Refractory material is designed to be very durable, withstand extreme service conditions and defy mechanical abuse in many different types of thermal-processing operations.

From brick tear-out to installation, there are a lot of opportunities for safety, efficiency and cost savings to fall through the cracks during kiln maintenance.

Allied Mineral Products, after breaking ground a little over a year ago, opened a new manufacturing facility in Pell City, Ala. When Allied purchased Riverside Refractories in 2017, it acquired two locations in Alabama: Anniston and Pell City. To better serve the customer base in the southeast region, Allied combined both locations into one facility. Pell City joins Allied’s U.S. manufacturing operations in Columbus, Ohio; Brownsville, Texas; and Chehalis, Wash.

HarbisonWalker International (HWI), a supplier of refractory products and services, completed the first phase of a $9 million expansion at its manufacturing operations in White Cloud, Mich. The project will significantly increase warehousing space and add advanced-manufacturing and hydraulic press technologies. HWI’s 110,000-square-foot White Cloud facility currently employs approximately 140 people and produces brick and monolithic refractories utilized by the steel industry.

The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) heads to Cleveland, Ohio, for its 2019 Fall Seminars and Fall Business Conference. The event will be held at the Intercontinental Cleveland Sept. 24-26. The technical seminar series will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the IHEA Fall Business Conference on Thursday.

HarbisonWalker International (HWI) is investing to increase capacity by 25% at key steel refractory facilities. Most of the investment will be at its facility in White Cloud, Mich., which manufactures refractory products primarily for steelmakers. According to the company, approximately half of its capital investment dollars will have a direct positive impact on its steel industry customers. The investment will include expansion to accommodate new warehouse and shipping space, which is being constructed with American-made steel. Additional manufacturing space will house new technologies that improve production efficiency and worker safety.

Because of equipment improvements and material innovations – such as no-cement, colloidal silica, which offers optimal alkali resistance and bonding properties – contractors are installing monolithic refractories in areas of cement kilns once reserved for brick refractory.

As our economy continues to strengthen and steel production increases in the U.S., several of the mills that have been idled for years are beginning to come back on line.

Registration is open for IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating online learning course, which begins on April 15. The course is ideal for students who wish to further their studies at home or work in a flexible web-based, distance-learning format. It’s an affordable alternative to campus-based classes and allows students to go at their own pace.

Here are 12 tips that you will find extremely helpful when attending Thermprocess, GIFA, METEC and NEWCAST 2019 June 25-29 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.