Ceramics & Refractories/Insulation

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It’s time to upgrade maintenance practices for vertical vessels. Like any routine maintenance, inspecting, removing and replacing refractory in vertical vessels places a costly burden on facilities in terms of downtime and lost productivity. One of the main reasons for this is the traditional solution for accessing vertical surfaces – scaffolding – severely limits efficiency.

In response to increased demand from the U.S. steel industry, HarbisonWalker International (HWI) – a supplier of refractory products – is making an investment to substantially increase production of its steelmaking products. HWI will build a manufacturing and service hub for steel customers in the United States. The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company is assessing strategic site options, and construction is scheduled to begin immediately once the location is determined. The new facility is expected to open as early as the third quarter of 2022.
 

SGL Carbon is expanding and modernizing its soft-felt production. The company invested in an additional carbonization facility at its Meitingen site near Augsburg, Germany, that is now operational. Branded as Sigratherm materials, the carbon and graphite soft felts are used as high-quality insulation material in resistance-heated and induction-heated vacuum furnaces and in furnaces with an inert-gas atmosphere.

The Plibrico Company, a supplier of monolithic refractories and construction services, completed the acquisition of Redline Industries Inc. Chicago-based Redline Industries supplies low-cement refractory castables and gun mixes. Redline refractories are engineered to safeguard furnaces in the high-temperature processing of nonferrous metals, such as aluminum, as well as prevent furnace heat loss to promote greater energy efficiency. Plibrico will continue to manufacture Redline refractories to their current specifications and promote the Redline brand within Plibrico’s product portfolio.

ASM International and AGMA are committed to holding the 31^st Heat Treating Society Conference and Exposition (Heat Treat 2021) and the Motion + Power Technology Expo September 14-16 in St. Louis, Mo., and will not be canceling the events. Members want a platform to conduct business face‐to‐face, and it is our job to support that with our conferences and trade shows. The top priority remains the health and safety of all those who support the event on‐site. We have protocols in place and are working with America's Center Convention Complex, the city of St. Louis and our vendor partners to provide a safe environment for a successful in‐person event.

Industry Services Co. (ISC), a provider of industrial maintenance services and a portfolio company of Osceola Capital, acquired three refractory and industrial maintenance services companies: Oak Mountain Industries (OMI), Bisco Refractories and Glasrock. Pittsburgh, Pa.-based OMI is a refractory solutions provider specializing in refractory maintenance, installation and product supply. The company services industrial customers in the steel, coke, cement and aluminum industries. Birmingham, Ala.-based Bisco Refractories provides a full range of refractory services, including plant maintenance, installation services, precast shape fabrication and large project capabilities. The company’s end-market experience includes steel, cement, foundries, coke, petrochemical, aluminum, glass and power plants. Ontario-based Glasrock provides refractory maintenance, installation services, precast shape fabrication and large project capabilities to industrial customers across Canada. The company services customers in end markets including blast furnaces, steel, coke, aluminum and foundries.

Thermal-processing companies around the world are feeling pressure to lower the environmental impact of their operations and make them more sustainable. These pressures are coming from both governmental regulations and societal expectations, resulting in increasingly stringent requirements that are expanding globally. Many companies are accelerating their own “green” initiatives and programs to leap ahead of these regulations and lead this transformation for their industry. Join this free webinar, sponsored by Honeywell, on June 3 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) to learn more about the solutions that are available today to help achieve your sustainability goals.

Allied Mineral Products will provide refractory expertise on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s ENDURING project, which focuses on long-duration energy storage using heated particles. The process in development can collect excess electrical energy and convert it into thermal energy. With the help of refractories in a holding vessel, this thermal energy can be efficiently stored for days. When it is needed, the stored thermal energy will go through a heat exchange process and be converted back into electricity for use by commercial or residential customers.

It’s time to upgrade maintenance practices for vertical vessels. Like any routine maintenance, inspecting, removing and replacing refractory in vertical vessels places a costly burden on facilities in terms of downtime and lost productivity. One of the main reasons for this is the traditional solution for accessing vertical surfaces – scaffolding – severely limits efficiency. It also increases safety risks for employees.

Refractory sheet type RSLE-57 is a low-thermal-expansion, high-strength reinforced silica matrix composite.