DEVELOPMENT OF TRITAN CRYSTAL GLASS USING LOCAL PROCESSED SILICA SAND FOR TABLEWARES

Abstract

Crystal glass is a popular item among most people because of its brilliance and aesthetic appearances. In this study, silica sand obtained from Syarikat Sebangun Sdn. Bhd., Bintulu, Sarawak. It was to study the suitability of the local silica sand as raw materials for the preparation of the tritan crystal glass. In the present work, two equipments employed in upgrading the silica sand namely attrition scrubber and wet high intensity magnetic separator. In this study some mineral based additives such as titanium oxide, potassium oxide, calcium oxide, sodium oxide, zirconium oxide, etc. were used in the tritan crystal glass formulation. The glass formulation was melted in a front loading furnace at approximately 1450 oC. The resulting products were tested according to and compared with BS 3828:1973, the specification for crystal glass standards. Some of the parameters stipulated under the Standard are refractive index, density and hardness. The resulting properties will be elaborated in the forthcoming paragraphs.