Glass & Ceramics Research Centre

Glass and Ceramics Research Centre (GCRC) was established in 1957 for the advancement of science and technology in Pakistan. The centre has been serving the nation over the last six decades through need-based R&D, consultancy, trouble shooting etc for industry, and providing assistance to academia. During the decade (1960-1970), major glass and ceramic industries were established on the basis of technical knowledge provided by the centre. To assess the development trends realistically in relation to national technological issues related to producer and consumer goods, indigenous resources, technologies, social and cultural traditions and climate. To meet the international quality standards the centre is accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2005 with PNAC in year (2009).

Area of Research:

  • Glass melting and characterization
  • Ceramic sintering and evaluation
  • Building materials development & evaluation
  • Geotechnical investigation
  • Petrography and mineral analysis
  • Trouble shooting and consultancy for industry
  • Assistance to academia

Major Centres of GCRC

  • Glass Section:

Almost all commercial glasses are produced from indigenous raw materials, available in abundance in Pakistan. To improve the quality of industrial production, processing of raw materials is prerequisite along with correct batch composition of glasses. To address these problems the glass section provides technical assistance to industry. Recently, glass surface treatment laboratory has been established for multifunctional glass coatings.

  • Ceramic Section:

This section covers industrial products such as pottery, porcelain, sanitary ware, stoneware, wall and floor glazes tiles, electro-ceramics, special and technical ceramics. The raw materials used for these products are mainly quartz, feldspar, clays and talc etc. are available in abundance in Pakistan.

  • Building and Construction Section:

This section covers wide range of building materials such as cement, aggregate, sand, soil, insulation material, bricks, pavers and tiles. The raw materials and products used in the construction are physic-chemically evaluated.

  • Geo-technology Section:

Geotechnical investigation, petrography and mineral analysis are major areas of concern. Important properties of soil which are required for geo-technical analysis, includes site conditions, foundation design and physical properties of soil.

  • Glass Blowing and Glass Equipment Repairing Section:

This section facilitates in the manufacturing of glass apparatuses and assemblies as per design provided by the client/ laboratory. It also provides repairing facility for damaged laboratory glass ware within the PCSIR or other laboratories of national institution.

  • Pilot Plants:

  • Refractories

Pilot plant facility is available for the production of kiln and furnace refractory bricks used in industries like iron and steel, ceramics, glass, cement, chemicals and power generation. These refractories are made from fire clay, bauxite, chromite, magnesite,

  • Lead Free Transparent Frit for Ceramic Industry

Facility has been established for the production of lead free frit for ceramic industry. It is a high temperature glass which is produced by melting different raw materials and chemicals in definite proportion, the raw materials are thoroughly mixed and sieved, then melting the mass at 1500oC. After complete melting, molten mass is quenched in cold water to make it in the form of soft glass.

  • Glass Melting

Facility for glass melting has been developed to study different types of glass compositions on pilot plant scale. Glass batches upto 500 kg can be melted and formed into different shapes using blowing and pressing techniques.

Major Service Sector

  • Ceramic Industry (Pottery, Sanitary Ware, Ceramic & Porcelain Tile, Refractory)
  • Glass Manufacturers (Tableware, Pharmaceutical, Container Bottles, Sheet Glass)
  • Cement Sector (Ordinary Portland Cement, Rapid Hardening, Sulfate Resistant)
  • Construction Industry (Marble, Granite, Tiles, Pavers, Concrete, Sand, Bricks)
  • Sugar Industry (Lime Stone, Refractory, Castable cement)
  • Fertilizer Sector\ (Refractory materials)
  • Power Plants (Refractories, Castable cements)
  • Public Sector (Evaluation of various samples for custom)
  • Academia (Undergraduate & post graduate research students)

Recognitions

  • Holds ISO-17025 accreditation by PNAC
  • Recognized Testing Laboratory by TUV NORD
  • Approved Testing Laboratory by PSQCA

Impact Of Services

  • Exploitation of abundantly available indigenous raw materials
  • Productivity enhancement
  • Export Promotion
  • Import Substitution
  • Skill enhancement of manpower