Glass manufacturing
Float, solar and container glass: furnaces that never stop, tin-bath atmosphere, annealing and tempering; gas firing and electric boost are the largest energy uses.
How FacilityOS helps
- Batch plant, furnace, tin bath and annealing lehr monitored with the cutting and tempering lines.
- Hydrogen and oxygen gas detection monitored only.
- Compressed air and furnace energy with efficiency KPIs.
Platform modules used
Facility management and control
The whole cooling and power chain at a glance, with redundancy, shift handover, utility efficiency and first-out alarm analysis.
Learn more →EMSEnergy management system
Electricity, gas, water and steam metering by workshop and system, time-of-use cost, demand, carbon, PUE and tamper-evident report archives.
Learn more →PLC / DCSProcess control
PID loop faceplates, ISA-88 batch records, controller redundancy, EtherNet/IP and Siemens S7, and a soft-PLC IDE with simulation.
Learn more →SCADASupervisory control and data acquisition
Editable HMI graphics, live values and trends, bulk history export to CSV and Parquet, event replay, and northbound OPC UA and MQTT Sparkplug B.
Learn more →CMMSMaintenance management
Asset register linked to live data, preventive maintenance by calendar, run hours or starts, signed work orders, QR/NFC inspection rounds, spares and MTBF/MTTR.
Learn more →Segments
Float glass
Furnace, tin bath, lehr, cutting and tempering.
Learn more →Solar glass
Rolled forming, coating and tempering.
Learn more →Container glass
Furnace, IS machines, annealing and inspection.
Learn more →Systems and equipment
Core: every site of this kind has it. Common: most sites have it. Optional: depends on the site.
Batch, melting, forming, finishing
A furnace that loses fire or power for a few hours can freeze: backup power and fuel are essential.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batch plant | Core | Batch feed rate · Cullet share · Lowest silo level | |
| Glass melting furnace | Core | Crown temp · Bottom temp · Gas flow · Pull (tons/day) · Glass level · Flame failure | Flame supervision and gas safety are done by the burner management system; the platform only monitors. |
| Tin bathFloat glass | Core | Tin temp (inlet) · Hydrogen in atmosphere · Bath oxygen · Ribbon speed · Bath pressure low | |
| Annealing lehr | Core | Entry temp · Exit temp · Roller speed | |
| Cutting lineFloat glass · Solar glass | Core | Line speed · Defect cut-out · Lites cut today | |
| Tempering furnaceFloat glass · Solar glass | Common | Heating section temp · Quench pressure · Blower power | |
| IS bottle-forming machineContainer glass | Core | Gob temp · Sections running · Speed (bottles/min) · Bottles today | |
| Line controller (OEE) | Common | OEE · Output (parts/h) · Energy per part | |
| Weighbridge / scale | Optional | Current weight · Load cell fault |
Gas, oxygen & protective gas
Oxy-fuel firing uses a lot of oxygen; the tin bath needs nitrogen-hydrogen.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas meter | Core | Natural gas flow · Heat input (1,037 BTU/scf) · Gas today (scf) | Natural gas in scfh, converted to BTU/h by heating value. |
| Bulk gas supply | Core | Tank level · Supply pressure · Vaporizer outlet temp · Flow · Impurity · Reserve supply in use | N2, O2, Ar, H2, CO2; tank telemetry is usually the gas supplier's. |
| On-site nitrogen generator | Optional | Product O2 content · Output · Outlet pressure · Off-purity (on LIN backup) | |
| Hydrogen detectorFloat glass | Core | Hydrogen (% LEL) · Alarm 1 (low) · Alarm 2 (high) | Tin bath and hydrogen station. |
| Oxygen deficiency monitor | Common | Oxygen · Alarm 1 (O2 below 19.5 %) · Alarm 2 (O2 below 18 %) | Nitrogen and inert-gas areas: 19.5 % and 18 % stages. |
| Tank farm level | Common | Level · High-high level · Bund leak |
Cooling water & air
Furnace, electrodes and tin bath need cooling water; forming uses a lot of compressed air.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooling tower cell | Core | Tower leaving water · Tower entering water · Fan speed · Basin level · Water conductivity · Fan vibration | |
| Pump | Core | Running · Speed · Differential pressure | Chilled and condenser water pumps; drives usually on Modbus TCP. |
| Air compressor | Core | Discharge pressure · Load · Power draw · Fault | |
| Compressed-air header | Common | Header pressure · Air demand · Receiver pressure | |
| Process chiller | Optional | Process water supply temp · Process water return temp · Load |
Flue gas treatment
