50 facts - SORG - Sustainable Melting

A SWITCHED-ON TEAM Week One

Fact 1

SORG has a dedicated department for electric melting, led by Volker Müller. Four electrical engineers, one mechanical engineer, one industrial management assistant.

Fact 2

Technical development and pre-engineering are included in the quotation phase.

Fact 3

Systems are tailor-made to the customer’s needs and boundary conditions.

Fact 4

Project engineering/design, technical documentation, commissioning support, after sales services – are all provided by SORG.

Fact 5

All design calculations are completed in-house.

Fact 6

All key equipment is also designed in-house.

Fact 7

Our comprehensive technical documentation helps customers with day-to-day issues.

Fact 8

We offer an expert after-sales service to all of our customers.

Fact 9

This includes analysis of electrical operation parameters to determine electrode wear and recommend necessary service action.

Fact 10

We work hand-in-hand with SKS/Sorg Feuerungsbau, who can help with any severe equipment issues, including the replacement of foreign equipment.  

Fact 11

If any problems arise from furnace or glass inspections, our engineers and specialists are there to support you.

OUR LIGHTBULB MOMENT Week Two

Fact 12

SORG patented the VSM® cold-top vertical melter in 1970.

Fact 13

VSM® stands for ‘Vertical Super Melter’.

Fact 14

The first VSM® was installed at SORG’s Lohr headquarters as an experimental furnace.

Fact 15

Our first commercial all-electric melter was built in 1972 for a German customer to produce fluorine opal container glass.

Fact 16

Over 100 VSMs have been supplied to date.

A CLEAN CONSCIENCE Week Three

Fact 17

The all-electric furnace technology, melting process and equipment differ largely from fossil-fired furnaces.

Fact 18

The VSM® uses only electric power to melt glass, no combustion.

Fact 19

The VSM® has low energy consumption – close to the physical limits of glass melting.

Fact 20

Since energy losses appear only in the form of losses through the refractory walls and losses due to hot gasses, the VSM® offers the best possible furnace efficiency.

Fact 21

The VSM® has a small footprint and is low in gaseous emissions – no CO2 is generated from combustion.

Fact 22

The VSM® requires only a small number of auxiliary equipment.

Fact 23

The VSM® offers melting capacities of 3…200 t/d

Fact 24

The VSM® can produce – and has produced – almost all kinds of mass-produced and technical glasses:
• Soda-lime glass
• Container glass
• Tableware
• Rolled-plate flat glass
• Tubing
• Lighting ware
• C-glass
• Insulation fiber
• Borosilicate glass
• Labware
• Cookware
• Fluoride Opal
• Flaconnage & cream jars

BETTER BY DESIGN Week 4

Fact 25

The all-electric furnace is normally 6-sided (small furnaces), 12-sided or round (large furnaces).

Fact 26

In a VSM® furnace, the processes of batch charging, melting, refining and homogenization all take place in a vertical direction.

Fact 27

Electrodes are divided into two levels to give better control of the vertical temperature gradient through the VSM® furnace – this increases flexibility, especially during pull changes.

Fact 28

SORG’s furnace design ensures the best glass quality and a long furnace lifetime (together with special refractory services, provided by SKS/Sorg Feuerungsbau).

SUPERCHARGED PERFORMANCE Week 5

Fact 29

The VSM® has a fully enclosed superstructure.

Fact 30

The complete furnace crown is supported on wheel units fitted with electric drives – the crown is rotating about the vertical axis of the furnace.

Fact 31

A number of vibratory chutes are mounted on the crown above small openings at varying distances from the furnace vertical axis. As the crown rotates, the vibratory chutes lay concentric rings of batch onto the surface of the melt.

Fact 32

Gasses (melting loss, humidity and hot air) are extracted from the enclosed superstructure and cleaned by a small bag filter, resulting in an almost dust-free factory environment.

Fact 33

For the connection to the batch supply, we work hand-in-hand with EME.

SMART FROM TOP TO BOTTOM Week 6

Fact 34

Specially developed SORG Top Electrodes are used for all VSM® furnaces.

Fact 35

Top Electrodes are inserted through the furnace superstructure and enter the glass bath through the batch layer.

Fact 36

Top Electrodes do not require holes or water-cooling in the furnace side wall like conventional horizontal electrodes. Therefore, the convection currents produced around the electrodes cause less wear on the refractory material.

