From north to south, from east to west
Dear readers,
This issue of Brick and Tile Industry International brings together articles from all four corners of Europe. The cover object lies in Finland, the Italian ceramics association Confindustria has published its production figures for 2024, the European Brick and Tile Association met in Budapest and the Spanish die manufacturer Talleres Morte turned 50.
What else awaits you in this issue: Two technical articles that deal with the same topic from different perspectives, the exit losses of kiln cars.
The first article, starting on page 6, presents a research project on a new transport system based on high-temperature bearings for more energy-efficient firing of brick products in tunnel kilns. Dr. Denny Mathew Alex, Marius Rimpel, Dr.-Ing. Rigo Giese and Dr. rer. nat. Eveline Zschippang have determined in experiments and simulations that energy savings of up to more than 20 percent are possible under certain conditions.
The second technical paper presents a simulation tool from Teide Refractory Soutions that can be used to develop and simulate kiln car designs tailored to specific cycle and temperature requirements. In the article starting on page 24, Ferran Ferré and Enrique Alcalde explain how it can be used to analyze energy savings, temperature profiles across the refractory layers and the thermal behavior under the kiln car.
Furthermore, a report will take you to Upper Austria to Wienerberger’s Uttendorf clay block plant. The first electrically powered industrial kiln for bricks was put into operation there last year. New systems and machines were also installed in other work steps such as drying and feeding in order to reduce CO2 emissions and increase energy efficiency. You can read about what this plant looks like and the extent to which it represents a new paradigm for the brick and tile industry from page 16 onwards.
In addition to the Italian one, many other European brick and tile associations, including the German association, have published their figures for 2024 in recent weeks. From page 28 onwards, you can find out more about the situation of brick manufacturers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. The German figures can be found from page 45.
Finally, we will inform you about the quality protection information events that took place in spring, the brickmakers’ meeting in Leipzig and the 28th conference of brick museums at the LWL Museum Zeche Nachtigall near Witten.
I wish you an entertaining and informative read.
Yours
Victor Kapr
