The £1.5M UKRI‑funded AI GLASS project—delivered with the Virtual Engineering Centre and Glass Service—is revolutionising furnace optimisation by combining machine learning and digital twins to predict performance, cut emissions and waste, and equip the workforce with advanced immersive training tools for the future of glass manufacturing.
Glass Futures’ Combustion Test Bed is a highly instrumented, 350 kW replica furnace that enables rapid, low‑carbon combustion innovation by safely testing new fuels, burner designs, and operating strategies under full‑scale conditions—saving time, cost, and emissions before deployment to industrial furnaces.
This pioneering £5.6M DESNZ‑funded project is proving how low‑cost biofuels made from waste cooking oil—developed with partners including Ardagh, Encirc, Pilkington UK, DSF, and O‑I—can cut furnace CO₂ emissions by over 90% and offer a scalable, low‑carbon replacement for natural gas in glass and ceramics manufacturing.
