Pyrex glass is the material of choice for many laboratories due to its affordability as quartz products are more expensive. Laboratory glassware products include tubes, beakers and measuring cylinders. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The production process can be divided into two stages. First, a large amount of molten glass composition is produced. Next, the glass is fed into shaping machines to create different types of glassware. The process moves at extraordinary speeds and is quite efficient. Batching: Large batches of Pyrex glass are produced in a specific composition area of ​​the manufacturing facility. Here, glass manufacturers follow the formula instructions and add the necessary raw materials in the correct proportions into large tanks. Before use, the raw materials are pulverized and granulated until a uniform grain size is obtained. They are stored in batch towers. The materials are mixed together and heated to temperatures above 2,912°F (1,600°C). This high temperature melts the ingredients and allows them to mix thoroughly to create molten glass. However, the mixture typically requires longer heating, up to 24 hours, to remove excess bubbles which can lead to a weaker structure. Forming: Batch tanks are designed so that the molten glass flows slowly to the working end of the tank. This end of the tank is connected to continuous feed forming machines. When the glass moves away from the tank, it looks like a thick, red-orange syrup. Forming machines process the material quickly because as it cools it becomes rigid and difficult to work with. Typical glass-making machines blow it, press it, draw it, and roll it into various shapes. The forming process used depends on the final product. Glass blowing is used to create thin-walled products such as bottles. A bubble of molten glass is placed inside a two-piece mold. Air is forced into the mold, which presses the glass against its sides. The glass cools inside the mold and conforms to the shape. Glass pressing is used to create thicker pieces of glass. The molten glass is placed in a mold and a plunger is depressed which forces the glass to expand and fill the mold. The drawing is used to create tubes or rods. In this process the molten glass is lowered onto a hollow cone called a mandrel. Air is blown through it to keep the tube from collapsing until the glass becomes rigid. For glass sheets, such as windows, a lamination process is used.• After the product is formed, it is cooled and polished. It can then be decorated with various prints or markings and, if necessary, equipped with plastic pieces. The glass product is then checked for imperfections, placed in protective boxes and shipped to customers. Depending on the size of the batching tank, up to 700,000 pounds (317,520 kg) of glass product can be produced in a year. Quality control: Since the quality of glass depends on the purity of the raw materials, manufacturers employ quality control chemicals to test them. Physical characteristics are checked to ensure they meet previously determined specifications. For example, particle size is measured using suitable mesh screens. The chemical composition is also determined with IR or GC. Other simple checks performed on raw materials include color checks and odor assessments. Duringmanufacturing a glass product, inspectors observe glass products at specific points on the production line to ensure each product has the correct appearance. They notice things like cracks, flaws, or other imperfections. For some products the thickness of the glass is measured. Byproducts/waste: Because Pyrex is made up of compounds that become oxides when heated, air pollution is a potential problem. Numerous by-products can be released during production, including nitrates, sulfates and chlorine. These chemicals can react with water to form acids. Acid rain has been shown to cause significant damage to man-made structures and natural ecosystems. One method used by glass manufacturers to reduce pollution is to make glass compositions with lower melting temperatures. Lower temperatures reduce the amount of volatilization thus reducing the amount of gaseous pollutants. Another pollution control is the use of precipitators installed in chimneys. These devices help reduce air pollution by filtering solids that linger in the smoke and vapors created by the smelting process. Waste disposal outlets are monitored to ensure that only permitted quantities of factory waste are released into the environment. This helps prevent water pollution. An additional method of pollution control is the use of fans. These devices are also called regenerators because they help recover and recycle the thermal energy consumed during production. This has the dual effect of reducing air pollution and lowering production costs. Other cost-saving and environmentally friendly techniques employed include the use of electric heat instead of gas heat and the incorporation of broken recycled glass when producing new glass. Applications and Uses of Pyrex (Borosilicate) Glass Pyrex glass has a wide variety of applications ranging from cookware to laboratory equipment. Some are summarized below: Health and Science: Virtually all modern laboratory glassware is made of borosilicate glass. It is widely used in this application due to its chemical and thermal resistance and good optical transparency, but the glass can react with sodium hydride upon heating to produce sodium borohydride, a common laboratory reducing agent. Additionally, borosilicate tubing is used as a raw material for the production of parenteral drug packaging, such as vials and pre-filled syringes, as well as dental vials and cartridges. The chemical resistance of borosilicate glass minimizes the migration of sodium ions from the glass matrix, thus making it suitable for injectable drug applications. This type of glass is generally referred to as USP/EP JP Type I. Borosilicate is widely used in implantable medical devices such as eye implants, artificial hip joints, bone cements, dental composite materials (white fillings), and even in breast implants. Many implantable devices benefit from the unique advantages of borosilicate glass encapsulation. Applications include veterinary tracking devices, neurostimulators for the treatment of epilepsy, implantable drug pumps, cochlear implants and physiological sensors. Electronics: During the mid-20th century, borosilicate glass tubes were used to pipe refrigerants (often distilled water) through vacuum tube-based power electronic equipment, such as commercial broadcast transmitters. Borosilicate glasses also have an application in the semiconductor industry in the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), as part of batteries..