Industrial glass, like its name suggests, is subjected to aggressive environments like chemical plants, factories, and pharma labs. Due to the nature of products manufactured in these settings, it is regularly exposed to corrosive chemicals like acids, steam, and extreme heat, which most glasses are not designed for. For example, sight glasses in reactors or control panels tend to accumulate surface scratches and stains within months due to the high density of pollutants in the air, leading to increased maintenance expenses and workforce inefficiency. In this blog, we’ll understand why industrial glass degrades and how we can keep it looking as good as new in industrial settings.
Why Industrial Glass Is More Vulnerable Than You Think
Unprotected glass surfaces are fragile and react with chemicals and pollutants in the atmosphere. As you know, factories are home to harsh chemicals, high heat, acids, and compressed steam. In short, the silicate bonds of glass react with these chemicals and degrade into a weak gel-like layer that traps dirt and roughens the surface quicker than, let’s say, a glass in residential environment.
Your industrial reactors, reaching up to 200°C, also catalyzes the glass material to break down faster, removing thin layers each year. In pharmaceutical plants, the strong alkaline solutions and acids used for purification have a high pH, which can unfortunately make the problem worse. Damage can be sneaky in industrial setups, building up silently until the glass suddenly breaks or leaks.
Understanding Chemical Damage to Industrial Glass
As glass wears down, it gets thinner, the surface becoming less shiny and even developing chips and tiny holes. Primarily, there are three ways glass can undergo damage in an industrial setting.
1.Damage by Hot Water
Hot, distilled water contains alkaline ions that can leach onto the glass surface when in vapor form, creating a rough texture and possibly leading to chips. Damage might also show up as ridges on the surface if condensed water droplets settle on it. If damage already exists, the only way to fix it is to renovate the glass and protect it with industry-leading glass protectants like ClearShield Eco-system to prevent future damage.
2.Damage by Acids
Glass can resist most acids, but three types attack it strongly: hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, and phosphorus acids. When these acids are concentrated and mixed with heat, they can quickly eat away at the glass, deteriorating its surface and causing structural integrity problems.
3.Damage By Alkalines
Glass isn't good with strong alkaline solutions like sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, especially when they're hot. These alkalis can dissolve the glass because silica, the main part of glass, is soluble in them. Glasses that have deteriorated through alkalis are dull in their shine and feature small chips, which can worsen through existing accumulated dust and pollutants.
How Abrasion Damages Industrial Glass
Industrial plants and manufacturing units are located in remote areas with less population due to safety concerns. However, this situation opens the door to the prevalence of dust particles and the damage they cause to glass. When the wind blows sand or dirt at about 50 kmph in these regions, it wears the glass down by settling on the surface and triggering chemical reactions. Most often, during transport or installation to the glass facilities, the PTFE protective liners can scratch the edges. Additionally, using cleaning pads to wipe fingerprints can cause tiny cracks if the cleaner is not pH neutral. This problem is worse in industries like pharmaceuticals, where glass containers are cleaned with abrasive slurries. This variety of factors causes a cloudy, hazy appearance inside glass, blocking visibility in chemical plants and sometimes forcing shutdowns because no one can see the inside properly.
The Cost of Ignoring Industrial Glass Damage
We’ll keep this short. If the Health & Safety Executive has to shut down your industrial plants (oil plants) due to safety breaches, it can cost up to $100,000 per day in lost revenue.
Preventing Abrasion Damage in High-Stress Environments
1.Glass Protectant Coatings: A good glass protectant, like our ClearShield Eco-Glass™, creates a permanent chemical bond with the glass, making it non-reactive and chemically inert. By filling in its microscopic pits, ClearShield prevents the silica in glass from forming bonds with the oxygen atoms in chemicals, effectively addressing the root causes of glass chipping and cracking.
2.Using Borosilicate Glass As the Base: A stronger, thicker and more heat-resistant borosilicate glass lasts twice as long as regular soda-lime glass for viewing windows in industrial settings. Moreover, you should regularly check the thickness of the glass with ultrasound to spot early damage.
3.Borosilicate Glass As Base + ClearShield EcoSystem As Protectant: As a polymeric resin coating, ClearShield will penetrate deep into the honeycomb lattice structure of the base borosilicate glass, form a permanent bond, and create the best glass surface with maximum protection and the least damage in industrial environments.
How Industrial Facilities Can Build a Long-Term Glass Protection Plan
1.Identifying Risks - Make a note of risky chemicals in your factory that can damage the glass and regularly check how clear or shiny the glass is and how easily liquids spread on it to keep it in the best condition.
2.Maintenance Every 5 Years - Every five years, expert maintenance teams like ours should clean and check if the coating is still effective. We suggest setting aside about 1% of the maintenance budget for this work.
3.Regular Cleaning - Using gentle, pH-neutral solutions instead of abrasive industrial cleaners increases the lifespan and protection period of the glass.
Conclusion
Industrial glass fights acids and scratches daily, but smart glass protecting solutions like our ClearShield Eco-system® can cut costs by 50% and reduce operational downtime to zero. To track this, we suggest you keep records of your cleaning costs to compare your savings with the regular glass replacements you probably do. After you firsthandedly witness the benefits with ClearShield-protected glass, start with a small test project in one area of your factory and then expand the process throughout the whole plant.
