Abstract: A method of making glass products includes: heating material to obtain a glass melt; heating the glass melt in a melting tank having a melting tank bottom, the glass melt having a melt volume, a melt surface, and a viscosity of 102 dPas at a temperature above 1580° C. The glass melt is heated such that at least some of the glass melt has a viscosity of 102.5 dPas or less. An amount of thermal energy introduced directly into the melt volume is more than 60% of a total amount of thermal energy introduced into the glass melt. A maximum difference between a temperature at a location on the melt surface and a temperature at a location at the melting tank bottom vertically underneath the location on the melt surface is such that a difference in glass melt densities is less than 0.05 g/cm3 per meter distance between the locations.

Abstract: The method of environmentally friendly melting and refining a glass melt of a crystallizable glass, which is used for making a lithium aluminum silicate (LAS) glass ceramic, includes the steps of providing a glass batch with a main batch composition within a lithium aluminum silicate (LAS) glass system, in which 0.1-<0.6% by weight of tin oxide has been added as main refining agent, but which does not contain arsenic oxide and/or antimony oxide as refining agent, formulating a raw material mixture for the glass batch, so that less than 40% by weight of the raw material mixture is quartz sand and then refining a glass melt formed from the glass batch at temperatures of at least 1600° C.

Abstract: The method of environmentally friendly melting and refining a glass melt of a crystallizable glass, which is used for making a lithium aluminium silicate (LAS) glass ceramic, includes the steps of providing a glass batch with a main batch composition within a lithium aluminium silicate (LAS) glass system, in which 0.1-<0.6% by weight of tin oxide has been added as main refining agent, but which does not contain arsenic oxide and/or antimony oxide as refining agent, formulating a raw material mixture for the glass batch, so that less than 40% by weight of the raw material mixture is quartz sand and then refining a glass melt formed from the glass batch at temperatures of at least 1600° C.