Fact 37

Top Electrodes can be swung out of the furnace for inspection and exchange.

Fact 38

An exchange of a single electrode takes a two-man team 15 to 20 minutes.

BOOSTING PRODUCTION Week 7

Fact 39

Electrical energy is used to increase the melting capacity of fossil-fired melters.

Fact 40

We are an independent supplier of electric boosting systems in over 70 countries.

Fact 41

Over 95% of the furnaces SORG currently supplies are fossil-fired melters and almost every one of these has electric boosting installed.

Fact 42

As we’re an independent supplier of boosting systems, customers don’t need to have a SORG furnace to have a SORG electric boosting system installed.

Fact 43

Molybdenum electrodes are installed through the sidewall or the bottom of the furnace.

Fact 44

SORG has its own design of electrode holders – the design is constantly improved by analysis of failures and operation parameters. The new XD electrode holder features reliable operation even under hard conditions.

Fact 45

The electrode holders require uninterrupted supply of cooling water of sufficient quality.

Fact 46

SORG’s electric melting department also offers complete cooling water supply systems, which are engineered in-house.

A MORE POSITIVE IMPACT Week 8

Fact 47

SORG’s electric boosting technology and equipment has been applied to a brand-new hybrid melter – the CLEAN Melter®.

Fact 48

Our new super-efficient hybrid furnace offers lower emissions, lower heat losses and lower energy consumption.

Fact 49

The CLEAN Melter® will combine up to 80% electric power with a minimum of 20% combustion.

Fact 50

This will exceed the target set by the Paris agreement of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and we aim to achieve net zero before 2050.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of SORG’s Vertical Super Melter, we’re releasing 50 facts detailing everything you need to know about the innovation and technology behind our electric melting developments.

It gives us the perfect opportunity to show how much sustainability has played a key factor in the design of SORG furnaces and our conditioning systems. For more than 50 years, we’ve been considering ways to make melting glass kinder on the environment and easier for manufacturers.

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing a selection of bite-sized facts, starting with the team responsible for maintaining our world-leading reputation and the range of services that we provide to customers in over 70 different countries.

A SWITCHED-ON TEAM Week One

OUR LIGHTBULB MOMENT Week Two

A CLEAN CONSCIENCE Week Three

BETTER BY DESIGN Week 4

SUPERCHARGED PERFORMANCE Week 5

SMART FROM TOP TO BOTTOM Week 6

BOOSTING PRODUCTION Week 7

A MORE POSITIVE IMPACT Week 8

MISSION BY SORG

50 YEARS OF CLOSE PARTNERSHIP

WE ARE POWERING UP TO TAKE EMISSIONS DOWN

THE WORLD’S FIRST HYBRID FURNACE IS HERE

Furnaces with a bright past and sustainable future – GMP&A article

Catch our latest article in Glass International

The furnace of the future? – An interview with Dr. Hartmut Hegeler

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of SORG’s Vertical Super Melter, we’re releasing 50 facts detailing everything you need to know about the innovation and technology behind our electric melting developments.

It gives us the perfect opportunity to show how much sustainability has played a key factor in the design of SORG furnaces and our conditioning systems. For more than 50 years, we’ve been considering ways to make melting glass kinder on the environment and easier for manufacturers.

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing a selection of bite-sized facts, starting with the team responsible for maintaining our world-leading reputation and the range of services that we provide to customers in over 70 different countries.

A SWITCHED-ON TEAM Week One

OUR LIGHTBULB MOMENT Week Two

A CLEAN CONSCIENCE Week Three

BETTER BY DESIGN Week 4

SUPERCHARGED PERFORMANCE Week 5

SMART FROM TOP TO BOTTOM Week 6

BOOSTING PRODUCTION Week 7

A MORE POSITIVE IMPACT Week 8

MISSION BY SORG

50 YEARS OF CLOSE PARTNERSHIP

WE ARE POWERING UP TO TAKE EMISSIONS DOWN

THE WORLD’S FIRST HYBRID FURNACE IS HERE

Furnaces with a bright past and sustainable future – GMP&A article

Catch our latest article in Glass International

The furnace of the future? – An interview with Dr. Hartmut Hegeler

Keep up to date with the latest innovations in sustainable melting from SORG.