PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Piramal Glass announces US$42 million investment toward Jambusar plant expansion

Piramal Glass Ltd, a global specialist in design, production, and decoration of niche glass packaging solutions, announced an investment of INR 300 Crores (US$42 million) in its greenfield project in Jambusar, Gujarat, India. The expansion plan includes one new furnace with seven new manufacturing lines across about 300,000 sq.ft. plant.

Forglass moves to new headquarters in Krakow, Poland

Polish glass technology provider Forglass moved to new headquarters in Krakow, Poland. The expansion of the company’s engineering and R&D departments necessitated the move, which comes on the heels of the recent enlargement and modernization of its machine production plant and construction bureau in Katowice.

Vivakor deploys its second remediation processing center in Utah

Vivakor, Inc., a clean energy technology and asset acquisition company, completed the deployment of its second Clean Energy Remediation Processing Center (RPCII) in Vernal, Utah. Once the quality control phase is completed, the clean energy system will reach a processing capacity of 20 tons per hour of hydrocarbon material.


ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Jason Industries acquires Matchless Metal Polish Company

Jason Industries, a diversified corporation with Osborn and Milsco business units, announced it acquired the Matchless Metal Polish Company in an all-cash transaction valued at $5 million. Matchless will be incorporated into Osborn, which is the primary business unit serving the industrial market segment for Jason Industries.

German solar glass maker acquired by timber company and start-up innovator

Austrian wood processing company HS Timber Group and the Israeli business innovation firm Blue Minds agreed to buy Liechtenstein-based solar glass manufacturer Interfloat Corporation. Through the transaction, which depends on approval by German and Austrian antitrust authorities, HS Timber gets an 80% share of Interfloat and Blue Minds the balance.

O-I Australia acquisition deadline on hold again

The deadline for final bids to buy Owens-Illinois’ Australasian business has been pushed back once again. Private equity group Blackstone has pulled out of the running to buy the business. It leaves Visy Packaging and Pacific Equity Partners as the final bidders for the world’s largest glass container manufacturer.

TWI and Leitat to collaborate on accelerating additive manufacturing adoption

TWI Ltd, headquartered in Great Abington, Cambridge, U.K., partnered with Leitat, a technical institute based in Barcelona, Spain, to develop additive manufacturing solutions for a range of industries.


OTHER STORIES

Lucideon’s most popular whitewares training modules taking place in May, June 2020

Lucideon scheduled two of its most popular ceramics whitewares training sessions in May and June this year. The one day modules—L8 – ‘Glaze and Glaze Applications’ and L9 – ‘Testing of Ceramic Materials and Products’—will take place at the Lucideon headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent on May 13 and June 13, respectively.

2020 Wilson hardness webinar series to focus on surface hardened parts

To honor the 100th anniversary of Wilson hardness products, Buehler is having the 2020 Wilson hardness webinar series this year. The first topic will focus on surface hardened parts and will be conducted in English, German and French. It will be offered on several dates and times throughout March 2020.

New Orton short course on glass properties

The Edward Orton Jr. Ceramic Foundation is offering a new course, Introduction to Glass Properties, to be held on June 16, 17, & 18, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to the classroom lectures, the course will include a demonstration laboratory session each day.

Hydrogen for glass production

Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) will test the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel for glass production at its Greengate Works facility in St. Helens, U.K. The global first is part of a project managed by HyNet, a consortium of industries in the northwest of England, aimed at reducing carbon emissions from industry, homes, and transport.

DOE to provide $30m for new research on fusion energy

The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $30 million for new research on fusion energy. $17 million will be for research focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning. An additional $13 million will be devoted to fundamental fusion theory research.

Hollow glass industry prepares for Glassman Latin America

More than 80 of the world’s leading equipment suppliers to the hollow glass industry have confirmed their participation at the Glassman Latin America event, which takes place in Monterrey, Mexico, on May 13–14. There are four conference themes, which include the Future of Furnaces, a Market Focus, and Digital Glassmaking.

‌Austrian research network presents concepts for successful application of AM

Ecoplus Plastics and Mechatronics Cluster in Lower Austria reported the completion of the CORNET project, ‘AM 4 Industry,’ and published its findings on successful applications of additive manufacturing in the industry.

Investigation launched as Lilium Jet prototype is destroyed by fire

German start-up Lilium says the start of flight testing of the second electric-powered Lilium Jet prototype could be delayed by several weeks as it determines what caused the first test aircraft to catch fire during maintenance on February 27.


MARKET TRENDS

Argonne publishes ‘AI for Science Report’

Argonne National Lab published a comprehensive “AI for Science Report” based on a series of Town Hall meetings held in 2019. Hosted by Argonne, Oak Ridge, and Berkeley National Laboratories, the four town hall meetings examined scientific opportunities in the areas of artificial intelligence, Big Data, and high-performance computing in the next decade.

What to expect when you’re expecting electric transportation

Researchers from Hiroshima University and Kyoto University combined economic and transport models and data to show while a carbon pricing policy initially had a negative impact on the economic system, when carbon pricing was coupled with policies mandating electric road transportation, it ultimately alleviated negative impacts of carbon pricing.

Thermal ceramics: Technologies and global markets to 2024

A recent Research and Markets report includes a discussion of current and upcoming trends of thermal ceramics; raw material analysis, product life cycle analysis, and competitive landscape analysis; understanding the demand as well as the supply side of the market trends of thermal ceramics; and tracking the future growth potential of the market.


NEW PRODUCTS

FormFlow: AM optimization software

Additive Flow, a U.K.-based optimization software developer, has formally introduced its additive manufacturing optimization software FormFlow. FormFlow is designed to be adaptable to a range of materials and processes, facilitating efficient and sustainable design for a wide variety of applications.

Corr-Paint CP3015-BL: Ultrahigh-temperature coating

Corr-Paint CP3015-BL, a new ultrahigh temperature, black pigmented and ceramic-filled coating developed by Aremco Products, Inc., is now used to coat automotive, truck, and industrial exhaust headers for applications to 1,500°F.

PrismaPro: RGA and process gas monitor

The Pfeiffer Vacuum PrismaPro quadrupole mass spectrometer is designed for both qualitative and quantitative gas analysis, as well as residual gas analysis and leak detection. The PrismaPro features a distinctive combination of high sensitivity with a detection limit of less than 3E-15 mbar, maximum stability, and intelligent operation.

Functional high-performance materials for liquid additive manufacturing

DELO developed light-curing epoxy resins optimized specifically for industrial 3D printing applications, particularly automotive and microelectronic. The resins can be tailor-made depending on desired properties, such as flexibility, transparency, or conductivity.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle: World’s largest electric vehicle

The Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, a hybrid mining truck that uses both electricity and a reserve of hydrogen fuel, will weigh 290 tons (580,000 pounds). It will begin test runs at the Mogalakwena platinum group metals mining operation in South Africa later this year.

Author

Lisa McDonald