Ceramic Industry articles from June 2008

Ceramic Industry archives from June 2008

Reducing energy consumption.(INSIDE: CI)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summertime means many things in our household: fun in the sun, work in the garden (which, as I've tried to convince my daughter, is actually fun disguised as work), and relaxing in the outdoors. But summer also...

International calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2008... * June 9-12 International Materials Research Conference ** Chongqi, China www.mrs.org/imrc2008 June 10-12 AutoPore IV 9500 Series Training Course ** Norcross, Ga., www.micromeritics.com June 17-19 2nd Annual Lightweight...

Unifrax to expand Tonawanda facility.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The board of directors of Unifrax I LLC has approved a $20 million expansion of the company's Tonawanda, N.Y., manufacturing facility. Work on the project will begin in early 2008, with anticipated completion by the end of 2009. As a result of...

SCHOTT North America and DDH form joint venture.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... SCHOTT North America and Dynamic Defense Holdings LLC (DDH) have formed DiamondView[TM] Armor Products LLC (DAP), a joint venture company that will produce glass-ceramic armor materials and systems. DDH will be the 51% majority shareholder of...

RHI completes acquisition of Foseco Business from Cookson.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... The acquisition of two isostatically pressed ceramic refractory products (ISO) plants in Scotland (Bonnybridge) and the U.S. (Saybrook, Ohio) by RHI AG was completed successfully on April 16, 2008, following approval by European and American...

Imerys North America Ceramics announces energy surcharge.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Imerys North America Ceramics recently announced an energy surcharge, subject to any provisions in individual contracts, across its entire product portfolio. The increase Went into effect May l, 2008. According to Imerys, the company continues...

The ceramic industry loses a legend--Carlton Hogue: 1921-2008.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Carlton Hogue was born July 19, 1921, in Oshkosh, Wis., and passed away April 24, 2008, in Mesquite, Texas. Carl served with the 52nd Fighter Group, 2nd Squadron (also known as The American Beagle Squadron) of the U.S. Army Air Force during...

Saint-Gobain to supply refractories for RPI Waste-to-Energy unit.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Saint-Gobain Ceramics recently signed a contract with Riley Power Inc. (RPI) to supply all materials and installation services for the refractories for a new waste-to-energy unit that is currently under construction at the existing Hillsborough...

DOE will invest up to $13.7 million for Solar Energy Projects.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will invest up to $13.7 million over three years for 11 university-led projects that will focus on developing advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) technology manufacturing processes and...

CFCL announces manufacturing expansion, volume order from Nuon.(IN THE NEWS)(Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. (CFCL) is investing 12.4 million (~ $19.0 million) in the construction of a manufacturing plant in Heinsberg, Germany, for the commercial production of its fuel cell systems. The company also announced that it has...

SEMI establishes global photovoltaic initiative.(IN THE NEWS)
June 1, 2008... SEMI[R] recently announced details of the association's global photovoltaic (PV) initiatives, including the formation of the SEMI PV Group to enhance member support in this critically important and high-growth area. With technologies and...

New glass powder could make a big wave: ORNL researchers have developed a super hydrophobic glass powder that is easy to fabricate and uses inexpensive base materials.(GLASS innovations)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A water repellent developed by researchers at the department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) outperforms nature at its best and could open a floodgate of commercial possibilities. Developed by John...

Holding a charge: newly discovered titanium nitride-based superinsulators promise to transform materials research and electronics design.(MATERIAL innovations)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Superinsulation is a newly discovered fundamental state of matter created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with several European institutions. Led by...

Get the lead out: a television station recently turned to NSL Analytical to help investigate the presence of lead in dental crowns.(CASE STUDY)
June 1, 2008... We've all heard the stories about lead found in toys imported from China. WBNS, a Columbus, Ohio, television station, recently investigated the presence of lead in dental crowns, bridges and dentures produced in Asia. The station's 10...

No drips allowed: ceramic washers and discs offer a number of advantages over outdated rubber-based varieties.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Old-style faucets relied on natural or compounded rubber to seal the gate portion of the valve against the stem body. After a number of open/close cycles, the faucet would eventually begin to drip. Using two faucet...

