Upgrading the Glass Bead Making Furnace for Ease of Operation: A Case Study of the Masaga Glass Guild

Abstract

The glass bead making furnace of the Masaga Glass Guild in Bida, Niger State Nigeria was evaluated in comparison to those of Ghana (Krobo) and India (Firozabad); it was discovered that the Masaga furnace falls short of an efficient system for sustainable work that should facilitate appreciable productivity. Furthermore, the furnace is not built with refractory bricks, implying that it has a short life span; the furnace is operated by hand-worked traditional cloth bellows requiring sustained and strenuous efforts over a relatively long period of time; Following this assessment, efforts were directed at modifying the furnace by producing design drawings of the modified furnace, design and production of refractory bricks from the design drawing, constructing the modified furnace structure using the refractory bricks, producing suitable furniture for the furnace and subsequently, devising a suitable mechanical blower device as an alternative to the manually worked bellows for the supply of combustion air. Consequently, a furnace was developed which eliminates the strenuous manual working of the bellows as well as the bellow operator and ensures that a single individual can work unassisted at the furnace in the process of glassware production.