Glass Manufacturing, Melting, Chemistry and Recycling Expert

Expertise

• Glass technologist and Geologist focusing in raw materials for glass, glass recycling and glass chemistry.
• Glass research and development.
• Over 25 years with knowledge and practical experiences as a glass technologist.
• Glass technology - container glass, tableware, float, fiber, glass wool, and cellular glass.
• Glass production optimization and trouble-shooting - container glass, tableware, float, fiber, glass wool, and cellular glass.
• Glass melting - glass furnace control, energy efficiency, energy benchmarks, and trouble-shooting.
• Geological survey, exploring mineral deposits, market research and supply-demand analysis of raw materials for the glass industry.
• Batch recipe optimization, solving glass melt foaming problems and improving the fining efficiency of a glass melt.
• Glass production energy efficiency assessment and energy consumption reduction.
• Glass quality problems, glass failure and glass defects trouble-shooting.
• Technical assistance to food and beverage industry for container glass design, glass container quality specifications and glass packaging trouble-shooting.
• Glass production and glass quality follow up at the glass plant, statistical quality control, glass quality audits for food and beverage industry.
• Glass furnace melting and fining trouble-shooting; assessment of furnace design and furnace operation.
• Technical evaluation of glass furnaces and glass production process, glass furnace performance audit and or energy efficiency benchmark study.
• Color change assistance and color change procedure optimization.
• Glass breakage expertise; expert witness; glass breakage assessment.
• Quality control of cullet (recycled glass) and cullet quality control procedure assessment.
• Statistical calculations, optimization and improvement of the cullet quality control procedures used at the glass plant and or at the cullet treatment plant to reaching a level of precision and accuracy.
• Glass recycling process optimization and trouble-shooting.
• Glass annealing - heat treatment - post-processing.
• Container glass hot-end and cold-end coating; scuffing of returnable bottles.

Expert Witness Experience

• Expert witness - glass furnace repair - float glass melt contamination and production losses - proved that claim was not justified.
• Expert witness glass recycling company - container glass production losses - all arguments and conclusions were fully accepted in the verdict.
• Expert witness support - personal injuries claim due to broken glass - all technical and scientific arguments were fully accepted in the verdict.
• Expert witness support for float glass defects in architectural float.

Experience

Undisclosed Company, Owner, 2004 - Present

• Glass technology consulting with projects in Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia and America.
• Independent glass technology consultant, providing glass technology services, freelance assistance and solutions to the glass industry, glass industry suppliers and glass industry customers.
• Glass melt - glass production trouble-shooting - container glass, float, table-ware, E-glass, insulation wool, and cellular glass.
• Introduction of new raw materials, lab melting and-or fining tests and, or optimization of glass recipes.
• Trouble-shooting, quality control and improvement of container glass production and glass packaging for various customers including glass manufacturers and food and beverage companies (including e.g. two world-top breweries).
• Development of non-standard colors for high end container glass products, glass color quality improvements (e.g. crystal-clear flint), optimization of color changes.
• Energy efficiency benchmark studies of float, container glass, insulation wool, fiber and table ware glass production in the Netherlands and in Belgium (Flanders).
• Glass recycling and cullet quality projects e.g. quality control procedures based upon statistics and OC curves, (e.g. scientific studies made for the European glass recycling Industry federation).
• Technical support and advice for new investors - new glass plant projects - e.g. writing of a detailed handbook on glass melting, furnace control and optimization for the management of a recently started container glass plant.
• Expert witness; 2nd opinion, review and comment on reports and evidence, claims and litigation support for various glass products; support to law firms, companies and insurers e.g. law suits about production losses due to quality failure of raw materials supplier or quality of work of subcontractors, injuries caused by broken glass, visual defects of architectural float heat-treated glass.
• Teaching of various courses/training programs on glass chemistry, container glass production, glass packaging characteristics for e.g. glass industry, Dutch Packaging Institute and the University of Ghent.

TNO, Eindhoven, Nether-lands, Project Lead - Glass Group, 2001 - 2004

• Glass technology research and development projects about modelling of glass furnaces (CFD-Computational Fluid Dynamics).
• Furnace energy balance calculations, energy efficiency audits and energy benchmarking of glass furnaces (float, container, glass wool, cellular glass, waterglass and sodium silicate, fiberglass E-glass).
• Glass melting and fining (lab-) tests and research.
• Research on glass melt reaction processes, foaming of glass melts, and solubility of gasses.
• Glass melting process optimization - lab tests and research.
• Glass defects trouble-shooting and glass production optimization.

La Manufacture du Verre, Ghlin, Belgium, 1999 - 2001

Glass Technologist - Quality Assurance

• Quality assurance raw materials and cullet.
• Batch recipe elaboration and optimization.
• Glass furnace operation and control.
• Glass color chemistry - new colors development - color changes.
• Glass defects trouble-shooting.
• Container glass quality assurance and continuous quality improvement.
• Customers quality audit support.
• ICT manager - responsible for year 2K ('millennium-bug').
• Member of technical management team during take-over by new investors.

Verlipack, Erpe-Mere, Belgium, Glass Technologist, 1987 - 1999

• Glass technologist for three container glass plants.
• Quality assurance raw materials and cullet.
• Batch recipe elaboration and optimization.
• Glass furnace operation and control - 3 glass plants.
• Glass color chemistry - new colors development - color changes.
• Glass defects trouble-shooting.

Honors & Publications

Credentials

• Computer Technology: All common software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, OpenOffice Calc, Base,); programming skills (e.g. own programs for energy balance calculations, container lightweight optimisation calculations,); use of CFD software (glass tank model).
• Fundamentals of Glass Technology - The Centre for Professional Advancement.
• Glass Course - NCNG the Netherlands.
• Management-Project Management, Empowerment, Change Management, Networking, Time-management, Mind-Mapping.

Languages

• Dutch: mother tongue
• French (2nd language): fluent, reading: excellent; speaking: excellent; writing: good
• English: fluent, reading: excellent; speaking: very good; writing: very good
• German: basic, reading: very good; speaking: basic; writing: limited
• Spanish: limited, reading: basic; speaking: basic

Publications

• Author and Co-Author of publications in peer reviewed scientific journals, educational text and workshops.

Education

• M.S. Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium
• M.S. Geology, State University of Ghent-Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Belgium