What are Glass Bottles Made of & Different Bottle Types

Glass is one of the most effective materials utilized in the industry of packaging today. It is thought of as the most environmentally friendly packaging material since it can be reused over and over time without compromising the quality. In this post, we're going to talk about the process by which glass containers or glass containers are constructed and the various glass bottle varieties.

However, prior to going on to glass making process let's first be aware of the 3 most commonly used glass manufacturing terms used in the field of container manufacturing in the following section.

Glass Manufacturing Terminologies

The three most used terms used in glass manufacturing are gob parison along with glass batch.

· Gob

Gobs are cylinders or lumps made of melting glass. When the glass is at an appropriate temperature during the process of making it then it is cut by a shear knife and formed into gobs. They're also known as gobs made of glass.

· Parison

The creation of parisons occurs right after the gobs have been created. The gobs that are molten are then sent to the mold for parisons or "blank", to produce the shape of parisons. glass bottles. Parisons are pieces that have been partially formed from glass bottles or jars that have finished necks.

· Glass Batch

Glass batch is glass batch is a mix of the materials used for the production of glass which isn't yet meltable. It is heated, melted and then cooled to form glasses.

What exactly are Glass Bottles Made of?

The latest glass bottle and jars can be constructed with the following components:

· Soda ash

· Silica sand

· Limestone

· Aluminum oxide

· Magnesium oxide

· Cullet

A silica-rich sand with a purity that is higher means a less iron content that gives you greater control on the glass colour of the bottle. The goal of limestone is to reduce the temperature at which the mixture of raw materials melts. Aluminium oxide and magnesium oxide are often added to improve durability.

Finally it is important to note that cullet (recycled as well as broken glass) is an essential material used in glass manufacturing, which assists in reducing the energy consumption and raw materials required for the production of fresh glass containers.

Cullet is made from the same composition that is present in glass batches. It is included into the mixture due to its melting properties inside the furnace assist in speeding the process of converting glass batches. glass batches into gobs.

Cullet is a material that saves energy that does not just reduce the energy required in the process of melting glass batches, but it also assists in decreasing the carbon footprint of glass. Glass batches could be made of 25 to 60% cullet, and manufactured glass containers generally contain 70-74 percent silica sand, by weight.

How are Glass Bottles Made?

Let us now move on into the production process of glass containers.

Step 1. Melting the Raw Material Mixture

· Raw materials have been meticulously weighted and then incorporated according to the glass bottle's requirements for characteristics.

· A glass batch is then fed into an oven and then subjected to temperatures that are high until it begins to melt and is able to mold.

Step 2. Forming the Glass Bottle

After the mixture has been melted and then shaped into gobs an appropriately-placed blade is used to cut it into gobs that weigh the same prior to the process of forming. The weight of a gob is important to the design of every glass bottle or jar. Glasses are formed by feeding hot gobs into molders with the aid of gravity. The pressure of the forming device forms the glass neck of the bottle and its overall shape.

In order to form the final shape of the bottle, two different ways can be applied for The Press and Blow formation and the Blow and Blow formation. The process of shaping followed is based on the kind of glass container that is being created.

Method 1. Press and Blow Formation

This is the most widely employed method for making glass bottles. It employs an IS machine that is composed of various sections to produce identical-sized containers at the same time. Additionally, it is utilized to create wide-mouth glass bottles and jars.

· The gob of molten liquid is cut to a particular size by using the blade of a shear.

· Each gob will be absorbed into a machine that forms through the force of gravity.

· The gobs are then pushed into a mold with the plunger, where they are cut into parisons.

· The parisons are then transferred to the blow mold, where they are heated to create a softness that allows to allow the creation of what is required glass dimensions.

· After each parison has been heated, they are then injected using air in order for them to "blow" them into shape.

Method 2. Blow and Blow Formation

The Press and Blow process is utilized for wide-mouth containers Blow and Press is a Blow and Blow process is used to make narrow containers and those that require different neck thicknesses. It utilizes an IS machine, in which gobs are also inserted into molds via gravity. Only the structure of the parison is distinct.

· Gobs of gobs have been cut to the same dimensions.

· The gobs feed into the formation machine.

· The use of compressed air helps mould the neck of each bottle in line with its overall shape.

