Guardian Glass UK’s new waste heat recovery system to drive energy efficiency in the glass sector

The company embarked on the WHRS project at the start of this year at the East Yorkshire plant.The new system will provide half the electrical energy needed to operate Guardian’s full float line, which in turn will reduce its dependency on the grid and effectively reduce its CO2 emissions by some 6,000 tons per year.In terms of environmental impact, that’s the equivalent of taking nearly 2,200 cars off the road.







Float glass manufacturing requires a large amount of energy. Running a furnace at about 1,600ºC around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year, consumes a lot of natural resources. The nature of the float glass process means that heat inevitably escapes the furnace.



Guardian’s new WHRS uses a complex method of capturing waste heat from the furnace without disrupting the delicate convection currents, which continually flow inside the furnace as the batch material is turned to molten glass.



This system represents a new approach both for Guardian and for the glass industry as a whole. “This is another great example of Guardian striving toward operational excellence,” said Pablo Isasmendi, Plant Manager for Guardian Industries UK. “We constantly look for new ways to innovate and improve the float glass process and this demonstrates to the entire industry that there’s a viable way to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from the float glass manufacturing process.”



As a result of this investment, Guardian not only will be producing some of the most energy-efficient coated glass products available, it also will reduce its carbon footprint, making Guardian glass the smart choice now and for the future. 



For more information on Guardian’s most recent product innovations, visit www.guardianglass.co.uk/latestproducts.