Ceramic and glass business news of the week for February 20, 2023

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Momentive Technologies expands in Northeast Ohio

Momentive Technologies is partnering with JobsOhio and Team Neo for the expansion of its Ohio manufacturing facilities and the development of new technologies. This expansion will bring 97 new manufacturing and engineering jobs to Ohio and bolster Momentive Technologies’ leadership in the semiconductor industry.

UK project trials ‘world’s first’ zero-emissions cement

A recently launched U.K.-based demonstrator project to trial zero-emissions cement on an industrial scale successfully conducted the first in a series of pilot-scale melts. The first phase of trial melts is being carried out by the Materials Processing Institute, initially in a 250 kg induction furnace, before being scaled up to 6T in an electric arc furnace.

NETL Pittsburgh site to host new direct air capture center

A new facility will be established at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Pittsburgh campus with the goal of jumpstarting the development of direct air capture technologies. Last year, Congress authorized $25 million for the new NETL Direct Air Capture Center, which is scheduled to come online during the summer of 2024.

Schott reports successful hydrogen trials

Schott reported successful trials of using 35% hydrogen for industrial-scale glass production, with plans to use 100% hydrogen in future lab-scale tests. The large-scale melting trials were conducted at Schott’s Mainz site (Germany) through December 2022.

SINTX Technologies announces its new Utah armor facility is fully operational

SINTX Technologies, Inc., an original equipment manufacturer of advanced ceramics, announced that equipment installation along with key renovations and upgrades to its SINTX Armor facility in Salt Lake City are now complete.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Adani to repay US$500m bridging loan used to acquire cement producers

Adani Group is in talks with lenders to repay a US$500 million bridging loan facility it used to buy controlling stakes in ACC and Ambuja Cements in 2022. Adani is looking to repay the loan with cash during February 2023.

RHI Magnesita and Australian cleantech MCi Carbon enter long-term strategic cooperation

RHI Magnesita signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with the Australian cleantech MCi Carbon to decarbonize refractories. After a year of successful pilot studies, RHI Magnesita will be MCi’s first commercial customer and a shareholder. In a next step, the companies’ joint efforts will focus on industrial scale-up, expected to kick-off in 2024.

CEMEX, Sandia Labs, and Synhelion to scale solar energy technology to produce cement

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. announced that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded US$3.2 million to Solar MEAD, a joint project headed by CEMEX, Sandia National Laboratories, and Synhelion, which aims to decarbonize cement production.

OTHER STORIES

Webinar: Zetamix 3D printing demo

Zetamix is hosting a webinar to demonstrate how to print with their ceramic filament, from file preparation to sintering. The webinar takes place March 14 at 6 a.m. Eastern.

Fluorine Forum 2023 taking place October 2023

IMFORMED announced that Fluorine Forum 2023 will take place Oct. 16–18, 2023, at the Pullman Cannes Mandelieu Royal Casino in Mandelieu La Napoule, France. The conference is for all those active or with an interest in the fluorine mineral supply chain, from exploring, developing, and mining through logistics, processing, and end-use applications.

Report makes circular economy recommendations to Dutch ceramics sector

In collaboration with Royal Dutch Building Ceramics, the organization Circle Economy has determined that to make the Dutch economy fully circular by 2050, the building ceramics sector still has “major steps” to take.

Tesla agrees to open chargers to public amid White House electric vehicle push

The Biden administration unveiled moves to expand the nation’s supply of electric vehicle chargers—including opening up thousands of Tesla’s proprietary stations to rival companies’ cars and trucks. The upgrades will allow Tesla to qualify for federal dollars under the administration’s plans to build a national network of 500,000 chargers.

Chipmakers threaten to defect to US, EU if UK does not get its semiconductor plans sorted

CEOs of several U.K. chip startups—including Pragmatic Semiconductor, IQE, and Paragraf—expressed frustration that the U.K. government had failed to put forward a plan to fund the region’s semiconductor industry. Given the lack of progress in the U.K., local chipmakers are considering taking their business to the U.S. or EU.

MARKET TRENDS

Solar to account for more than half of new US electric-generating capacity in 2023

Developers plan to add 54.5 GW of new utility scale electric-generating capacity to the U.S. power grid in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. More than half of this capacity will be solar power (54%), followed by battery storage (17%).

DOE announces $30m for materials and manufacturing to lower costs of wind turbines

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $30 million funding opportunity to advance the cost-effective domestic manufacturing of materials, including lightweight composites, that allow wind turbines to produce power more efficiently.

How sand mining is destroying Cambodia’s waterfront communities

In Cambodia, sand mining has become a popular industry to support concrete production. The influx of sand is threatening the homes of thousands who live along the country’s water ways.

EU acts against dumped ceramic tiles from India and Türkiye

The European Commission imposed definitive antidumping measures on imports of ceramic tiles originating from India and Türkiye for a period of five years. These measures follow an investigation that was initiated in December 2021 and showed European Union producers were harmed by dumped imports from these countries.

NEW PRODUCTS

Canadian manufacturer releases carbon-fiber solar panel for boats

Lightleaf developed a carbon fiber 110 W photovoltaic module for boat applications. The module features monocrystalline solar cells from SunPower Maxeon, with 25.1% efficiency. It has a rigid carbon-fiber foam foundation instead of glass, and weighs just 2.5 kg.

Sakuu announces 3D printing of fully functional high-performance patterned batteries

Sakuu Corporation announced that, since December 2022, it has successfully and consistently 3D printed fully functional performance batteries in custom shapes and sizes. These batteries were printed as patterned cells containing patterned openings for thermal management, in a fully dry process.

The L&L Model XLB124 box furnace

The L&L Model XLB124 box furnace has working dimensions of 11” wide by 10” high by 22” deep. It is capable of heat-treating a wide variety of tool steels—from D-2 to high-speed M-2 tool steel, along with low-temperature tempering.

ROSS FDA-3500 dual shaft mixer

The custom-built ROSS FDA-3500 dual shaft mixer has a maximum working capacity of 3,500 gallons, two-zone stainless steel dimpled jacket for heating/cooling, a 4” pneumatic discharge valve, and an explosion-proof load cell system rated up to 20,000 lbs.