idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Greifswald, 05 May 2026 – The glass industry is one of the most energy-intensive sectors in Germany. A large proportion of CO₂ emissions is caused by the use of natural gas in high-temperature processes. This is precisely where the Plas4Glas joint project comes in. Together with partners from industry, the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) develops a plasma-based firing technology for lower-emission glass production.
The project shall provide an alternative to conventional gas burners. In future, the process heat required is to be generated using plasma. Plasma as a high-energy state of matter can convert electrical energy directly into heat. The aim is to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions and harmful nitrogen oxides in selected high-temperature processes.
Microglass beads as the first field of application
A first area of application is the moulding process in the manufacture of microglass beads, which are used, amongst other things, for road marking. Particularly in such downstream processes and in further processing, there have been hardly any approaches to electrification to date. Plas4Glas is therefore investigating how plasma-based electrical processes can be applied here as well, both technically and economically.
“With Plas4Glas, we aim to develop a technical solution that meets the requirements of industrial processes,” says Dr Diego Gonzalez, project leader at the INP. “Our approach is to convert electrical energy into process heat in such a way that high-temperature processes can be electrified even where conventional approaches have so far reached their limits.”
The Plas4Glas project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space as part of the “KlimPro-Industrie – Avoiding climate-damaging process emissions in industry” funding scheme. It runs from November 2025 to October 2029 and has a total budget of €1.6 million. The consortium coordinator is Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen GmbH. Other project partners include SWARCO Schönborn GmbH and HEINZ-GLAS GmbH & Co. KGaA as well as the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP).
The INP is contributing with its expertise in the fields of thermal plasma technologies, simulation of plasma-glass interaction and optical diagnostics to the project. In the future, the technology developed may also prove to be of interest for other gas-torch-based manufacturing processes in the industry.
Illustration of microglass beads, which are used, amongst other things, for road markings. The Plas4 ...
Copyright: INP
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