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Beralmar
Newsletter 124 - March 2018
Approximate reading time: 5 minutes
 

Success Stories
CASE STUDY X: MÁLYI TÉGLA: “SHOE-HORNED” TUNNEL KILN

Ceramics Industry
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE CERAMICS SYMPOSIUM IN HYDERABAD (INDIA)

Corporate
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE 2018 INDIAN CERAMICS FAIR
REMINDER: CERAMITEC 2018

Success Stories
CASE STUDY X: MÁLYI TÉGLA: “SHOE-HORNED” TUNNEL KILN

Origin of the project

The business relationship between MÁLYI TÉGLA, a ceramics plant located on the outskirts of Miskolc (Hungary), and BERALMAR goes back to the year 2000 when BERALMAR’s managing director Ramon Sarió, the technical director Artur Massaguer, and the representative in Hungary Carlos Acosta, visited the plant and were very kindly hosted by the owner, László Stark. At that time, MÁLYI TÉGLA was a historic ceramics plant in the northeast of Hungary with an interesting design: a two-level building containing two Hoffmann kilns on the lower floor, drying chambers on the upper floor, and a very unique clay preparation line, vertically arranged, that divided the premises into two symmetrical halves. Other unique aspects of the factory included the delivery of clay using baskets that crossed over a road and an impressive outdoor chimney that dominated the view of the region. During that first visit, one of the two Hoffman kilns was being repaired and a discussion was held about the possibility of building a tunnel kiln with the aim of expanding production and lowering both energy and labour costs. However, the biggest problem was the lack of space: the thickness of the plant’s interior pillars left a passage of only 5,450 mm between them, making it difficult to find a viable solution. It didn’t make sense to install a narrow kiln that wouldn’t offer a significantly larger production than the nearly 200 tonnes that the factory was already producing with the two Hoffmann kilns. Finally, a few years later, between Mr Stark’s insistence and Artur Massaguer's love of a challenge, solutions were proposed to begin a project involving a tunnel kiln that would produce 350 tonnes/day.

Execution of the project

The planned kiln would be 84.90 meters long (including the pre-kiln), with an inside width of 4,700 mm and an outside width of 6,140 mm. Despite the fact that, according to Mr. Stark, other engineering firms that had been consulted had claimed that a kiln could not be built with the available space, BERALMAR solved the issue of the distance between pillars (5,450 mm) in an ingenious way: by integrating them into the kiln structure. This was not as simple as it sounds, given that the planned kiln was a PRESTHERMIC model, BERALMAR's high-performance airtight kiln that allows working at high pressure thanks to its design and finish in welded sheet metal. It was therefore necessary to clad the pillars with this sheet metal to ensure that the bricks that comprised them would not have to withstand temperatures of more 600 °C, in addition to passing the kiln pipes through some unusual spaces. In this way the pillars were integrated in the kiln not only for reasons of space, but above all to ensure airtight conditions. A resulting feature is that the vault is held under beams of two different lengths depending on the presence of said pillars.

The kiln was equipped with natural gas combustion equipment and a MICROBER automatic management system.

The new kiln was built in the space previously occupied by one of the two Hoffmann kilns that was knocked down, so the other kiln continued operating during the entire construction of the new tunnel kiln.

 

The 5,450 mm space between the pillars made it difficult to install a wide enough kiln.

A type of setting used for some formats.

View from above of the airtight kiln. To the right of the image you can see the pillars integrated into the structure of the walls.

A kiln of the highest quality and performance in an almost impossible space.

High quality production from the new kiln.

Conclusions

The construction of the kiln was an adventure and a success, as evidenced by its almost 10 years of operation since its launch in September 2009.

The main conclusion that can be drawn from the MÁLYI TÉGLA kiln is that it’s always worth studying projects in depth and the feasibility of a certain approach shouldn’t immediately be ruled out. The easiest thing would have been to say no to the customer’s request, that a kiln for producing 350 tonnes/day wouldn’t fit in that space. This is in fact what the other engineering companies who were consulted did. So, what according to some was an unfeasible approach, ended up being just the opposite! A success story, a source of pride for BERALMAR's technical experts as well as for the stubborn promoter of the project, László Stark (RIP), and a lesson about having a positive attitude in the face of difficult challenges. A positive, open and enthusiastic attitude that has always characterized BERALMAR and that the current technical team would do well to keep in mind at all times as a fundamental value.

Plan of the kiln showing the pillars integrated into the structure of its walls.

The next case study will be published in Newsletter no. 126 in May 2018.

Ceramics Industry
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE CERAMICS SYMPOSIUM IN HYDERABAD (INDIA)

On March 5th a ceramics symposium organized by ECTS took place in Hyderabad (India), with the participation of BERALMAR, among others.

Bharath MS, manager of BERALMAR INDIA, gave a presentation about BERALMAR’s projects on production lines adapted to local needs, as well as ceramic formats that help add value to the product and compete with alternative materials in modern constructions.

Attendance at the symposium was high, with more than 100 registered attendees from ceramic clusters around the city.

With these types of symposium, the ECTS is doing great work in promoting ceramic technologies, as well extolling the virtues of ceramic construction materials over alternative materials. India is the country in which the most symposiums have been held to date, although they have also been held in Bangladesh, Iran, Turkey, Peru and Colombia.

The next symposium organized by ECTS will take place in October in Mexico, also with the participation of BERALMAR.



BHARATH M.S., manager of BERALMAR INDIA during a speech.

 

Appearance of the conference room.

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ECTS
Corporate
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE 2018 INDIAN CERAMICS FAIR

BERALMAR participated in the latest edition of INDIAN CERAMICS that took place between March 7th and 9th in Gandighar (Gujarat).

It was the first edition to take place in Gandighar, and the new trade fair complex used for the occasion met expectations.

The BERALMAR stand recorded a higher number of visits compared to the previous edition, probably due in part to the improved stand installed by BERALMAR, which was larger, more comfortable and visual than in other editions.

In the words of the country manager for India, Jordi Castellà, "we received more, and better quality, visits than last year. You can really see the growing interest for European technologies, and also for projects that can help expand the range of formats to include perforated bricks and extruded blocks ".

For his part, the manager of BERALMAR INDIA, Bharath MS, remarked that "after BERALMAR INDIA’s first year it was satisfying to be able to share with the visitors the work done this year. There is a lot of interest and expectation about what we can do".

BERALMAR INDIA was created with the mission of supplying complete plants and equipment with European technology made in India.

We will surely be back for the 2019 edition!





REMINDER: CERAMITEC 2018

We want to remind our customers and friends that as we already mentioned in the February Newsletter, BERALMAR will participate in the upcoming CERAMITEC fair in Munich between the 10th and 13th of April.

Visitors can find the BERALMAR team at stand 115/216 in pavilion B5.

See you in Munich!

Beralmar, 50 years with you!
BERALMAR TECNOLOGIC S.A · Avda. Valles 304 · Terrassa, B 08220 · Spain
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