HORN Glass Industries AG is a global leading manufacturer of glass melting furnaces for the container and float glass industry. The company is continuing to strengthen its aims in the field of float glass with another successful start-up of a tin bath in Russia.
While leading float glass manufacturers focus more and more on outsourcing their resources, HORN has expanded its own
expertise and technical skills concerning float glass with in-house engineering, in-house manufacture and the installation and commissioning of tin baths.

Long-standing experience
Due to HORN’s long-standing experience, newcomers and investors in the float glass industry can get the best advice and
assistance regarding their projects and be supplied with coherent concepts, adapted to the respective requirements. The implementation of projects can be checked in advance by means of feasibility studies. Moreover, the extent, by which means and in which period of time a project can be implemented are also determined.
Experienced customers, on the other hand, have the advantage that their own ideas and philosophies can be considered and integrated from the first step of planning. This refers both to the general design of the tin bath - including the peripheral equipment and the implementation of the entire equipment. Thanks to Horn’s in-house engineering, the smallest details can be planned and manufactured as specified by the customer.

Planning and engineering
The first step of planning is working out bas...

HORN Glass Industries AG is a global leading manufacturer of glass melting furnaces for the container and float glass industry. The company is continuing to strengthen its aims in the field of float glass with another successful start-up of a tin bath in Russia.
While leading float glass manufacturers focus more and more on outsourcing their resources, HORN has expanded its own
expertise and technical skills concerning float glass with in-house engineering, in-house manufacture and the installation and commissioning of tin baths.

Long-standing experience
Due to HORN’s long-standing experience, newcomers and investors in the float glass industry can get the best advice and
assistance regarding their projects and be supplied with coherent concepts, adapted to the respective requirements. The implementation of projects can be checked in advance by means of feasibility studies. Moreover, the extent, by which means and in which period of time a project can be implemented are also determined.
Experienced customers, on the other hand, have the advantage that their own ideas and philosophies can be considered and integrated from the first step of planning. This refers both to the general design of the tin bath - including the peripheral equipment and the implementation of the entire equipment. Thanks to Horn’s in-house engineering, the smallest details can be planned and manufactured as specified by the customer.

Planning and engineering
The first step of planning is working out basic engineering, consisting, among other things, of a technical layout with arrangement of the equipment, a foundation load plan and a media layout including media list. All these documents enable the end customer to start planning the building section with all media required.
The detailed engineering with all single components is then worked out and represented in an overall model with all required media. This facilitates precise, inter-departmental design matching which lays open all existing intersection points and guarantees careful clarification. After all necessary prerequisites have been achieved, establishment of the manufacturing documents can be started.
The large components of the tin bath, such as the bath floor cooling system, the steel structure, the floor resp. roof casing, complete automation, the media pipework and the dross box with the hood, are planned and manufactured on site in Plößberg. Moreover, the equipment, starting from the tweel, the venting, the entrance coolers and the graphite installations up to the exit coolers and the mobile and stationary linear motors are also HORN’s scope of supply.

Installation and commissioning
HORN does not only carry out the complete engineering and manufacturing of the tin bath, but also provides installation and commissioning of the same. After the building is finished, the steel structure is installed by specialists, followed by the alignment and welding of the individual casing elements, without distortion. The precise manufacture of the floor casing saves and considerably reduces valuable time for the lining with refractories. Another positive aspect for reducing man-days during installation is the detailed, internal clarification of all intersection points already during the planning stage.
After the tin bath roof has been finished, the free space between the upper and lower part is hermetically sealed by means of wall boxes and sealing compound. The tin bath can then be charged with a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen. This is followed by checking the readiness of the tin bath for tempering including spout, dross box and equipment.
Controlled tempering of the tin bath takes several days, taking into account the tempering curve. During this period of time, diverse parameters and values, e.g. temperatures and linear expansion, are monitored and recorded scrupulously.

Prior to production start-up
Before production start-up, the entire plant is checked, also with regards to tempering, on the basis of specifically worked-out check lists.
Sample sheet taking may either be coordinated by HORN and be carried out assisted by the customer’s staff or it can be done completely by HORN specialists. After the glass sheet has stabilized, all glass thicknesses agreed in the contract will be produced, and if required, the customer’s staff will be included for training. The real values and parameters for producing the glass thicknesses will be transferred into the operating manual and handed over to the customer. Horn specialists are also available to assist with the customer’s production on site for a longer period of time.
The staff training seminars offered comprise theoretical lessons, practical instruction as well as assistance with production.

The tin bath is an extra component of a float glass plant which HORN manufactures in-house, in addition to the float glass furnace. HORN’s competence to supply entire float glass plants, from preparation of raw materials to packaging of the finished product, constitutes a considerable competitive advantage for its customers. This is shown by successfully commissioned projects in Russia, Belarus, the Republic of Dagestan and Kyrgyzstan.