Focuses on high performance Saint-Gobain

FOCUSES ON

HIGH PERFORMANCE

Saint Gobain High Performance Refractories produces refractory systems for a wide range of high-temperature and wear-resistant applications. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales and marketing manager Matthias Schumann to find out how the company is developing new, energy-efficient solutions.

Saint Gobain High Performance Refractories (HPR) is a worldwide expert in the production and application of special refractory products for the ceramics, metallurgy, chemical, petrochemical, power generation, electronics, waste processing and glass-making industries. Its products include refractory bricks, tiles and blocks, mortar, cements and low-mass kiln furniture systems. The major fields of applications of these products are in ceramic systems, energy systems and metallurgy.

HPR is a division of Saint Gobain Ceramic Materials, which itself is a major business of the massive French Saint Gobain group, which has been producing glass in France since 1665 and is today a world leader in the design, production and distribution of glass and other construction materials. Saint-Gobain solutions range from self-cleaning windows and photovoltaic glass to smart insulation systems, water supply systems, solar solutions and building materials distribution.

HPR sales and marketing manager Matthias Schumann is particularly focused on the area of petrochemistry, which the company has defined as an important growth area alongside its activities in nuclear energy and waste-to-energy applications. Mr Schumann told Industry Europe, “Across the group we are dedicated to incorporating the highest quality materials into our products to yield the highest performance in the customer’s applications. This can include glass, plastics, refractories and all manner of other customer-

focused solutions all with the same goal – to help our customers perform better in a more energy-effective way.”

Positive performance

Mr Schumann explained that Saint Gobain HPR certainly felt the impact of the global economic crisis between 2008 and 2009, with the market dropping considerably. He pointed out that the recession prompted a number of regulatory and legislative changes as well as a global decrease in government funding for the building of new energy generation projects and the expansion of existing petrochemical plant projects.

He continued, “A major energy plant construction project can take up to six years from first idea to realisation and can cost billions of euros, so we found that many short to medium term projects were halted or scaled back. Saint Gobain plays a major role in the design and operation of these facilities supplying the highest duty level refractories required in the most aggressive, highest temperature areas of chemical and energy derivation processes. Saint Gobain’s collaboration activites with end users was slowed during this time. However, since 2010, Saint Gobain HPR has been resolutely out of ‘crisis mode’ as funding is back in the energy generation and petrochemical markets along with increased demand for energy and chemicals. With these positive market dynamics, Saint Gobain’s maintenance, installation and new project work has picked up and yielded strong financial figures for 2010 and 2011.

Saint Gobain HPR activities in energy generation and petrochemical business are worldwide, but have to be differentiated between maintenance and revamping activities of existing installations and green field projects. Key markets are in North America, Europe, Middle East, South America and Asia, whereas national and regional differences and public interests are an important aspect of for continuos success. Mr Schumann explained, “Local market understanding is imperative because investment in this industry sector depends not only on economical but also on legislative decisions and ecological compatibility. The differences can be immense, which can make it hard to offer a global solution, but it certainly highlights our considerable expertise in meeting the very particular needs of each country. Much of our work is related to public funding and has to be promoted by the appropriate government, so we are actively involved in meeting the challenges that arise.”

Meeting green challenges worldwide

A key way in which Saint Gobain HPR is able to meet these challenges is its understanding of the ‘green & future solutions’ that are considered as breakthrough technologies or processes in terms of efficiency, energy consumption and environmental sustainability. Described by Mr Schumann as ‘something important now, but even more important for the future’, the ‘green & future solutions’ are supported and developed with the help of Saint-Gobain products to fulfill future requirements defined by legislation (e.g. CO2 reject rate or alternative energy production such as solar). Mr Schumann said, “The increase in demand is being matched by an increase in demand for these environmentally responsible solutions. As we have been at the forefront of this movement for some time, we are perfectly positioned to help key players meet the evertightening regulations in this field. And as the needs for each installation can be so varied, the fact that we have a great deal of expertise in meeting those needs allows us to make the process quicker and simpler.”

Saint Gobain shares the benefits of their focus on ‘green & future solutions’ with customers building a new plant or making a new installation involving refractory products not only to produce energy with the highest efficiency and capacity but cleanly as well.

In terms of petrochemistry, Saint Gobain HPR is closely connected to new technology in this area, which it sees as an important future market. Mr Schumann added, “The process of gasification, or the installation of gasifiers, is a major trend for us as it capitalises on our knowledge while providing our customers with an appealing reduction of CO2 emissions from their plant. Gasification offers a great answer to strict regulations and legislation as it is cleaner, greener and very effective as compared to other methods of conversion of hydrocarbon feedstock into energy or chemicals,. It’s a booming market and it’s almost future-proof.” n