· The parisons are turned over before being reheated.

· The air is then injected once more to create the final shape.

· Another time compressed air is utilized to give each bottle the desired shape.

Step 3. Annealing

Whatever process of formation used regardless of the method used, the same process is followed the next step: annealing. The process is designed to cool the glass containers in a uniform manner to remove internal stresses that can cause cracks or shattering. It alleviates stress, making the glass containers more durable.

· The bottles that have been completely formed are removed of the mold.

· The bottles are moved to an annealing lehr, where they are heated to around 1,050deg Fahrenheit before cooling down to 390degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 4. Final Inspection

The last step is to subject the jars and bottles to a thorough inspection to ensure they comply with the necessary quality control standards. Any bottle with imperfections, such as fractures, misshapen areas and bubbles are removed and reused as the cullet.

Jars and bottles that have passed the inspection are classified by size and type. After sorting, they're packed and then transported.

Different Types of Glass Bottles

The last subject we will examine is the different kinds of glass bottles.

Flint Glass

This kind of glass is transparent and transparent and colorless. It blocks most UV light, but it does not absorb visible light.

Frosted Glass

Frosted glass can be formed by the time the glass colour is treated. The process of treating gives the glass an entirely different appearance and feel.

Cobalt

Cobalt glass bottles are blue in color that is due to the inclusion to cobalt oxide. It provides moderate protection from sunlight.

Green

Green bottles are made by incorporating copper, chromium or iron to the melting mixture of raw ingredients. Chromium oxide is a catalyst for emerald green and yellowish green glass bottles. Blue-green glasses are made by mixing cobalt (blue) and chromium (green) with cobalt (blue).

Amber

It is brown glass which can be made by adding sulfur, carbon and nickel into the mix. It absorbs most ultraviolet radiation that is below 450nm, and therefore provide high UV radiation shielding which is crucial for both beers and other drugs.

Black

Black glass bottle is usually made by combining high levels of iron, but it can contain other ingredients like carbon, magnesia, copper and iron.

Purple

The purple glass containers and bottles with amethyst and red glass containers are typically created making use of nickel oxides or manganese.

Blue

Cobalt oxide and copper are the main additives used in the production of blue glass bottles.

Opaque

Opaque also known as milk glass is often called the white glass and Opal glass. It is created by combining fluorides, calcium, phosphates zinc oxide, and Tin.

Aquamarine

The aquamarine color in glass containers is created by the iron found naturally in sands or when mixing iron into the mix. The amount of oxygen is decreased or increased in the melting process to create more green or blue-green shades.

In addition to the glass colors there are different types of glass containers.

Lead Glass

Bottles made of lead glass are more flexible, which means they are less difficult to cut. But, they are not able to withstand extreme temperatures or sudden shifts in temperatures. They are mostly used to create ornamental figurines and glasses.

Soda Lime Glass

Soda, calcium and silica comprise soda lime glass bottles. The greater the quantity of silica in the mix and the more silica it contains, the better the glass's resistance against thermal shock. But, its thermal resistance isn't comparable to the borosilicate glass.

Borosilicate Glass

It is among the most popular types of glass. It is due to the fact that it is resistant to breaking due to temperature changes. Therefore, it is employed in laboratory equipment, glassware, as well as cookware.

Fused Quartz

It's also known in vitreoussilica glass as well as fused glass. It is made by the purification of crystal silica, which is present in rocks crystal or sand, either by electric or flame fuse. The fusion quartz bottles are very transparent and weather and shock resistant.

Aluminosilicate

The last type of glass bottles we're going to look at are those that are constructed out of aluminum oxide. Aluminosilicate glass containers are diverse in composition, but usually contain between 20-40 percentage aluminum oxide. They have the same properties as borosilicate glass, however these are less prone to heating, and also have greater chemical resistance. This makes them difficult to manufacture than glass made of borosilicate glass.

Conclusion

You've now learned you've learned that glass containers and bottles cannot be created using only one type of glass. The various colors of glass are created by combining different raw materials, which in turn influences the strength to breakage of containers. If you're looking for an experienced glass bottle producer you can trust Rowell. We provide a variety of glass containers to suit your packaging requirements.