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VERDÉS brought together a large group of figures from the ceramics industry, from clients to other sector suppliers, BERALMAR representatives among them, at its plant in Vilanova del Camí (Barcelona) on 24 October to celebrate the Centenary of the company's foundation.

The well organised Celebrations consisted of various functions stretched out to the weekend and included visits to VERDÉS' facilities, group meals and even a balloon trip.

For BERALMAR's representatives, the functions were also a good chance to meet many friends and clients again and to share a pleasant time in a relaxed and festive atmosphere.

It should be pointed out that it is not at all common in our industry - and by no means a coincidence – for a manufacturer to celebrate one hundred years of history. VERDÉS faces the future with the fourth family generation and from this newsletter we wish to sincerely congratulate all levels of the company for having arrived at this point and to wish them continued success.

BERALMAR will be present at the KIEVBUILD 2009 fair to be held in the Ukrainian capital from 24 to 27 February 2009.

KIEVBUILD is the Ukraine's major construction fair and 2009 will mark its thirteenth year.

BERALMAR will be participating in KIEVBUILD for the first time, to learn about the specific needs of the Ukrainian ceramics industry and to be able to add our bit.

INDUSTRIAL PRINCESA's manufacturing plant in Quilicura (Santiago de Chile) has already had a similar installation since the beginning of 2007 in one of its kilns and a second installation for the second kiln was recently started up. This is a MICROMATIC model solid fuel firing installation with a grinding station made up of a BERALMAR grinder and an intermediate silo for storing micronised coal.

The two installations work with bulk coal, that is to say with particle sizes up to a maximum of 25 mm. The grinders dry the coal to a maximum of 1% moisture, then fine grind it down to less than 100 microns for storage in the intermediate silo. This intermediate silo feeds doses of micronized fuel to a full MICROMATIC installation, depending on its fuel level. The whole process, from dosing the coal to the injection of micronised fuel into the kiln, is automatic and centrally controlled.

The “MICROMATIC + Grinding” application is of great interest for ceramists who wish to enjoy all the advantages of the MICROMATIC system and either do not have access to solid micronised fuel or find it is too expensive.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank INDUSTRIAS PRINCESA for their continued confidence.

The fluctuations in fuel prices lead to paradoxical situations, such as the case of natural gas in Spain, traditionally the most expensive fuel.

Pet coke continues to be the most attractive fuel from an economic viewpoint. Despite this, in some kilns in Spain BERALMAR is also carrying out replacements of fuel oil plant with natural gas plant.

There are two reasons for this: first, fuel oil has proved to be the most expensive fuel of all and second, the efficiency of BERALMAR's range of gas burners. Natural gas is a fuel which, precisely because it is a gas, enables a wider range of burners to be used with more functions to optimise their performance. For example, the model FOC20/FF high-velocity cold-flame burners not only prepare the material before preheating (to 300 to 500 ºC), but the excess air and injection pressure also mean that they act as recirculators, evening out temperatures in the whole package.

The result is the application of gas combustion equipment which, thanks to its energy savings, currently provides a five-month payback in Spain.