SBIR Phase I: Manufacturing Low-Cost Metal-to-Glass Seals for Insulating Glazing

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）的第一阶段旨在证明建造一种新型机器的可行性，这种机器可以制造用于隔热窗户玻璃的低成本玻璃-金属密封件。应用包括真空玻璃，它可以隔热和墙（R11到R20），代表了窗户技术的重大改进。它还将为改进现有的窗口技术提供机会。经济可行性的唯一障碍是将玻璃板边缘金属化的低成本工艺。目前的技术需要一个足够大的真空室来容纳2米× 3米的玻璃。大腔室和相关的真空泵是资本和运营成本密集的，大部分浪费在较小的窗格上。该项目涉及建造和操作一种创新的真空沉积设备，该设备可以将几乎任何尺寸的玻璃板边缘金属化。该设备的资本成本和运行成本将根据窗格周长而不是窗格面积而扩大。拟议的活动将利用在等离子辅助制造方面积累的知识，并推进它，克服长期存在的技术障碍，为玻璃技术提供重大进步。它将提高对真空玻璃如何接近其潜力的理解。这个项目的商业潜力主要来自于住宅建筑的改造。到2050年，如果2万亿平方英尺的玻璃可以用这种技术进行改造，避免的能源损失将相当于住宅供暖和制冷能源的12%，或美国能源消耗的1%。整个美国减少的温室气体排放量也将达到1%。这个项目源于实现成本平价的目标，也就是说，真空窗的制造成本不会超过传统的氩气中空玻璃单元。如果实现成本平价，那么节省的天然气钻井成本将超过所需安装的玻璃容量。这台机器的成功开发将导致实现成本平价，通过对现有建筑和新建筑的改造，使市场迅速渗透。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase I aims to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a novel machine for manufacturing low-cost glass-to-metal seals for insulating window glazing. Applications include vacuum glazing which insulates as well as a wall (R11 to R20), representing a major improvement in window technology. It will also provide an opportunity to improve existing window technology. The one remaining barrier to economic viability is a low-cost process to metallize the perimeter edges of glass panes. The current state of the art requires a vacuum chamber large enough to hold glass as large as 2 meters x 3 meters. The large chamber and associated vacuum pumps are capital- and operating-cost intensive, largely wasted on smaller panes. This project involves building and operating an innovative vacuum deposition device which can metalize the edges of glass panes of virtually any size. The capital cost and operating cost of this device will scale up based on pane perimeter, not pane area. The proposed activity will leverage accumulated knowledge in plasma-aided manufacturing, and advance it, to overcome longstanding technical barriers to provide a major advance in glazing technology. It will improve the understanding of how closely vacuum glazing approaches its potential.The commercial potential of this project will be accrue primarily to the retrofitting of residential buildings. By 2050, if 2 trillion square feet of glazing can be retrofitted with this technology, the avoided energy loss would amount to 12% of residential heating and cooling energy, or 1% of U.S. energy use. Avoided greenhouse gas emissions for the entire U.S. would also be 1%.This project arises from the goal of achieving cost parity, that is, vacuum windows that cost no more to manufacture than conventional argon-filled Insulating Glass units. If cost parity is achieved, the avoided costs of drilling natural gas wells equivalent to this energy savings will more than pay for the required installed glazing capacity. Successful development of this machine will lead to achieving cost parity, enabling rapid market penetration through retrofit of existing buildings as well as new construction.