Glass Futures has published its report for the UK Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which reveals low grade waste biofuels have the potential to decarbonise glass and ceramics manufacturing furnaces and kilns across the UK.

Combustion trials undertaken by Glass Futures found that low-grade fuels (derived from cooking and waste oils) had a similar heat transfer efficiency to natural gas and analysis of the emissions indicated that they are not expected to impact glass quality, although further investigation is required.

Dr. Bridget Stewart, Senior Projects Manager at Glass Futures said: “We have identified ten waste-derived fuels for possible use in glass furnaces and ceramic kilns. Flashpoint and viscosity were found to be the factors having the strongest influence on suitability, followed by calorific value and the availability of fuels in volume. Three of the ten fuels were put forward for combustion performance trials."

“Our trials indicated that low cost, waste derived biofuels, have the potential to provide a cost-effective route to help manufacturers of glass and ceramic products to begin decarbonising their operations by 2025.”

The project also found that industry should be able to make a potential switch ‘relatively straightforwardly’ within three to five years with only minor changes required to the furnace/kiln and site infrastructure.

Dr. Stewart said: “Due to the nature of glass furnaces and ceramics kilns, fuel quality is less critical to product quality than other sectors, such as transport or domestic heating. This presents a special opportunity, since it means that the glass sector is better positioned to take advantage of lower-grade, lower-cost biofuels compared to other sectors, reducing the economic barriers for making the switch from natural gas to biofuels.”

www.glass-futures.org