 ITH the history of
flat glass thus outlined in the previous chapters, it should be of
interest now to consider in detail the Libbey-Owens process for
making flat-drawn sheet glass.
The preliminary operations are very
similar to those in other forms of glass manufacture. The mixture
of the ingredients, called the batch, composed of sand, ground
limestone, soda ash and salt cake, with a certain amount of cullet
or broken glass, is fed into the furnace and melted under a heat
of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The furnace contains from 600
to 900 tons of molten glass. This molten glass passes from the
melting chamber to the refining chamber, where it is gradually
settled
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