Ceramic and glass business news of the week for December 16, 2024

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Tesla launches first large-scale lithium refinery in the US

Tesla started operations at its new lithium refining factory in Texas, coming more than a year after the company first broke ground on the site. The site, located outside of Corpus Christi, is the first large-scale refinery for battery-grade lithium in the U.S. and the first industrial deployment of an acid-free lithium refining route.

Fehmarnbelt tunnel project tests CO₂-reduced concrete

Femern Link Contractors is conducting a trial casting using a completely new type of concrete in a specially allocated area at the tunnel construction site in Rødbyhavn, Denmark. The trial casting is part of a larger collaboration on the concrete, called CALLISTE.

Owens Corning starts up glass nonwovens line

Owens Corning started production on its high-performance glass nonwoven production line in Fort Smith, Texas. The machine includes the most extensive layout machinery supplier Voith has ever created for a glass nonwoven production line. The potential design speed of the line is 510 m/min, which will enable the production of 90,000 tons of glass nonwovens per year.

Regulators approve largest solar project in Wisconsin history

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved construction of a $2 billion solar power project that could have more than 1,300 MW of generation capacity. The Vista Sands Solar Project, sited on more than 6,000 acres in Portage County, would be more than four times the size of the state’s largest current solar array.

Baker Hughes and UC Berkeley establish Global Decarbonization Research Institute

Baker Hughes and the University of California, Berkeley announced a new long-term research partnership to establish the Baker Hughes Institute for Decarbonization Materials at UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. As part of the agreement, Baker Hughes will fund research to develop next-generation materials for a range of energy and industrial applications.

UChicago to collaborate with IBM, Illinois on new National Quantum Algorithm Center

The University of Chicago will collaborate closely on a new initiative to locate IBM’s National Quantum Algorithm Center in Chicago. The new center will initially operate out of Discovery Partners Institute and the University of Chicago, with a modular quantum computer called IBM Quantum System Two located at Hyde Park Labs.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Vulcan Materials to acquire Superior Ready Mix Concrete

Vulcan Materials Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Superior Ready Mix Concrete. This value-enhancing acquisition will add six aggregates operations with more than 50 years of quality aggregates reserves to Vulcan’s California franchise.

Ocean Winds extends contract with Principle Power for WindFloat Atlantic Project

Ocean Winds extended its operations and maintenance long-term service contract with Principle Power for the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic Project. Principle Power has provided these services to Ocean Winds since the project’s first WindFloat unit was installed in 2019.

St George signs partnerships in Brazil for niobium and rare earth processing

St. George Mining signed memorandums of understanding with SENAI and FIEMG to advance downstream production of niobium and rare earth elements from the Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The agreements outline cooperation to produce rare earth magnets at Lab Fab in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais.

Rowan University and DMG MORI partner to advance manufacturing and education

Rowan University and DMG MORI entered a partnership that provides opportunities for Rowan students. The partnership includes specialized training in advanced and additive manufacturing technologies as well as opportunities for Rowan students to intern at DMG MORI’s U.S. headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and the company’s factory in Davis, Calif.

OTHER STORIES

Request for participants: NIOSH survey on thermal spray coating in the workplace

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Respiratory Health Division is working to better understand the thermal spray coating industry through a 10–30 minute survey that asks about industry best practices and potential barriers to occupational safety and health.

DOE Energy Innovation Hub announces $10M for early-stage R&D on critical materials

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Innovation Hub announced up to $10 million in federal funding to accelerate the early-stage technology research and development necessary to reduce material criticality for energy innovations requiring critical materials.

DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers celebrate four-year milestone

Since their establishment in 2020, the five U.S. Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Centers have expanded the frontier of possibility in quantum computing, communication, sensing, and materials. This fall, 200 experts from the five centers met to review four years of progress and discuss an expanded vision for the future.

MARKET TRENDS

Preventing lithium-battery fires in New York City

Lithium-ion battery fires have become a growing issue in New York City. A Battery Technology article looks at what the city government is doing to tackle this problem.

The push to mine gold without mercury

In the Philippines, mercury has long been central to how small-scale gold miners earn their living. But groups backed by the United Nations are working to have small-scale miners use safer alternatives to this chemical, often sodium cyanide.

Undermining progress: Human rights and the low-carbon transition

As the transition to low-carbon energy alternatives accelerates, more attention is being paid to the hidden costs of the energy transition. In an investigative series, TriplePundit explores the organizations and initiatives proposing solutions to these hidden costs, as well as local stakeholders and the mining sector, to find a just and equitable transition for all.

NEW PRODUCTS

Gardco offers new byko-visc CP cone and plate viscometers

Paul N. Gardner Company, USA announced their new offering, the byko-visc CP cone and plate viscometers. The new line features a robust direct drive motor as well as an electronic cone lift, and it requires only small sample volumes and can apply high shear rates in a defined measurement geometry.