staying in contact with all the other NSG Group furnace engineers that have worldwide experience dealing with a multitude of designs. I also pick up what I can at the Glass Problems Conference and the Hotbels Conference each year.

GW: Over the decades, NSG Group has developed unparalleled float glass production expertise, often relying on in-house resources to build and upgrade its manufacturing operations. What are the benefits of adopting this approach in the USA versus the use of independent, external contractors?

By keeping our resources internal, we are able to maintain the required confidentiality which allows us to have very open discussions on solutions and the way to move forward. We also have a really good R&D team that helps us determine the step-by-step process to bring concepts to fruition.

GW: On the flip side, what are examples of successful partnerships shared with suppliers of melting technology at your operations?

Since our Rossford oxy-fuel float furnace was the first in the industry, back in 1998, we had many opportunities to improve along the 20-year life of the furnace. When it was time to rebuild, we worked with our oxygen supplier to gain their experience and then take both of our experiences to the model team.

GW: How beneficial to your current role is your previous experience as Project Engineer from May 1994 to July 2005 with glass melting specialist Toledo Engineering, part of the TECO group?

It truly was invaluable. I could not think of doing my job today without that experience in my back pocket. It gave me a good understanding of many different types and success of glass furnace designs, and how I can apply them to our float furnaces.

GW: What are the key reasons behind the flat glass industry’s improved melting efficiencies in recent decades?

I think it is the greater understanding we now have through modelling. We have plugged many decades of real-world data into a computer and then morphed many different geometries for the most efficient outcome in the model. This applies to both glass and exhaust gas flows.

GW: What are your thoughts on the challenge to create a CO2-neutral flat glass industry, by what means can this be achieved by NSG Group and in what timeframe?

Our government is pushing the carbon neutral initiative by funding hydrogen production plants throughout the nation. We, at NSG, have experimented with mixing natural gas with hydrogen, from small percentages to 100% hydrogen. Depending on whether we can plug into a hydrogen pipeline or create our own on site, this could be feasible within 10 years.

GW: What further improvements in terms of furnace performance and campaign duration are possible and how?

Yes, improvements are possible. The limits will always be how much capital is available and compar[ing] the rate of return on that improvement. I think the biggest improvements will be in the hot maintenance area: how much down time, capital and quality can we afford before we take it cold for a full rebuild?

GW: How will these developments contribute to NSG Group’s sustainability goals?

The designs will need to reduce energy usage while maintaining the NSG Group glass quality at the highest possible standard. If natural gas can be replaced with hydrogen, we could reduce our carbon footprint and still maintain our quality standards.

GW: In an ideal world, with complete freedom from any constraints (budgetary or otherwise) to make a new furnace design, what would you do? What would you change and what risks would you take?

I would like to compartmentalise the float process, checker pack where required, heavy electric boosting in zones that would be the most efficient. This furnace could then be taken cold compartment by compartment and not all at once.

GW: If you were designing a furnace in, say 2050, with limited or no fossil fuel, how would you design that furnace?

By compartmentalising we could pick and choose the type of energy we need in each zone, whether that be hydrogen mix, electric or oxy-hydrogen.

GW: How do you personally go about ‘thinking outside the box’ when looking for melting solutions?

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the NSG Group team in Lathom, UK, as they have allowed me to apply designs that I have sketched up in my journals over many decades. This has led to solving many problematic issues that we had to live with because we never had the time nor the money to change the design. Rebuilding as-is means we still have the as-is safety situations, the as-is maintenance problems, and the as-is access limits. The innovations they have allowed me to develop with the binding and support steel gives us much greater and safer access in tight spaces all around the furnace. Allowing me to apply those designs has led to solving many of those problematic issues that previously had not been considered due to there being no known solutions.

GW: How influential do you expect initiatives such as Glass Futures to be in creating sustainable glass melting practices?

They will be very influential. They have already identified the differences required in firing with hydrogen, tried them out and offered this information to the glass world.

GW: How important are NSG Group’s R&D efforts in America, both now and in the future?

Innovation has been at the heart of NSG Group since its inception. Inventions and continuous advancements in the production of flat glass have enabled cutting-edge façades, automotive glazing, and technical glass applications. Because of this, NSG Group has been able to offer customers new products, greater performance, and excellent service, thanks to the efforts of NSG Group R&D.2

GW: In the long-term, do you believe that the USA will represent a cost-effective manufacturing hub for flat glass production?

Yes. Glass still today has a few advantages to be local. 1) It still costs a lot of money to ship a long distance. 2) Making glass will always be an art form. We can apply all the science to predict the glass outcome but, in the end, we still depend on the glassmaker to make the daily adjustments needed for best quality glass. We have a highly skilled work force in the USA of which we can draw from on a consistent basis.

GW: What advice would you offer engineers joining the glass industry?

I like to tell the younger glass engineers that I learned all I needed to know about glass furnaces within one year of starting with an engineering construction firm. I do not intend to be flippant but extremely humble to what the glass industry has to offer for it has taken me a lifetime to understand how to apply that simple knowledge.

I have been a wannabe glass blower since the mid 1980s. I have also designed and built many small glass melters for the hand glass world. I have mixed my own batches and built my own equipment. I have first-hand knowledge of many mistakes that I had to live with until I could rebuild. Many of these successful hand glass melter designs have big industry potential. All the gained knowledge and experience helps me with my decisions every day. I highly recommend for any hot end glass professional to get to a hand glass blowing shop and try it for themselves.

1 https://www.nsg.com/-/media/nsg/site-content/ir/ir-presentations/2ndquar...

2 Learn more at https://www.nsg.com/en/research-and-development