NOx and particulate permits.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process exhaust system | Core | Exhaust main static · Exhaust airflow · Fans running · Low exhaust static | Watch general, heat, solvent and acid exhaust separately; N+1 fans. |
| Dust collector | Core | Filter pressure drop · Spark detected | Batch house and furnace charging dust. |
Power, electric boost & emergency power
Electric boost is a big load; the emergency generator keeps furnace cooling and combustion air running.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium-voltage switchgear | Core | Bus voltage · Incoming current · Real power · Breaker closed · Protective trip · Relay trouble | Monitor only — never operate breakers. |
| Power transformer | Core | Top-oil temp · Winding temp · Load · Gas / sudden-pressure alarm · Over-temperature alarm | |
| Low-voltage switchgear | Core | Bus voltage · Load current · Real power · Power factor · Current THD · Breaker trip | |
| Motor control center | Common | MCC load · Current · Power factor · Current THD | |
| Area energy meter | Core | Area power · Energy today · 15-min demand · Power factor | Sub-metering by workshop or system for energy analysis and cost allocation. |
| Site utility meter | Core | Site power · Site power (MW) · Energy today · Power factor | |
| Power quality meter | Common | Voltage THD · Current THD · Voltage sags today · Sag / interruption event | Voltage sags are a common hidden cause of trips. |
| Generator | Core | Running · Output power · Fuel tank level · Starting battery voltage · Not in AUTO | |
| UPS | Core | Load · Battery runtime · On bypass | SNMP v3 (UPS-MIB). |
| UPS battery string monitor | Core | String voltage · Lowest jar voltage · Highest jar voltage · Highest jar internal resistance · Highest jar temp · State of charge | Per-jar resistance trending (one of the maintenance practices in IEEE 1188). |
| Passive (tuned) harmonic filter | Common | After current THD · Capacitor current, measured / rated · Resonance alarm | |
| Automatic capacitor bank | Common | Power factor · Capacitor current, measured / rated · Resonance alarm · Switching operations today | |
| 12 / 18-pulse front end | Optional | Input current THD · Bridge current unbalance |
Life safety Monitor only
Monitor only.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire alarm panel | Core | Fire alarm · Supervisory signal · Trouble signal | Monitor only (NFPA 72). |
| Fire pump | Common | Running · System pressure · Power phase failure | |
| Sprinkler riser | Common | Riser pressure · Waterflow alarm · Valve tamper | |
| Combustible gas detector | Common | Combustible gas (LEL) · Gas alarm |
Security & video Monitor only
Camera and door status, and video linkage: cameras are linked to areas, devices and alarm rules; on an alarm the gateway takes an ONVIF snapshot and attaches it to the alarm, with a live-view link to the NVR/VMS. Core never contacts a camera.
| Equipment | Level | Points worth watching | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video camera | Common | Online · Recording · Motion detected · Video analytics alarm · Tamper (blocked or moved) | Status via the VMS (Milestone, Genetec…); on an alarm the gateway takes an ONVIF snapshot and attaches it to the alarm — Core never contacts a camera. |
| Access-controlled door | Common | Door open · Door held open · Door forced | Door events can drive camera linkage. |
Life-safety equipment (fire alarm, gas detection, emergency power transfer) and protection devices are monitored only. FacilityOS never sends them commands.
Standards and compliance
| Standards and compliance | Notes |
|---|---|
| NFPA 86 | Standard for ovens and furnaces. |
| NFPA 85 | Boiler and combustion systems hazards code (burner management). |
| ASTM C1036 | Flat glass. |
| ASTM C1048 | Heat-strengthened and fully tempered flat glass. |
| 40 CFR 63 Subpart SSSSSS | US EPA area-source emission standards for glass manufacturing. |
| ISO 50001 | Energy management systems. |
Standards are listed with what they cover; numeric values are typical figures, not requirements for every site. FacilityOS supports your compliance work; it does not certify a site.
KPIs the platform tracks
| KPIs the platform tracks | Notes |
|---|---|
| Melting energy | Gas heat + boost ÷ tons pulled. |
| Pack-to-melt | Good tons ÷ tons pulled. |
| Cullet ratio | Cullet ÷ total batch. |
Reports
| Reports | Notes |
|---|---|
| Furnace daily report | Temperatures, level, pull, reversals and fuel. |
| Emissions & energy report | Fuel, boost and emissions records. |
How we deliver
We can take a Glass manufacturing project from survey and design through procurement, installation, commissioning and training — all of it, or only the stages you need.