Approximate reading time: 5 minutes

The ECTS (European Ceramic Technology Suppliers) work group, which is made up of the leading European suppliers of ceramics technology, met on the 28th and 29th of May in Monforte d’Alba (Piemonte, Italy).

During this last meeting Sr. Charles-Antoine de Barbuat (Keyria) was elected president of the group and different joint ventures were discussed relating to quality processes and joint participation in fairs and symposiums.

As on other occasions the meeting was used as an excuse to visit the installations of one of the group members and on this occasion it was the turn of BONGIOANNI MCCHINE. As well as for opening the doors of their installations, they should be thanked for their organisational contribution in making the meeting a success.

The next meeting will take place next October in Munich (Germany).

It is said that happiness and optimism are two key ingredients to a job well done. If the saying is true, BERALMAR's clients are in luck since FC BARCELONA fans make up the majority in BERALMAR.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them along with other Barcelona fans from all parts of the globe for this extraordinary month of May which culminated in the winning of the Champions League on the 27th May in Rome.

Having previously constructed a new production facility for LADRILLERÍA SANTA CLARA in Monterrey, Mexico, BERALMAR has been commissioned to modernise the kiln in the old facility, with the aim of improving the volume and quality of production.

As always with loyal customers we would like to take this opportunity to thank LADRILLERÍA SANTA CLARA for continuing to trust in our company.

BERALMAR is starting up a new ceramics plant in Algeria. The facility in question is the BRIQUETERIE TIMADANINE in Adrar, in the south east of the country.

This new production facility has a production capacity of 250 tonnes/day of air bricks.
BERALMAR has supplied the tunnel kiln and dryer. The FORNTHERMIC model kiln, which is 89 metres long and 3.40 metres wide inside, is equipped with a MICROBER-III control system, a natural gas combustion installation and other components to guarantee good regulation during the firing process.

The dryer is a GARBÍ. It is a semicontinuous dryer which uses platforms to transport the material in packages of about 1 m3. This type of transport enables a significant saving in the initial investment compared to the use of shelves, maintaining the same drying philosophy as with the traditional semicontinous dryer.

The main fuel used in the plant is natural gas, as is most common in this country.

BRIQUETERIE TIMADANINE is the third ceramics facility to be supplied by BERALMAR in Algeria.

Due to the particular situation of the market in Spain and in some other countries, many installations are operating intermittently, stopping and restarting production within months.

This is, without doubt, the reason for an increase in the demand for self-igniting gas burners which has recently been noted.

This equipment is easily installed in existing combustion groups situated at the end of the firing area during the igniting of the kiln. This is much more convenient than the usual practice of temporarily transferring the high speed burners from the preheating area to this area.