Ceramic Industry articles from September 2007

Ceramic Industry archives from September 2007

Bringin' the heat.(INSIDE CI)(Column)
September 1, 2007... I'm not crazy about hot weather. When the temperature gets up to about 85[degrees]F, I start to feel very uncomfortable. And don't get me started on humidity. The crazy-curly hair doesn't really bother me that much, but I hate it when the air's...

International calendar.(Calendar)
September 1, 2007... Sept 12-14 Spray Finishing Technology Workshop ** Toledo, Ohio, www.owens.edu/workforce_cs/seminars.html * Sept 16-18 2007 Clemson Brick Forum ** Greensboro, S.C., www.brickandtile.org Sept 16-19 National Recycling Coalition...

U.S. army to pursue advanced evaluation of Ceradyne Armor.(IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... Ceradyne, Inc. was recently notified by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command (TACOM) that its alternate lightweight armor materials, submitted in response to the Army's Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) requirements for advanced armor solutions...

Imerys makes acquisitions in India and Ukraine.(IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... Imerys recently announced that a final agreement was signed with ICICI Venture, an Indian LBO fund, for the acquisition of a 99% stake in ACE, a leader in monolithic refractories. With two plants located in central India and five sales agencies...

NSL adds new FTIR to testing lab.(IN THE NEWS)(NSL Analytical Services Inc. installed fourier transform infrared imaging system from Perkin-Elmer Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... NSL Analytical Services recently acquired a Perkin Elmer Spectrum[TM] Spotlight [TM] 300 FTIR imaging system for its materials testing laboratory. The instrument will be used primarily to characterize polymeric materials in NSL's organic...

Heinrich wins MAIB award.(IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... The Massachusetts Alliance for International Business (MAIB) recently announced its 2007 Annual International Trade Achievement Award honorees. The 2007 Chairman's Award was presented to Heinrich Ceramic Decal, Inc. of Worcester, Mass., in...

Rio Tinto makes recommended all-cash offer for Alcan.(IN THE NEWS)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... Rio Tinto and Alcan have reached an agreement for Rio Tinto to make an offer to acquire all of Alcan's outstanding common shares for $101 per common share in a recommended, all-cash transaction. The offer represents a total equity consideration...

Degussa increases carbon black production.(IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... Degussa GmbH, a subsidiary of the RAG Group, has doubled its production plant capacity for carbon black in Paulinia, Brazil, to 100,000 tons per year. With this capacity expansion, Degussa is reportedly augmenting its position as the world's...

Fuel Cell Seminar & Expo set for October.(IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... With the theme "Fuel Cells: On the Path to Energy Independence," Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition 2007 will be held October 15-19 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Topics this year will focus on issues relating to...

CPS acquires AMSAT facility.(IN THE NEWS)(Custom Processing Services Inc. )(Fluid Energy Processing and Equipment Inc. Amsat Corp.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Custom Processing Services (CPS) has purchased the materials processing plant in East Greenville, Pa., formerly known as AMSAT. The newly acquired plant offers coarse processing, pulverizing, and flash drying of minerals and a variety of other...

Elgin Butler makes acquisitions.(IN THE NEWS)(Lone Star Ceramics Manufacturing Co.)(Elgin-Butler Brick Co. )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Lone Star Ceramics, a manufacturer of unglazed porcelain dot-mounted mosaics based in Dallas, Texas, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by the Elgin Butler Co. of Elgin, Texas. The Lone Star plant will be immediately relocated to the...

Binks launches new website.(IN THE NEWS)(Website overview)
September 1, 2007... Binks recently announced a new website that has been designed to provide up-to-the-minute information about the company's products and services. The site is built around Bink's mission to be the preferred provider of liquid finishing solutions...

Dal-Tile Corp.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dal-Tile Corp. has appointed David A. Earl, Ph.D., vice president of research and development. In this role, he will be responsible for leading Dal-Tile in all areas related to innovation in products and technology....

Robert D. Ross.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)(appointment by West Penn Testing Group)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Robert D. Ross recently joined West Penn Testing Group as business manager for its Spectrochemical Testing and Material Evaluation business units. He is responsible for leading sales and marketing efforts, as well as...

Goodfellow.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)(appointment of Rick LaMar)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Goodfellow recently appointed Rick LaMar to the position of technical product specialist. He will be the primary point of contact for customers in North America who have technical questions about specific metals and...

Magneco/Metrel, Inc.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Magneco/Metrel, Inc. recently announced that Tom Wank has been promoted to vice president of marketing, Al Dzermejko has been named vice president of engineering, and Curt Rothman has rejoined the company as vice...

David Kirk has joined SPX Process Equipment as business development manager for the North American Sanitary Sales Team.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] David Kirk has joined SPX Process Equipment as business development manager for the North American Sanitary Sales Team. In this position, Kirk's primary focus will be to increase Waukesha Cherry-Burrell brand...

Nicole Shillingford.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... Nicole Shillingford has joined Villeroy & Boch USA Bath, Kitchen and Tile as marketing manager. In this newly created position, Shillingford will be responsible exclusively for the bath business segment, which includes the brand's range of...

Ferro Corp.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ferro Corp. recently announced that Roland Simon has been named chief purchasing officer. Simon joins Ferro after a 23-year career with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., where Simon he worked in a variety of locations...

Ilva S.A.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ilva S.A. has appointed keandro Diaz Mujica to the position of export department leader. In his new position, Mujica will be responsible for business development in external markets. A certified public accountant,...

