Ceramic and glass business news of the week for February 10, 2020

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

NSG starts float furnace for solar glass

Nippon Sheet Glass Group started operation of a previously dormant float furnace in Vietnam. It will produce transparent conductive oxide coated glass for solar panels and is one of two lines at the site.

Materials Sciences invests $4.2M to open new plant

Composite materials and components developer and manufacturer Materials Sciences LLC is committing $4.2 million to open a second facility in Greenville, S.C., that will expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

Gasbarre commissions precision gas nitriding and ferritic nitrocarburizing furnace

Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems recently commissioned a precision gas nitriding and ferritic nitrocarburizing furnace for a prominent commercial heat treating company located in the Midwestern United States. The furnace uses Super Systems, Inc. controls for automatic K_N and K_C control to AMS 2759/10 and AMS 2759/12 specifications.

ZEN Graphene Solutions announces grand opening of Guelph facility

ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. announced the grand opening of its Guelph facility on March 3, 2020. The facility will be used for small scale pilot plant production to produce future Albany Pure graphene products as well as further research and development work.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

SCHOTT and WaveOptics enter into strategic supply partnership

Schott announced at Photonics West 2020 that WaveOptics, a designer and manufacturer of waveguides for AR wearables, will base its next-generation waveguide technology initially with its Katana design, exclusively on the SCHOTT RealView product line of high-index glass wafers with 1.8 RI.

Lippert Components turns to A+W Software for glass software

Indiana-based Lippert Components selected A+W Software as their glass processing software partner at the company’s newest fabrication facility in Bristol, Indiana. One type of glass fabricated at the new facility will be safety glass for school buses and RVs.

AGC and Citrine Informatics collaborate to develop new glass technology using AI

Glass manufacturing group AGC Glass Europe and Citrine Informatics are collaborating to use artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of next-generation glass. Citrine Informatics is a technology platform that harnesses the power of AI to bring new materials to market faster and capture materials-enabled product value.

Allied Mineral Products acquires WAM AL II product line

Allied Mineral Products, LLC., a global refractory manufacturer, purchased the intellectual property rights to a collection of industry-leading products for the aluminum industry previously owned by Westmoreland Advanced Materials, Inc.

OTHER STORIES

One month until IMFORMED’s Mineral Recycling Forum 2020

IMFORMED’s upcoming Mineral Recycling Forum 2020, taking place in Aachen, Germany, from March 10–11, 2020, will bring together an expert panel to discuss the latest trends and developments in recycled mineral sourcing, supply, processing, quality control, logistics, and crucially, their market applications.

Vesuvius: Change in director’s details

Engineered ceramics company Vesuvius plc announced that Friederike Helfer, a nonexecutive director of the Company, was appointed to the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG with effect from the close of their AGM on 31 January 2020.

ASTM International developing a standard for LPBF 3D printing

Global standards developer ASTM International announced the F42 additive manufacturing technologies committee is currently developing a standard for the laser powder bed fusion 3D printing process.

Fives secures repeat contract with Anchor Glass

U.S. container glass manufacturer Anchor Glass appointed industrial engineering group Fives for a complete forehearths system reconstruction project at Anchor’s Lawrenceburg facility in Indiana.

Department of Energy announces $125.5 million in new funding for solar technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $125.5 million in new funding to advance solar technology research. In addition, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced up to $43.8 million to advance geothermal research and development.

Mysterious new ransomware targets industrial control systems

EKANS, a new ransomware first publicized about this month, is specially designed to target industry by terminating 64 different software processes on victim computers, including many that are specific to industrial control systems.

Robust anchor design: Three important things you need to know

In a technical Tuesday feature for Heat Treat Today, Dan Szynal, vice president of engineering and technical service at Plibrico Company, provides best tips for refractory engineers and managers to use in achieving an improved anchor design.

MARKET TRENDS

EU votes to create a standard charging adapter for phones despite Apple’s protests

After a debate that had raged on for more than 10 years, the European Parliament finally voted in a landslide 582-40 decision to create a standard charging solution for all phones and other small to medium-sized mobile devices.

Low carbon concrete for the first time required by law

The Marin County California Low Carbon Concrete Code, which went into effect last month and applies to all private and public construction projects involving concrete, is the first in the U.S. to address the negative environmental externalities of concrete when it added a mandatory low carbon concrete specification to the Marin County Building Code.

NEW PRODUCTS

Advanced concrete sensor unveiled at WOC

Giatec, a concrete testing technology developer and manufacturer, announced at World of Concrete 2020 that their flagship product, SmartRock, was completely redesigned, making it the world’s most powerful concrete sensor on the market.

VR-5000: Wide-area 3D measurement system

Keyence’s VR-5000 is a noncontact 3D measurement system that scans up to a 4” by 8” area and measures 3D profiles, roughness, flatness, and allows the user to compare their parts directly to a CAD model.