The US Department of Energy lists conveying, blending, mixing, controls and actuators, glass blowing and moulding, and cooling as compressed air uses in stone, clay and glass plants. The Ultra Controlo Industrial 2026 catalogue offers oil-free compressors, from partner brand Gardner Denver, and air treatment chains for bottle, jar, technical glass and industrial ceramics lines, and the datasheet of the ULTRAOX VSA oxygen plant lists industrial furnaces.
The US Department of Energy groups glass with stone and clay and lists these example uses of compressed air; a DOE paper describes oxygen in oxy-fuel glass furnaces.
Blowing and moulding the glass, listed by the DOE for the stone, clay and glass sector.
Cooling with air; the DOE also lists open blowing for cooling among potentially inappropriate uses, with blowers and electric fans as alternatives.
Moving materials through the plant with compressed air.
Blending and mixing of materials, listed by the DOE for the sector.
Pneumatic controls and actuators across the plant.
Oxygen instead of air in the burners, which a 2001 DOE paper says significantly reduces NOx emissions and the fuel used per ton of glass.
Sources: US Department of Energy and Compressed Air Challenge, Improving Compressed Air System Performance: A Sourcebook for Industry, third edition (2016), Table 1.1 and Fact Sheet 2; E. Levine (US DOE) and K. Jamison (Energetics), Oxy-Fuel Firing for the Glass Industry: An Update, ACEEE proceedings (2001); D. P. Mehta and A. Nayak (Bradley University), Recent Trends in Oxy-Fuel, Air-Fuel and Hybrid Combustion Technologies, ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry (2007).
A 2001 paper by the US Department of Energy and Energetics names three primary ways to supply oxygen to oxy-fuel glass furnaces. The choice depends on costs unique to each plant, including consumption, electricity costs and distance to existing oxygen plants. Its findings, as of 2001:
Introduced in 1991 as a point-of-use supply, VPSA made 90 to 95% purity oxygen more economical and convenient, and was generally the low-cost choice up to the 120 TPD range.
Source: Levine and Jamison, ACEEE proceedings (2001).
Cryogenic production allows higher purity but is equipment-intensive; it generally needs too much capital to be cost-effective unless the furnace makes more than 200 tons of glass per day.
Source: Levine and Jamison, ACEEE proceedings (2001).
Merchant liquid supplies are not economic for furnaces producing at least 10 tons per day, which the paper says is the vast majority of glass plants.
Source: Levine and Jamison, ACEEE proceedings (2001).
ULTRAOX VSA delivers 75% to 95% oxygen at 50 kPa; its datasheet lists industrial furnaces, not glass furnaces specifically. Sources: DOE and Energetics, ACEEE (2001); ULTRAOX VSA datasheet.
Equipment that the Ultra Controlo catalogue and datasheets, and a partner maker, tie to glass, ceramics and industrial furnaces.
The catalogue offers oil-free compressors for glass and ceramics lines; its oil-free screw compressors, for contaminant-free air to ISO Class 0, come from partner brand Gardner Denver.
Gardner DenverULTRASEC refrigeration dryers, ULTRADRY adsorption dryers and ULTRAK carbon towers, designed, assembled and tested in Portugal; the catalogue offers air treatment chains for glass and ceramics.
Air treatment75% to 95% oxygen at 50 kPa, on a skid or in a container; the datasheet lists industrial furnaces among its applications.
ULTRAOX VSAElmo Rietschle lists the ceramic and brick industry among the uses of its L-BV2 liquid ring vacuum pumps; Ultra Controlo distributes and services the brand.
Elmo RietschleSources: Ultra Controlo Industrial 2026 catalogue, pp. 6, 11, 12, 17 and 19; ULTRAOX VSA datasheet; Elmo Rietschle, L-BV2 liquid ring vacuum pump page.
Ultra Controlo is a Portuguese manufacturer of compressed air, vacuum and technical gas systems, with 40 years of experience. We design, assemble and test our own compressors, dryers and carbon towers in Portugal, and supply and service five partner brands.
ULTRASCREW compressors, ULTRASEC and ULTRADRY dryers and ULTRAK activated carbon towers.
Gardner Denver, Elmo Rietschle, Thomas, Speck Pumpen (Circutec) and Speck Triplex.
Preventive and corrective maintenance, original spare parts and emergency support, by our own team.
Source: Ultra Controlo Industrial 2026 catalogue, pp. 3, 10, 16, 17 and 22.
The US Department of Energy sourcebook (2016) lists conveying, blending, mixing, controls and actuators, glass blowing and moulding, and cooling as example compressed air uses in the stone, clay and glass sector.
No. The DOE sourcebook (2016) says drying compressed air beyond the required pressure dew point results in unnecessary energy and costs, and that the higher the air quality, the more the air costs to produce.
A 2001 paper by the US DOE and Energetics describes on-site VPSA as making 90 to 95% purity oxygen more economical and convenient for glass furnaces, while cryogenic production allows higher purity but needs more capital.
A 2007 paper at the ACEEE Summer Study, by D. Paul Mehta and Amol Nayak of Bradley University, states that with proper furnace design and burner selection a NOx reduction of 50 to 70% compared with a regenerator furnace is achievable.
The ULTRAOX VSA datasheet lists industrial furnaces among its applications, without naming glass furnaces. The plant delivers 75% to 95% oxygen at 50 kPa, and higher pressures with an additional oxygen booster supplied on demand.
The products, the air demand, the pressure and the hours per day, or the furnace you want to fire with oxygen. We reply with the equipment that fits.
