The Holy Grail: Let’s Go for Hybrid Melting?
Executive Summary
As the glass industry accelerates its transition toward decarbonization, hybrid furnaces—combining electrical power with combustion-based energy—are emerging as a promising yet complex solution. While direct electrification is highly efficient, challenges in flexibility, infrastructure, and cost remain. Schneider Electric is well-positioned to support the industry through its expertise in power and process integration, energy strategy development, and digital twin capabilities. This article explores the viability of hybrid melting, the hurdles of green energy accessibility, and whether alternative approaches like downscaling or pure electrification might be the better way forward. Stay tuned for Part 8, where we take a deeper look at all-electric solutions.
The use of electrical power in glass melting applications is extremely energy-efficient—none of the alternative “green” fuels like hydrogen, biofuels, or synthetic fuels can match the efficiency of Joule heating. As such, electrification will play a critical role in decarbonizing glass manufacturing. But will the industry ultimately move to all-electric melting? The answer remains uncertain.
To maintain flexibility and ensure high-quality melting for darker glasses, some level of combustion-based energy input may still be required. Hybrid furnaces, which combine electrical heating with green fuels, could offer a balanced solution. However, integrating two different energy sources adds cost and operational complexity. Is there a better way forward? Should the industry prioritize simplified, lower-cost designs, even at the expense of some flexibility?
The Role of Schneider Electric
Decarbonizing the glass industry requires more than just new furnace designs—it demands an integrated approach to energy and process optimization. Schneider Electric plays a crucial role in this transition by providing:
By working together across the supply chain, glass manufacturers can accelerate their transition to low-carbon production while maintaining operational reliability.
The Showstopper: Green Energy Supply
One of the biggest challenges in transitioning to hybrid or all-electric furnaces is ensuring sufficient access to renewable energy. Most container and float glass plants are located in older industrial areas that lack the necessary grid infrastructure. Bringing in the required electrical power, hydrogen, or oxygen often demands substantial investment and long regulatory approval processes.
To put this into perspective, a hybrid container glass furnace requires approximately 10MW of electrical power, while a hybrid float furnace needs four times that amount. Most existing locations simply do not have this capacity installed. Schneider Electric's energy strategy and design expertise can help manufacturers address these bottlenecks by optimizing power distribution and integrating renewable energy sources.
Is There a Best Strategy?
Since the industry’s shift to regenerative and oxy-fuel furnaces, little attention has been given to optimizing electrical power systems. Many existing electric boosting setups are inefficient due to poor installation and maintenance. As electrification scales up, energy management will become a key competitive differentiator.
Electric melting is an established technology, particularly for small-volume specialty glass and borosilicate production. However, scaling up to large all-electric furnaces will require significant industry-wide collaboration. Schneider Electric is actively engaging with OEMs, furnace builders, and system integrators to develop standard, cost-effective solutions for hybrid and all-electric melting.
Beyond Hybrid: The Case for All-Electric?
Some manufacturers are reconsidering whether hybrid furnaces are the ultimate solution. Would it be better to rethink furnace design entirely, downsizing and optimizing for all-electric operation? Some pioneering companies are already successfully running large-scale all-electric furnaces with minimal issues.
The biggest challenge remains securing a reliable supply of green energy on-site. However, advancements in energy storage, smart grid management, and digital process optimization may soon make all-electric solutions more viable. Schneider Electric is helping glass manufacturers navigate this transition by providing end-to-end support in energy strategy and process control.
The Future of Glass Melting
Hybrid furnaces may be a stepping stone rather than the final destination. The question remains: Is trying to stay as close as possible to existing furnace shapes and sizes the best way forward? Or is it time to rethink flexibility, downscale, and optimize for pure electrification?
Stay tuned for Part 8, where we take an alternative look at all-electric melting and what it could mean for the future of glass manufacturing.
Segment head at Tata Consultancy Services
4 小时前Thanks Rene Meuleman , insightful reads. With some segments of the glass industry trying to modularise or have smaller units strategically located. In your opinion how will this have an effect on choice of fuel
Process Engineer II at Johns Manville
1 周Low bubble count requirements for flat glass will continue to keep glassmakers fairly cautious, as we currently see in the industry with trials of H2 and hydrogen-blend combustion. Current float tank sizes to meet quality are beyond the melting capacities for all-electric melting unless there are redesigns. One possible solution is having multiple smaller all-electric melters that feed one larger tank to homogenize and give sufficient residence time for bubbles to escape. However, surface chemistry is quite likely to need some combustion, and multiple melters combining could result in major headaches trying to diagnose a quality upset, depending on how the flows combine/how much they truly homogenize. I think that hybrid electric/hydrogen with a little bit of natural gas/CO to make the flame visible will likely be the best option. Water in glass will be a concern, but more than that how will refractory respond to largely hydrogen combustion? Batch cost will almost certainly be higher for redox control if you want to totally avoid combustion. People should talk about small modular nuclear reactors to provide the energy for largely electric melting, and/or changes to forming technology for flat glass to allow smaller melters.
Global Strategy, Technology and Marketing Lead | Digital | Sustainability | Industry 4.0 | Electricity 4.0 | Energy, Chemicals, Mining, Cement, Glass and Metals | Climate, ESG | New Energy Landscape | AI, Edge, IIoT
2 周Thanks Rene Meuleman, enjoyed the read and as usual your industry insights. Schneider-Electric team is definitely making step changes to support this industry direction for our clients.
Optimizing the melting process in a glass furnace is crucial for improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and enhancing the quality of the final glass product.
2 周Melting cost?
Solutions & Technology Lead Green Glass
2 周The fiberglass industry has been an early adopter of hybrid technology, but now, full or near-full electrification is becoming a focus across all glass segments. The real question is: Is hybrid the ultimate solution, or just a stepping stone toward fully electric melting?