• Ceramics Industry
• BARCELONA’S LAST BRICK AND TILE FACTORY

The BÒBILA CARMEN in the early twentieth century.

Current aerial view, showing the BÒBILA CARMEN factory completely engulfed by the city.

No one is surprised to hear that there are no longer any tileworks in Barcelona, but it turns out that this was not the case until just a year ago, when the BÒBILA CARMEN, located in the Horta-Guinardó district north of the city, stopped production after 104 years of activity.

Barcelona boasted a large number of brickyards in the early twentieth century, especially in the Les Corts district, where in fact a tileworks had to be bought and demolished to build the new FC Barcelona stadium in 1957. The BÒBILA CARMEN opened in 1906 and grew at the same pace as the town, in particular the growth of the Eixample district. It provided ceramic products for such emblematic buildings in the city as the Arc de Triomphe.

The tileworks has been owned since the 1950s by the Puigfel family, which later diversified its business. Currently, the PUIGFEL GROUP consists of eleven construction sector companies with a total of more than 400 employees. In fact, the PUIGFEL GROUP continues the ceramics business with PIERA ECO CERAMICA.

The plot where the BÒBILA CARMEN stood will see the construction of a housing development, while PUIGFEL GROUP will develop the kiln area for a future ceramics museum.

• Corporate
• BERALMAR IN THE 6TH SERBIAN CERAMIST CONVENTION

Milena Blagojević giving her speech.

BERALMAR has commissioned nine pet coke firing facilities in Serbia and Bosnia.

The Sixth Serbian Ceramist Convention—a triennial event—was held in the southeast town of Sokobanja on September 21 and 22. Sokobanja is an attractive tourist area thanks to its natural mountain environment, and the hunting and fishing appeal of Lake Bovan and the Moravici River.

As expected, the Convention organisers gave its sponsors—including BERALMAR—an opportunity to present a technical and sales presentation. BERALMAR’s presentation, given by local representative Milena Blagojević, was entitled "Solid fuel in Serbia 2008-2011: from scepticism to reality”. As the title suggests, BERALMAR has in fact successfully installed a total of seven firing facilities in Serbia and two more in Bosnia since the last Convention. To do so, it had to overcome an initial stage of acute market scepticism about the use of these fuels, which are emerging as a viable alternative to the consumption of natural gas or fuel oil, provided they are used with reliable and tested technologies. With current fuel prices, a 400 tonne per day kiln in Serbia can save over €3,000 per day by replacing 70% of its fuel oil consumption with pet coke.

The presentation also highlighted the use of solid fuels as a heat source for the drying process, an application which is getting much interest in various countries and also involves major energy savings.

Lastly, the Convention was also a platform for a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Vladimir Denić, who leaves the leadership of the Association of Serbian Ceramists after a lifetime devoted to the industry. His will be replaced by Mr. Stojan Milicević who has a strong track record in the sector.

• NEW DISTINCTION FOR BERALMAR

As it does every year, BERALMAR TECNOLOGIC S.A. filed its FY10 audited balance sheets at the Mercantile Register.

INFORMA D&B has submitted its report on our company—which both our suppliers and customers can consult—and offers the following main conclusions:

- The company’s credit rating is 18/20, very low considering that the lowest risk is 20/20.
- The financial position and business track record is rated as excellent, with the maximum score of 9/9.
- The legal incidents are nil.


Like every year, BERALMAR TECNOLOGIC S.A. ranks as one of the best companies of the year and is listed as such in the Prestige Rating Book.

• News and Accomplishments
• SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF A VERY SPECIAL FACILITY

This September BERALMAR has commissioned a very special firing facility. It was announced a few months ago and this year it is a reality.

The MICROMATIC facility runs on micronized pet coke and has been installed in one of the furnaces of the TATA REFRACTORIES LIMITED Company in India (now TRL KROSAKI REFRACTORIES LIMITED) in Belpahar (Orissa, India). What makes it unique is that the firing product is refractory at a firing temperature of 1,650 ºC.

This project has been a challenge for BERALMAR, since the company had never tried firing with solid fuels at these temperatures.

To meet the fuel injection needs, the type of injector had to be changed. The new injector needs to feed an average of 20 kg/hr of micronized coke, compared to 4-6 kg/h in conventional systems.

The deployment was a success and has effectively replaced most of the previous consumption of fuel oil, which will lead to huge energy savings.

From these lines we would like to thank our client for their trust, and also highlight the invaluable technical support provided by our local partner in this project, FGK THERMAL.