Ceramic Industry articles from May 2007

Ceramic Industry archives from May 2007

Pressed for time.(INSIDE CI)(Column)
May 1, 2007... Looking back over the past several weeks, I don't know that I've ever felt more rushed. No matter what items I really do need to accomplish, how many lists-of-things-to-do I carefully put together, something (or usually, several things) always...

International calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... May 8-10 European Coatings Show 2007 ** Nurnberg, Germany, www.european-coatings-show.com May 9-11 World Water Tour ** Houston, Texas, www.gewater.com May 13-16 PowderMet 2007 ** Denver, Colo., www.mpif.org May 14-16...

Appeals court vacates EPA's MACT standards.(IN THE NEWS)
May 1, 2007... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently returned a decision against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) standards on maximum achievable control technology (MACT) for hazardous air pollutants...

NSL Analytical expands into newly renovated facility.(IN THE NEWS)(NSL Analytical Services Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... NSL Analytical Services recently announced plans to relocate its operations to a newly renovated, state-of-the-art facility in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. The move to the 30,800-square-foot building will reportedly enable NSL to consolidate all...

The Duffy Co. named sales representative for Lucifer Furnaces.(IN THE NEWS)
May 1, 2007... Lucifer Furnaces, Inc. recently announced the appointment of The Duffy Co. as its Midwest regional sales representative. Duffy will be responsible for sales in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Indiana. "The Duffy Company brings...

Alcoa on FORTUNE's list of most admired companies.(IN THE NEWS)
May 1, 2007... Alcoa recently announced that it has been named one of FORTUNE magazine's 2007 Most Admired Companies in the publication's annual ranking. Alcoa has been named to the top admired ranking for 24 years in a row. In 2005, Alcoa was inducted into...

Today's HIPs: bigger, faster, cost-efficient: modern hot isostatic presses offer larger capacities, shorter cycle times and new applications.
May 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] High-pressure densification has been an accepted process for decades, proven by thousands of companies around the world to improve the performance and durability of critical parts. Advances in materials research,...

Tape casting advanced materials: the development of new products incorporating nanotechnology, smart materials and biomaterials will provide many new opportunities to exploit the advantages of tape casting as a forming method.
May 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tape casting is an important ceramic forming technique widely used in the production of thin sheets of flexible tape. When initially developed more than 50 years ago, the tape casting process enabled production of...

A practical aqueous tape casting binder: an optimized aqueous binder system for tape casting offers advantages over other aqueous systems, and also outperforms typical solvent-based systems like polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and acrylics.
May 1, 2007... Tape casting is a popular and economical means of producing flexible green sheets of ceramic in a wide range of thicknesses. These green sheets can be fired as single sheets, or they can be laminated into complex structures that often...

21st century forming: developed over 50 years ago, The RAM Process is still used today by many ceramic manufacturers for a broad range of products.
May 1, 2007... For more than half a century, The RAM Process[TM] has been used as a forming method in ceramic production operations. Simply defined, the process entails the pressing of moist clay into permeable molds (dies) that are mounted on presses to form...

Measuring sensitivity in particle size distribution analysis: to ensure high-quality finished products, the analytical technique used to determine the particle size distribution of the raw material must be sensitive enough to detect changes between lots.(special section: instrumentation)
May 1, 2007... Quality departments and laboratories perform literally millions of particle size distribution analyses each year. Most are performed to allow suppliers and users of particles to predict expected process behavior without having to prepare a test...

Sieving for particle sizing applications: sieving as a particle sizing technique enjoys broad acceptance due largely to its reliability, small capital outlay and low degree of required technical expertise.(special section: instrumentation)
May 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For centuries, man has used sieves to sort and separate materials. The earliest applications probably involved the sieving of grain to remove chaff, dirt and other foreign material. Although the principles of sieving...

Maximized impact: quick turnaround enabled Continental Brick to remove a bottleneck from its grinding operation without negatively affecting kiln output.(CASE STUDY: special section: brick & clay record)
May 1, 2007... Continental Brick of Martinsburg, W.Va., has been successfully manufacturing face brick in the same location since 1917, using the same material from the Martinsville Shale Formation located within a mile of its plant. The company's product...

New LFG plant: Jenkins Brick recently built a new plant near a landfill specifically so it could take advantage of the readily available supply of landfill gas.(special section: brick & clay record)
May 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jenkins Brick Co. is no stranger to using landfill gas (LFG) as an alternative to natural gas--back in 1998, the company retrofitted the kiln at its Montgomery, Ala., plant to incorporate LFG. That project proved so...

Uphill delivery.(Product Profile)
May 1, 2007... Technology advances are constantly in demand in the brick industry as manufacturers face problems ranging from excessive dust, product loss, downtime and operator safety. After years in development, the Uphill Grout Hog[R] is now available to...

Breaking new ground.(BRICK SHORTS)
May 1, 2007... Acme Brick Co. has a 115-year history of moving large amounts of earth, and the October 6, 2006, groundbreaking for the company's new headquarters was no exception. Dennis Knautz, president and chief executive officer, dug the first symbolic...

Ceramic roller.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... Keratech AIRTOUCH is a new ceramic roller that reportedly minimizes contact with the tile and provides improved firing and alignment. AIRTOUCH allows producers to overcome some of the critical problems that affect roller/tile interaction....

Catalytic sensor literature.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... Control Instruments Corp. "Poison-Tolerant Catalytic Sensor for Flammable Gas & Vapor Detection" details this company's catalytic sensor and has been updated to reflect the unit's most accurate and up-to-date features and specifications....

Spray guns.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... DeVilbiss According to the company, its new family of manual spray guns uses advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to enhance the atomization process and provide a superior finish with one of the highest transfer efficiency rates...

XRF spectrometry.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... SPECTRO Analytical Instruments This company has introduced the next generation of its X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry instruments, the SPECTRO iQ II. Introduced in 2005, the SPECTRO iQ was specifically developed for demanding process...

Hydraulic pressing.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... LAEIS This company recently announced a variety of developments for its hydraulic presses. The guided, controlled flow of materials from preparation to dosing and feeding into the press mold is reportedly handled with precision. Volumetric...

Silicon wafers.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... Goodfellow Corp. Diamond on silicon electronics-grade wafers have been added to this company's line of metals and materials for research and product design. The wafers, manufactured by Advanced Diamond Technologies (ADT) and coated with...

Industrial air filter.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... Donaldson Co., Inc. Donaldson[R] Torit[R] Ultra-Web[R] SB is a new filter media for dust collection in manufacturing processes that face challenges from agglomerative dust. The new filter media is an extension of the company's Ultra-Web...

Boronic acids literature.(WHAT'S NEW)
May 1, 2007... Alfa Aesar, a Johnson Matthey company A new 36-page technical document outlines the chemical properties and highlights the main synthetic uses of boronic acids and related chemicals. The book also includes a listing of the company's range...