Cyclonaire Corp.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)
September 1, 2007... Cyclonaire Corp. recently named Mike Beaver to the new position of components sales manager. He will facilitate the formal introduction of the company's components line later this year. Beaver has more than 10 years of experience in...

The Edward Orton Jr. Ceramic Foundation.(PEOPLE IN THE NEWS)(retirement of Dale Fronk)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The Edward Orton Jr. Ceramic Foundation recently announced the retirement of Dale Fronk, engineering manager. He served the foundation and the ceramic industry for more than 44 years. Fronk graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree...

What's going on in your kiln?(KILN CONNECTION)
September 1, 2007... My customers often ask me about optimizing their firing curves to improve quality and yield, save energy, and improve productivity. They tend to view the firing profile that is indicated by the kiln thermocouples as the actual firing cycle that...

Shell game: researchers at Georgia Tech have created a new class of gas sensors based on the silica shells produced by microscopic creatures known as diatoms.(CERAMIC: innovations)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The three-dimensional shells of tiny ocean creatures could provide the foundation for novel electronic devices, including gas sensors able to detect pollution faster and more efficiently than conventional devices....

Controlled combustion: in an effort to increase output rates, Richard Ginori turned to a control system from Ascon SpA for its Sacmi Forni tunnel kiln.(CASE STUDY)
September 1, 2007... Often called white gold, high quality porcelain tableware is a precious, sonorous material characterized by a bright white color with light blue shadows, almost transparent thickness, and good mechanical strength. These characteristics can only...

Making the cut: a new plasma cutter is providing dramatic improvements in production capabilities for one kiln manufacturer. (INVESTING IN CERAMICS).
September 1, 2007... In the fall of 2006, Paragon Industries acquired a MultiCam LP plasma cutter to improve our manufacturing process in the sheet metal shop. We researched many of the other methods for cutting sheet metal, including water jet, high-speed punch...

Delivering fuel savings: the modification of a kiln's combustion design can achieve fuel savings of 30-45%, as well the added benefits of upgraded controls and safety systems.
September 1, 2007... Much of my kiln work these days is associated with fuel consumption and energy conservation. Companies are struggling with high fuel costs as natural gas prices continue to rise. Extra energy costs impose additional profit erosion on many...

Burner evolution: a new burner has been developed specifically to solve problems inherent to think-wall kiln applications.
September 1, 2007... Changes in manufacturing processes for the European ceramic industry often occur slowly, over long periods of time, and kilns with the old thick-wall design are still widely in use today. Prior to the development of new insulating methods,...

Powerful furnace for the lab: the gradient furnace is a simple device that can thermally process a series of samples to demonstrate the effect of temperature on a number of ceramic properties.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The most powerful QC and R&D tool in any ceramic lab is not a complex or sophisticated thermoanalytical instrument. Instead, it is the gradient furnace, a simple device that, in a single step, thermally processes a...

Lasting bonds: WesBond Corp. has enjoyed over 30 years of providing refractory bonding systems and related products.(INVESTING IN CERAMICS)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... When Wes Jones co-founded the company that is now WesBond Corp. over 30 years ago, he was looking for a change. He d worked at DuPont for 25 years and was ready to start running his own show. Consequently, Jones and another DuPont alum--Wes...

Advancing consumable refractories: a new consumable refractory has been developed to reduce costs and increase production for container glass manufacturers.
September 1, 2007... All of us can remember when everyday items such as ketchup, mayonnaise and beer were found solely in glass containers. Now these products are packaged not only in glass, but also in plastic and aluminum. The glass container industry has...

Reinforcing plastics with nanoclays: an Iowa State team is using nanoclays to improve plastics made from corn and soy proteins.(CERAMIC innovations)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] David Grewell, an assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University, is working with a team of fellow researchers to reinforce biorenewable, biodegradable plastics with nanoclays...

High-temperature furnaces: high-temperature batch furnaces combine economical, energy-saving features with low maintenance costs.(PRODUCT PROFILE)
September 1, 2007... Available for operation in air or inert protective atmospheres, high-temperature batch furnaces combine economical, energy-saving features with low maintenance costs. The HS series of furnaces features lightweight ceramic fiber insulation and...

PBN ceramic heaters.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... Momentive Performance Materials This company's pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) ceramic heaters will be used by KDF Electronic & Vacuum Services, Inc. in a new tool designed to support the commercialization of proprietary phase-change memory...

Calibrator.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... AMETEK Test & Calibration Instruments The JOFRA[R] CTC 1200A dry block calibrator can reportedly ensure accurate, high-temperature calibrations despite power supply instability because it is equipped with MVI (Mains power Variance...

Laboratory furnaces.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... Micropyretics Heaters International Inc. (MHI) A range of laboratory furnaces is available that features robust, double-walled stainless steel construction, MP1850[TM] or MP1900[TM] elements, FiberFree[TM] refractory, up to 1800[degrees]C...

BEL SAW filter.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... Murata Electronics North America This company recently introduced what is reportedly the world's smallest boundary elastic surface acoustic wave (BEL SAW) filter, measuring 0.8 x 0.6 x .365 mm. This represents a 75% decrease in volume and...

Ultrasonic screening equipment.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... Cleveland Vibrator Co. A new line of ultrasonic screening equipment utilizes dual vibrator drives. The dual motor separator provides for three control variables: vibrator force, frequency and drive angle. This design concept results in a...

Literature mini-CD.(WHAT'S NEW)
September 1, 2007... Union Process, Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new mini-CD contains updated literature on the company's entire line of grinding mills. In addition to including PDF files of the company's corporate brochure and product brochures covering...