BEAR: HyBrid rEgenerative glAss fuRnace

Introduction

The end-fired regenerative furnace is a widely used technology in the glass industry and accounts for 75% of global production of container glass. However, it is not a very energy-efficient process and has a high carbon footprint due to its reliance on fossil fuels.

Limitations of Current Technologies

Less carbon-intensive technologies are available, such as electric furnaces; however, these have major limitations that hinder an industry-wide uptake across the European container glass sector, including:

1. Limited pull flexibility
2. Short furnace lifespan

Project Objectives

To address these issues, the BEAR project aims to demonstrate a new hybrid regenerative furnace that combines the energy efficiency of all-electric furnaces with the operational flexibility of conventional regenerative furnaces.

With the envisioned hybridization, the project aims to increase the energy share of electrical boosting from the conventional 5-10% of end-fired regenerative furnaces to beyond 40%. This will enable SH’s production site to reduce its natural gas consumption by more than 50% and avoid 0.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions over the first ten years of operation. This reduction is greater than the total yearly household GHG emissions of the Zasavje region (>20,000 inhabitants), where SH resides, for more than one year.

Benefits of Electrification

Through the introduction of the hybrid regenerative furnace, the electrification of the container glass sector will allow the glass melting process to align with the availability of renewable energy sources (RES). Moreover, with the proposed solution, local RES can be coupled directly to the melting process. A sector-wide uptake of the hybrid regenerative furnace would therefore significantly increase the resilience and security of the glass manufacturing process in terms of energy supply.

Economic Impact

With BEAR, SH aims to replace the existing regenerative furnace for extra-white flint glass production at one of its two sites. Both production sites are in Zasavje, a Slovenian coal region in transition, with a high unemployment rate. SH accounts for roughly 5% of jobs in the region and represents more than 10% of the region’s GDP.

The proposed investment in sustainable production technologies is expected to have a significant impact on the local economy by retaining current jobs and creating new ones. Furthermore, with the coupling of innovative technologies and local RES, the project will serve as a model for decarbonization in other energy-intensive industries in the region.