Schott TGS doubles glass production capacity for specialty markets

Jena, Germany--With the expansion of Melting Tank 8, Schott Technical Glass Solutions (TGS) (www.schott.com) has doubled its production capacity for specialty glass products in high-technology growth markets. Following its renaming in 2009, the company has an enhanced product portfolio for glass production and is putting another tank into operation in 2011.

SCHOTT TGS offers a product portfolio of float and rolled borosilicate glass in a wide variety of market-specific thicknesses and formats. Their special properties enable a wide spectrum of application areas from house automation, fire protection, and optics through to medical equipment and photovoltaics. Exemplary for this wide range of applications is the well-known brand “Borofloat,” a borosilicate float glass with high thermal resistance and good surface quality. The brand “Pyran” stands for special float glass and glass ceramics for fire protection.

Technical special glass is also increasingly being used in modern applications in life sciences and the electronic industry. For example, SCHOTT TGS produces a glass substrate for microarray solutions for DNA and protein analysis on the basis of borosilicate glass. In a recent development, high-strength lithium-aluminosilicate and aluminosilicate glass have expanded their use from traditional applications, such as safety panels for high-speed trains, into new markets, such as cover and touch screens for smart phones, notebooks and hard disk drives.

SCHOTT TGS was founded on 1 April 2009 as a legally independent unit of the SCHOTT technology holding to concentrate its competence in the field of technical special flat glass. In so doing, the newly founded subsidiary took over large parts of the former Jenaer Glaswerk resulting in a staff of 300 employees in Jena and a vast human resources potential based on over 30 sales offices worldwide.

The facility now features an additional electric heating unit to increase the melting capacity, while the dimensions of the tank have remained the same. The use of microfloat technology also makes it possible to float smaller amounts of glass. A further microfloat tank to be commissioned in 2011 will offer even greater flexibility. These are important advantages as the market moves away from standard glass to demand an increasing variety of glass with customer-specific properties for special fields of application.

--Posted by Gail Overton; [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com.