Industrial-Scale Production of Nano Spray Coated Glass Containers Launched

The equipment used to apply a hardening coating of TUBALL nanotubes onto Ekran glass containers has been installed on all three lines for producing light-weight bottles using the NNPB process (Narrow Neck Press and Blow, which reduces the product weight to 280 g).

TUBALL single wall carbon nanotubes are synthesised by OCSIAl, an international nanotechnology company. This composite nanotube material was developed by specialists at Lomonosov Capital Management Company (RATM Holding’s asset). One of the focuses of the venture fund is the search for state-of-the-art glass production technologies.Yevgeny Gaisler, chairman of the Management Board of Lomonosov Capital, said that while carbon nanotubes improve the properties of materials in various industries, nobody has used them in the glass industry until now.

“Adding a small number of nanotubes (0.05 percent) to the process fluid improves the mechanical properties of container glass,” Gaisler said. “When sprayed, nanotubes are fixed in spots with microdefects, forming something of a 'patch'”.

“It has been demonstrated experimentally in the workshop environment that the impact resistance of containers with nano coating is 10 percent higher than without it,” said Andrey Yakovlev, executive director of Ekran Plant (RATM Holding’s asset).

“A nano coating does not make glass containers any more expensive,” Yakovlev added. The executive director reports that the weight of the Ekran 285-gram bottle will drop to 260 g but the bottle will retain its geometrical parameters, owing to the new technology as well as the improved quality of the glass melt and the upgraded forming process, which will allow them to produce more from the same amount of raw material.

“To produce one million light-weight bottles we need 90 tons less glass melt than to produce one million standard bottles; and CO2 emissions are reduced by 40 tons,” Yakovlev said.