Ceramic and glass business news of the week for January 20, 2020

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

New facility to research coal coming to West Virginia

Ramaco Carbon, a Wyoming-based carbon technology, is opening a new facility in West Virginia that will research how to use coal to create advanced carbon products and materials. Ramaco has another facility under development in Wyoming that is scheduled to open this summer.

Strategic Materials triples crushed glass abrasives production with new US facility

North American glass recycler Strategic Materials opened a new crushed glass abrasives production facility in Houston, Texas. The over 30,000 ft² facility began production in early December 2019 with improved bagging technology and production line capabilities, with plans for further expansion in 2021.

Turning plastic waste into hydrogen—first commercial plant moves step closer

Technology company Waste2tricity won a £1.25m ($1.64m) grant for its first commercial plant, to be built in northwest England, that will use a “distributed modular generation” system to produce hydrogen from unrecyclable plastic waste.

Flachglas to build sixth production site in Germany

Flat glass manufacturer Flachglas will build its sixth production site in the Weiherhammer industrial area in Germany, creating high-quality special glasses. The first part of the building with almost 40,000 m² of production space will be built during the first phase of construction. This will be followed by the production of high-quality safety glasses in 2022.

Geomega selects site in Quebec for rare earths recycling demonstration plant

Geomega Resources Inc. announced it selected an industrial site in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville as the location for its rare earth magnets recycling demonstration plant using its proprietary ISR technology and signed a long term lease.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

NSL Analytical Services acquired by May River Capital

NSL Analytical Services, an independent testing laboratory, announced the company was acquired by May River Capital, a Midwestern investment firm. NSL president Larry Somrack will continue with NSL Analytical as president emeritus. Joining the executive team with Somrack will be Ron Wesel, Carey Lewis, and Andy Housley.

Grupo Mess named Buehler distributor for metallographic, hardness equipment in Mexico

Buehler announced a partnership with Grupo Mess, a leading Mexico supplier of scientific equipment and services specializing in metrology, to provide Buehler Mexico customers local support for all their metallographic product and service needs involved in product inspection or quality control laboratories.

Mkango subsidiary buys into UK magnet recycling firm HyProMag

Mkango Resources announced that its subsidiary Maginito completed the acquisition of an initial 25% interest in HyProMag, a private, U.K.-based company focused on rare earth magnet recycling.

Momentive Quartz Technologies, now on its own, plots a growth strategy

Once the quartz and ceramics business unit of Waterford, N.Y.-based Momentive Performance Materials Inc. legally separated from its former parent on January 1. The separation process started last May when parent company MPM Holdings Inc. was acquired for $3 billion by a Korean-based investor group.

Krysteline aims to spur glass recycling efforts in Colombia

United Kingdom-based glass processing equipment supplier Krysteline Technologies Ltd. signed an agreement with LUP Colombia S.A.S. B.I.C., a distributor in Colombia, with the intention of boosting glass recycling efforts in that nation. LUP plans to use Krysteline’s technology to recycle glass into powder for use as an additive in concrete.

OTHER STORIES

Entries for the 2020 Glass International Directory now open

Entries for the Glass International Directory are now open for 2020. The directory provides comprehensive company listings, product information, and key contact details for glass manufacturers and suppliers of glassmaking equipment worldwide.

ASTM International announces additive manufacturing training course

ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence announced a three-day training course that will focus on the basic concepts of the additive process chain. The course will be held between March 10–12 at Auburn University in Alabama.

glasstec Conference 2020 to focus on global challenges

The glasstec conference, held during glasstec 2020, will offer cross-industry conferences and combines topics from theory and practice. glasstec will be held Oct. 20–23, 2020, at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Executive Board of the NETZSCH Group expands

Paul Netzsch will be appointed Member of the Executive Board of Erich NETZSCH GmbH & Co. Holding KG as of 1 April 2020. In the future, Paul Netzsch along with Moritz Netzsch and Jens Niessner will manage NETZSCH as a three-member body.

University of Kentucky receives grant to turn coal tar pitch into carbon fiber

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research a grant that will allow it to make coal tar pitch into carbon fiber. DOE is funding the industry and the university a total of $1.8 million for the project.

MARKET TRENDS

Global additive manufacturing market 2019 worth over $10 billion

SmarTech Analysis’ fourth annual additive manufacturing market summary report sees the global AM market 2019 growing to over $10.4B, crossing the pivotal double-digit billion threshold for the first time in its nearly 40 year history. SmarTech goes on to forecast the AM market will grow into an almost $55 billion yearly business by 2029.

Fuel cell market breaks 1 GW global capacity barrier

The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2019, from specialist sustainable energy consultancy E4tech, reveals that approximately 1.1 GW of fuel cell capacity was shipped worldwide—a rise of 40% over 2018. The study notes that the market driving force continues to be fuel cell vehicles, led by Japan’s Toyota and South Korea’s Hyundai.

Smart material opportunities in structural electronics 2020–2030

A new IDTechEx report analyses and forecasts a $200 billion materials opportunity by turning structures into smart structures. The report covers a variety of structures, including energy harvesting technologies, roads and bridges, and flexible displays.

New California homes must have solar panels—not everyone’s feeling so sunny about that

California’s home solar mandate requiring newly constructed single-family homes to have solar panels on the roofs is now in effect. A senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council discusses what this means for homeowners and builders.

New US building codes will make every home ready for electric cars

The International Code Council, which sets voluntary guidelines for new homes, voted to approve new provisions that call for installing panels, outlets, and conduits capable of charging at least one or two full-size electric vehicles in single- and multifamily garages. These provisions will appear this October as part of the 2021 International Codes.

NEW PRODUCTS

Breakthrough electrolyte that will not catch fire if liquid boils

Jenax, inventor of ultra-flexible, thin lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, announced a breakthrough in battery safety with nonflammable liquid electrolytes. The technology solves the problem of batteries that catch fire or explode in extremely hot temperatures or when short circuited.

Universal Cutting Mill PULVERISETTE 19 with variable rotational speed

The new Universal Cutting Mills from FRITSCH are ideal for size-reduction for a wide range of materials. The high-speed PULVERISETTE 19 comminutes up to 60 l/h of soft to medium-hard sample materials and fibrous materials at a torque up to 30 Nm, while the low-speed has variable rotational speed adjustment between 50–700 rpm and torque up to 67 Nm.

Electrical bench top box furnace for curing of chemical powders

The model GS1714 furnaces by L&L Special Furnace Co has an effective work zone of 10” high by 15” across by 13” deep. It has a program control with six individual programs with up to six segments each. The model is in stock now and available for immediate delivery.

Temperature-compensated crystal oscillator offers low phase noise for 5G, Wi-Fi

Kyocera Corporation’s compact temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) offers the industry’s lowest phase noise, based on research by Kyocera. Samples of Kyocera’s KT1612 Series and KT2016 Series TCXOs are now available worldwide, with mass production planned to start in March 2020.

Triple shaft mixer with powder induction manifold

The latest 600-gallon ROSS VersaMix Model VM-600 is capable of high speed subsurface powder induction with proprietary ROSS Solids/Liquid Injection Manifold (SLIM). The classic dual-post triple-shaft design has been revolutionized with this feature to streamline the processing of substantial powder phases.