Distribution & Production January 2022

NorthGlass Continues its Jumbo Rise— With Lites Spanning Eight Stories High

After setting a Guinness World Record for the largest window installation in September 2021, Tianjin (NorthGlass) is continuing to push its production capabilities to its limit. This time, the company’s jumbo tempered glass will be installed in the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce in Guangzhou City, China. JangHo is the façade contractor and RFR is the facade consultant.

According to Holly An, sales director for NorthGlass, the project’s glazing consists of low-iron, fully tempered and heat-soaked laminated glass that spans about eight stories high—about the width of 34 adults standing side-by-side. The glass has an area of more than 75 square meters—about 807 square feet.

Producing glass of such length was a challenge for the company. Before this project, the maximum size NorthGlass had produced was about 59 feet, says An. Now, the company is producing glass that is about 79 feet.

Each step of the process needed to be re-evaluated and redeveloped, according to An. Procedures used to transport the glass and materials, laminate, cut, and polish were all different because of the additional 20 feet.

One other area that had to be reconsidered for large lites of glass was the tempering process. Because of its large size, it was difficult to ensure the glass would maintain the same temperature from top to bottom. An says it was necessary to study and set up the suitable parameter of the tempered furnace to make sure the heating would be equal across the entire piece of glass. This was also necessary during the cooling process.

NorthGlass is currently involved in another jumbo-sized project. Last October, the first large curtainwall glass supplied was installed at the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center Library. One section of the project will have 138 pieces of glass and another will have 276 pieces. Among these additions, some lites reach a height of about 50 feet and about 8 feet wide. Additionally, they have an area of about 405 square feet and a single total weight of 11.5 tons. The entire project is expected to be completed in December 2022.

PRL Adds New Pujol Laminting Line

PRL Glass Co. is now operating a double Pujol 100 PVB+ oven to increase productivity and production capacity, according to a press release. According to the company, the new equipment allows for glass lamination with EVA, PVB and ionoplastics without an autoclave, which reduces energy costs by up to 70% compared to the autoclave system.

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