Get what you pay for: though diamond tools offer longer tool life and greater long-term productivity, end-users often don't look beyond the higher price tag.(DIAMOND TOOLS)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Industrial diamond can be defined in two ways: natural diamond that does not meet the standards of gem diamond because of color, size or other imperfections; or diamond that is synthetically manufactured for...

Hazardous gas monitoring: continuous gas monitoring in semiconductor facilities is a requirement of local and state regulations.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Semiconductor manufacturing facilities employ a number of hazardous gases in their production processes. Whenever these gases are stored, distributed or used in manufacturing processes, the potential for a hazardous...

Asahi Glass to restructure North American flat glass business, reduce production by 40%.(GLASS NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. recently announced that it will stop operations on three float glass production lines and two architectural coating lines from April to December this year, and sell its glass fabrication business in order to respond to...

Corning holds grand opening for LCD glass plant in China.(GLASS NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Corning Inc. recently hosted a grand opening ceremony for the company's new liquid crystal display (LCD) glass substrate manufacturing facility in the People's Republic of China. The plant, located in the Beijing Economic Technological...

Picture perfect.(special report: glass manufacturing)
June 1, 2008... SCHOTT recently introduced its new AF 32[TM] glass to the photonics market. AF 32 is designed for leading-edge opto-electronics applications, and, according to the company, its performance surpasses that of AF 45[TM]. "We think AF 32 is the...

PPG announces fiber glass price increases.(GLASS NEWS)
June 1, 2008... PPG Industries' fiber glass business recently announced that it would raise prices effective May 1, or as permissible by contract, for products in the Americas. "Rising costs for energy, transportation, raw materials and precious metals create...

NSG makes management changes.(GLASS NEWS)(appointments)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The board of NSG Group recently announced several changes in the senior management of its board. Yozo Izuhara has been appointed chairman of the board, Katsuji Fujimoto was named chairman of the NSG Group and Tomoaki Abe has been appointed vice...

Measuring thermal conductivity.(special report: thermal analysis)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whether for development or quality control purposes, obtaining accurate thermal conductivity data for ceramics presents numerous challenges to industry. Traditional methods are cumbersome, time-consuming and offer...

Energy-efficient VOC removal.(special section: resource management)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Processes that use heat and/or solvents usually produce airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which, according to local air quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, must be captured or...

Green and profitable: when a culture of conservation is created, a corporation's image is enhanced in addition to the measurable environmental benefits it enjoys through sustainable planning.(special section: resource management)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When reading through the strategic vision of any leading corporation, the main focus includes image, ethics, morality and competitiveness. Key examples include "To solve unsolved problems innovatively" from 3M;...

Patently different.(special section: resource management)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908; S. 1145) recently passed the House and is currently on the legislative calendar in the Senate. As with previous legislative attempts to reform the U.S. patent system, the...

Sputtering targets.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... Goodfellow Corp. Sputtering targets are available in 62 different metals and alloys, as well as compounds such as borides, carbides, fluorides, nitrides, oxides, selenides, silicides, sulphides and tellurides. In addition, the surfaces of...

High-temperature box furnaces.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... Lucifer Furnaces, Inc. A new line of high-temperature box furnaces Series) reportedly ideal for processing high-speed tool steels and ceramics is now available. The furnaces are designed for 2450[degrees]F operation and feature silicon...

Silicon carbide substrate.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... [GEO.sub.2] Technologies Inc. A new silicon carbide (SIC) substrate for diesel particulate filtering is now available. The new substrate simultaneously achieves high porosity and high strength while delivering lower backpressure and high...

Ceramic semiconductor packages.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... StratEdge This company recently announced the introduction of a new family of small outline, thermally enhanced molded ceramic packages for power semiconductors. The new line of packages can be used for silicon, silicon carbide, gallium...

Digital stroboscope.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... Electromatic Equipment Co., Inc. The newly enhanced CheckLine[R] PK2X portable digital stroboscope adds several features while remaining among the world's smallest, most affordably priced industrial stroboscopes. The PK2X's long-lasting...

ESD event detector.(WHAT'S NEW)
June 1, 2008... Trek, Inc. The model 900 ESD event detector is a diagnostic tool for manufacturing environments such as electronic, semiconductor and med ical device manufacturing/assembly that are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD). The model 900...