Altajir Glass Bottle Factory Expansion, Jebel Ali Industrial Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Altajir glass factory in Jebel Ali industrial zone, Dubai, completed a third bottle production line installation in mid-2003 in just 85 days, but the state-of-the-art facility is continuing an aggressive expansion programme based upon continuing increased demand for their products in the Middle East and worldwide. The company has enough orders booked to run the plant at full capacity for the next five years, hence the new expansion.

The second phase of expansion began in late 2003 and is scheduled for completion by late 2005. The phase 1 expansion, which entailed the installation of a third bottle production line, cost the company Dh100 million ($27.2 million). The investment for phase 2 will be Dh550 million ($150 million), taking total investment in the plant since it was first constructed in 1996 to over Dh1.1 billion ($300 million).

The first phase of expansion increased production capacity from 1.5 million to 2.25 million bottles per day and allowed 540t/d of melting capacity. The more ambitious phase 2 expansion will double the plant's output capacity again to allow the production of 4.5 million bottles per day. The successful completion of this expansion will enable the company to analyse the market situation at the time and possibly consider the construction of a further plant, since the company will run out of space on the original 50-acre site.

CONTRACTORS AND CONSTRUCTION

The construction of the building expansion - including steel construction, cladding, general construction and electrical and mechanical engineering - was awarded to various companies in Dubai. Engineering consultants include Al Nibras Management (project management), ECG Engineering Consultants Group and Veth Consultants. General construction is being carried out by Al Ummah Contracting, and Yerevan Steel Construction Company is erecting the steel super structure of the expansion building. Al Shirawi Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Company is installing the necessary electrical and utility infrastructure.

Owens Brockway Glass Containers of the US is retained as an advisor, as they were responsible for the outfitting of the original plant in 1996. All Glass of Italy are providing some of the moulding equipment for one of the three new manufacturing lines. Super Furnace Works of India are constructing two new energy-efficient vertical loading electric arc furnaces (with easy maintenance facility), each with a production capacity of 250t. Zippe Industrieanlagen of Germany is to provide cullet preparation equipment and batch processing equipment to produce raw material for the furnaces. Siemens Energy and Automation are involved in the installation of electrical power plants to run the furnaces. Horn Glassanlagen of Germany is involved in the supply of some of the moulding equipment for the smaller volume glass containers to be produced. Nils and Abbas Trading of Dubai are providing the compressed air systems for the bottle blowing lines. Computer Network Systems of Dubai are providing the IT infrastructure for the new expansion. AGR International of the US is providing inspection and integrity testing equipment for the new plant to test bottles produced for quality.

Emhart Glass of Switzerland is providing three 340 Forehearth systems (200t capacity), gob forming systems, container forming systems (three IS 6 1/4 machines, 12 section triple gob, capable of producing bottles at a rate of 200 per minute), hot end equipment, cold end equipment and networked control systems for the facility. The Forehearth is a long, narrow chamber where the temperature of the melted glass is adjusted and precisely controlled. The gob is a ball of melted glass that is punched out of the melted stream and transferred into a mould where the bottle or other product is formed. All of the processes along the mould line require careful temperature control to make a product that is consistent in thickness, strength and quality. Emhart Glass has developed new state-of-the-art control systems to precisely monitor temperature along the entire manufacturing process to ensure optimum production conditions from the melt to the final bottle. The plant will be able to extend the range of bottle sizes it can produce from 150ml up to 2.5-litre capacity.

NARROW NECK PRESS AND BLOW TECHNOLOGY

The facility will use a narrow neck press and blow (NNPB) technology, which allows bottles to be made much lighter with up to 25% less glass in each container (thus saving on the cost of materials). It also allows glass containers to be made with much higher accuracy, i.e. fewer defects on internal surfaces and a lower reject rate. The new lighter-weight NNPB-made bottles are much stronger because they have better glass distribution. The technology uses a metal plunger to form the internal cavity in the bottle during blank formation rather than an air bubble as in older methods. The gob enters the mould at a temperature of 1,200°C, the mould closes and the plunger, driven by a pneumatic piston, pushes the molten glass all the way into the mould. The plunger then withdraws and the mould opens while the blank is transferred to the next stage of production.

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