SORG has taken another important step on the path to sustainable glass production: with the innovative Viking® forehearth, 100 percent electric glass conditioning is now possible for all tonnages.

The first installation of the Viking® forehearth on a glass melting furnace has successfully passed long-term testing in large-scale industrial use.

Conditioning is one of the major sources of CO2 emissions in the glass manufacturing process. Although electrically heated conditioning systems have been around for some time, due to limitations including contamination from the heating elements, slow response times, local overheating and wear of the heating elements, their use has generally been limited to special applications.

With a 100% electrically heated conditioning system that’s suited to all tonnages, the Viking® forehearth changes this paradigm. The forehearth benefits from heating elements integrated into its specially designed superstructure, which completely eradicates local overheating. As the heating element material cannot fall into the glass bath, the design also protects the melt from potential contamination, ensuring a cleaner and safer conditioning process. The versatility and sustainability of the Viking® forehearth represent a significant advance in reducing CO2 emissions in glass manufacturing.

The fully electric forehearth was installed at a production facility. An emergency gas heating system was installed for safety reasons, but there has been no need to put this into operation, with the Viking® performing glass conditioning flawlessly.

With the Viking®, SORG is continuing progress along the path to sustainable glass production. With the VSM® and VSM+®, SORG offers fully electric and 100 percen CO2-free melting technologies for glass melting, while the CLEAN Melter® hybrid melting tank reduces CO2 emissions by 80 percent. With the Viking® forehearth, 100 percent CO2-free glass production, from melting to fully conditioned glass, is made possible through SORG technologies.