Production of uviol glass for ozone-free germicidal lamps began in Russia

The Smolensk plant of the LEDVANCE company launched the production of semi-finished products made of uviol glass (US) for germicidal lamps without the use of hazardous ozone. The new production complex designed and built for this with a capacity of 6 tons of glass per day (180 tons per month / 2000 tons per year) has no analogues in Russia.

Such glass will be used for the production of semi-finished tubes with a diameter of 8 to 40 mm in various sizes. The high-tech complex project was implemented in cooperation with a Hungarian company engaged in the design, construction of industrial furnaces and production control systems. The trial launch of the complex was successfully completed in April with the participation and supervision of foreign experts.

The complex itself is divided into three sections: a system for preparing a dry concentrate US, an oxygen-fuel furnace, where the mixture is brought to a liquid state, and a line where the glass tube is drawn. The introduction of the oxygen gas furnace was an innovative solution. It uses pure oxygen as an energy carrier in combination with natural gas instead of regular air, as in the manufacture of glass for general lighting fluorescent lamps. This is necessary, since the melting temperature of uviol glass (about 1500 degrees) is about 150 degrees higher than usual.

“The use of oxygen made it possible not only to increase the efficiency and economy of the production process, but also to improve environmental performance, since the air, along with oxygen, contains nitrogen and other compounds that are emitted into the atmosphere during the operation of the furnace,” said Andrey Shumilin, deputy director of the LEDVANCE plant. "This is our first experience, so it was important to think carefully about everything, and then check the correctness of the design during testing."

It is possible to operate the complex in a fully automatic mode, and the equipment operation can be monitored, including online, using an electronic control system based on modern Siemens controllers, developed specifically for the plant in Smolensk.

The production of uviol glass tubes meets all Russian and European quality standards, takes into account all the necessary environmental aspects. The gas supply project received a positive opinion from Rostekhnadzor and Rosprirodnadzor.

The complex will be brought to full capacity in stages: first, it will produce up to 35 million semi-finished tubes for UV lamps with a power of 15W, 25W, 30W, 36W, 55W, 75W. Raw materials for production (sand) and components will be purchased in Russia.

“About 50% of the manufactured products are planned to be used in the production of low-pressure ozone-free bactericidal lamps LEDVANCE TIBERA UVC for irradiators-recirculators, which have been manufactured at the plant since last summer. The launch of the furnace will further increase the degree of localization of this product, which already has a ST-1 certificate, - said Andrey Shumilin. - We plan to send the rest of the semi-finished products to foreign manufacturers of UV lamps. The implementation of this project will allow LEDVANCE to become one of the leading manufacturers of germicidal lamps in the world market, and the plant in Smolensk will significantly increase its export potential. "

For reference:

UV glass - glass that transmits ultraviolet radiation of a certain length (in the biological region of the spectrum). It is used for glazing of schools, kindergartens, hospitals, greenhouses, for bactericidal and fluorescent lamp casings.

Source: https://www.stroygaz.ru/