Selenium-Free Blue Glass Composition for Automotive Solar Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blue-colored glasses for automotive and architectural applications rely on selenium as a colorant, which has a low melting point and high vapor pressure, leading to inefficiencies in glass production and spectral properties.
Innovation Solution
A blue-colored, infrared, and ultraviolet radiation-absorbing glass composition using a soda-lime-silica base with specific ranges of iron, cobalt, erbium, chromium, copper, nickel, titanium, and neodymium oxides as colorants, excluding selenium, to achieve desired spectral properties and luminous transmittance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If selenium is used as a colorant in blue glass, then the desired blue color and spectral properties can be achieved, but the low melting point and high vapor pressure of selenium cause it to be carried out of the glass melter in exhaust gases, leading to loss of material and production inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes selenium from the glass composition entirely and replaces it with alternative colorants (cobalt oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, chromium oxide, titanium oxide, neodymium oxide) that do not suffer from volatility issues. This extraction of the problematic substance resolves the contradiction by eliminating selenium loss while maintaining the desired spectral properties through alternative elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by substituting selenium with a specific combination of other metal oxides in controlled amounts. By adjusting the concentrations of cobalt, copper, nickel, chromium, titanium, and neodymium oxides, the patent achieves the desired blue color and spectral characteristics without the material loss problems associated with selenium.
2Ease of manufacture
If selenium is used as a colorant, then blue coloration is achieved, but the high vapor pressure causes selenium to be lost in exhaust gases during heating, reducing manufacturing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes selenium from the glass melting process entirely, replacing it with non-volatile alternative colorants. This eliminates the source of exhaust gas contamination and improves manufacturing efficiency by preventing material loss through the flue gas system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of selenium volatility into a beneficial outcome by completely eliminating selenium from the composition. The alternative colorants used (cobalt, copper, nickel, chromium, titanium, neodymium oxides) have much lower vapor pressures and do not contaminate exhaust gases, thereby transforming a harmful process into a clean manufacturing process.
3Reliability
If selenium is used to achieve blue color, then the colorant provides the necessary spectral absorption, but selenium's low melting point and high vapor pressure make it unsuitable for efficient glass production
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts selenium from the glass composition and replaces it with alternative colorants that have higher melting points and lower vapor pressures. This substitution maintains color stability while significantly improving glass production efficiency by eliminating material loss and associated production problems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite approach by combining multiple alternative colorants (cobalt oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, chromium oxide, titanium oxide, neodymium oxide) in specific proportions to achieve the desired spectral properties. This composite material strategy provides color stability equivalent to or better than selenium while avoiding its production efficiency problems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The glass composition provides a selenium-free solution with medium luminous transmittance, reduced infrared and ultraviolet transmittance, and specific spectral properties, enhancing durability and solar control while maintaining the desired blue color and spectral characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
a blue colored, infrared and ultraviolet radiation absorbing glass substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A blue colored, infrared and ultraviolet absorbing glass composition uses a standard soda-lime-silica glass base composition and additionally iron, cobalt, and additional colorants selected from the group of Er2O3, Cr2O3, CuO, NiO, TiO2, Nd2O3 and combinations thereof. The glass of the present invention has a luminous transmittance of up to 60 percent, a dominant wavelength in the range of 480 to 489 nanometers and an excitation purity of at least 8 percent at a thickness of 0.160 inches (4.06 millimeters). The glass composition can form transparent glass panels that have varying limited LTA from one another as panel sets for mounting in automobiles.