Handbook for Process Safety in Laboratories and Pilot Plants

Appendix D Glass Equipment Design

D.1. Glass Equipment Integrity Challenges

In glass manufacturing, uniform thickness and uniform annealing are crucial to assure that a glass component can withstand pressure or vacuum conditions and operate safely at its rated pressure. Achieving uniformity in thickness and uniformity in annealing are both challenges at or near glass equipment joints or “edges”.

Glassware failures under elevated pressure or vacuum conditions are often manifest at defects, often surface defects, and from stresses resulting from handling and assembly. Many defects are identified by the manufacturer or glass shop fabricator and are corrected before delivery. A recognized standard for identifying defects in laboratory glassware is published by ASTM [242]. See Section 22.4 for more about Asset Integrity methods for glass.

D.2. General Glass Properties and Performance Characteristics

The properties and performance characteristics of glass should be considered in selecting or specifying glass as a material of construction for containers and equipment in LAPPs. Desirable characteristics are listed in Table D‐1 and shortcomings are listed in Table D‐2. A key shortcoming of all types of glass is that they are brittle rather than ductile materials. Specific limiting characteristics for glasses when used as a material of construction and types of failure are listed in Table D-2. As a result of these shortcomings, breakage (mechanical failure) of laboratory glassware, ...