Ledvance Uviol glass tube for bactericidal lamps

2021: Start of mass production of semi-finished products from uviol glass

May 27, 2021 at the Smolensk plant of JSC LEDVANS, mass production of semi-finished products from uviol glass for ozone-free bactericidal lamps begins. A production complex with a capacity of 6 tons of glass per day (180 tons per month/2000 tons per year) was designed and built for this. From uviol glass, a semi-finished tube with a diameter of 8 to 40 mm, sizes T8, T5 and T12 will be produced. The total investment cost of the project is about 3.5 million euros. With the launch of the complex, 39 jobs were created.

The turnkey project for the organization and launch of a high-tech production complex was implemented together with the general contractor from, Hungary which is engaged in the design, construction industrial furnaces and production control systems.

The complex for May 2021 consists of three sections - this is a system for preparing dry concentrate of uviol glass, an oxygen-fuel furnace, where the mixture is heated to a liquid state, and a glass pipe drawing line. The installation of an oxygen-gas furnace has become an innovative solution for the enterprise. The furnace uses pure oxygen in combination with natural gas as an energy carrier, rather than ordinary air, as in the manufacture of glass for fluorescent general lighting lamps. This is necessary because the cooking temperature of the uviol glass is about 1500 ° C, which is about 150 ° C higher than usual.

The use of oxygen made it possible to increase not only the efficiency and efficiency of the production process, but also improve environmental indicators, since the air contains nitrogen and other compounds that are released into the atmosphere during the operation of the furnace, "commented Andrei Shumilin, deputy director of the LEDVANS plant. - Oxygen-fuel furnaces are rarely installed in enterprises. For us, this is the first experience, so it was important to carefully consider everything, and then check the correctness of the design during testing.

The complex can be operated completely in automatic mode, control over the work process can be carried out online as well. For this purpose, the workshop is provided with a customised electronic control system based on Siemens controllers, which the Hungarian contractor developed specifically for the LEDVANS plant.

The complex for production of Uviol glass pipe meets all the necessary Russian and European quality standards. The gas supply project received a positive opinion in Rostekhnadzor. Testing of the automatic control system was carried out abroad by the general contractor. All necessary environmental aspects are also taken into account, the project received the approval of Rosprirodnadzor.

This production complex will be brought to full capacity in stages and by the end of 2021 will be able to produce up to 35 million semi-finished tubes for UV lamps with a capacity of 15W, 25W, 30W, 36, 55W, 75W. Raw materials for production - sand, as well as other components will be purchased in Russia.

It is planned to use about 50% of the UVOL glass pipe in the production of ozone-free low-pressure bactericidal lamps LEDVANCE TIBERA UVC for irradiators-recirculators, which have been manufactured at our plant since the summer of 2020. The launch of the furnace will further increase the degree of localization of this product, which already has a ST-1 certificate, "said Andrei Shumilin, deputy director of the LEDVANS plant. - We plan to send the rest of the semi-finished products to foreign manufacturers of UV lamps. The implementation of this project will allow LEDVANCE to become one of the leading manufacturers of bactericidal lamps on the world market, and the plant in Smolensk will significantly increase its export potential.

The project to create and launch a production complex was planned and implemented in just six months, although in the standard mode it takes a year and a half. The work was carried out in difficult conditions of restrictions on the movement of people between countries due to the coronavirus pandemic, so foreign specialists organized and controlled the main work remotely. For the Smolensk plant this is the first such experience.

To speed up the process, construction was carried out around the clock. It was originally planned that the Hungarian contractor would install the equipment on his own, but due to travel restrictions, the work was carried out by a Russian contractor - the Moscow company Teploaggregat under the guidance and supervision of Hungarian specialists. Especially for this, an international teleconference was organized in 24/7 mode, and representatives of the general contractor came only to debug and launch the complex. Remote construction is a little-known practice for us, but we coped with a difficult task together with a Russian partner, "said Mikhail Pyrkin, project manager for the construction of the complex and head of the glass workshop of the LEDVANS plant.

2020: Start of construction of the complex for production of Uviol glass

The Ledvans plant in Smolensk began the construction of a complex for the production of uviol glass. This was reported to the online publication Zdrav.Expert on September 4, 2020 by Ledvance. Commissioning of the complex will allow to produce finished products - ozone-free bactericidal lamp in volumes of more than 2 million units per month. The head office of the company in Germany invests about 300 million rubles in the Russian project. It is planned that it will be implemented as soon as possible - by February 2021 - due to the high demand for UV devices for the prevention of coronavirus and other respiratory infections.

Uviol glass production for ozone-free bactericidal llamas will be launched in Russia

The project of the plant will help eliminate the shortage of uviol glass, as well as dependence on imported suppliers and will ensure the complete localization of the production of the final product - the ozone-free bactericidal lamp Ledvance Tibera UVC, which has been produced in Smolensk since the summer of 2020 and is in high demand among manufacturers and consumers of recirculators-irradiators for decontamination of premises. UV devices with uviol glass lamps are the safest, as they pass ultraviolet light effective for combating pathogenic microorganisms, but delay rays that convert oxygen to ozone, toxic to humans and animals.

The launch of own production will reduce the cost of finished products while maintaining their high quality due to the exclusion of the costs of customs duties and transportation of imported semi-finished products.

The production capacity of the complex is 2.5 million semi-finished pipes made of uviol glass per month. According to the plans, already in February 2021 in Smolensk, mass production of uviol glass pipe for bactericidal T8 lamps, which is used in recyclers-irradiators, will begin. In the future, the production of T5 and T12 sizes can be established if they are in demand, as well as Uviol glass pipes of special diameters for medical needs.

The implementation of the project for the production of uviol glass tubes will allow Ledvance to become one of the leading manufacturers of bactericidal lamps not only in Russia, but also in the world market, "comments Alexander Seliverstov, director of the Ledvans plant in Smolensk. - As of September 2020, semi-finished products for such lamps are produced mainly at two enterprises in Europe, and production in Smolensk will be the first for the Russian Federation. Our company also plans to become one of the suppliers of uviol glass tubes to other Russian and foreign manufacturers of ozone-free UV lamps.

At the beginning of September 2020, the complex is being designed, which will consist of three sections. The first is a compound, where sand and other necessary components are mixed according to a special recipe into a dry concentrate for preparing glass. The concentrate is then supplied to the glass-melting furnace, where it is heated to a liquid state by means of an oxygen-gas mixture, after which it is sent to the third section - the glass-pipe drawing line.

The high-tech complex, which meets Russian and European quality standards, will be provided with modern electronic control systems, gas supply, energy supply. Its construction takes into account all the necessary environmental aspects to protect the environment. After launch, production will provide the region with about 40 additional jobs.

The project has a very short time, since the market need for ozone-free bactericidal lamps is extremely high. The complex will be built and put into operation in just six months, although in standard mode it takes a year and a half. To cope with the ambitious task, we use all the existing experience in the field of glass pipe production - both world and our own, because since the opening of our plant specializes in the production of such semi-finished products, but for luminescent lamps, "said Mikhail Pyrkin, head of glass production at Ledvans JSC.

At the first stage, after the start of production, within 6-12 months, a finished concentrate from Europe will be used in the composite section of the production complex. Then the plant will begin to produce it on its own, using components mainly from Russian suppliers, which will reduce the cost of uviol tubes and, as a result, finished ozone-free lamps. A scheme for selecting suppliers and its own Russian dry formulation is already being worked out.