TOWERS OF STRENGTH The Beroa Technology Group specialises in the construction of chimneys and the installation of refractory linings for industrial furnaces. Joseph Altham reports on a company that has built up a global network of subsidiaries and is now making a vital contribution to the development of solar energy.
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he Beroa Technology Group is a network of 50 different companies and is present in more than 20 countries worldwide. Beroa takes its name from “bero”, the Basque word for heat. Beroa’s main activities are the engineering and installation of refractory linings for furnaces and the design and construction of large chimneys and other tall structures such as concrete silos. The Beroa Technology Group was founded in 1997, but the origins of the
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company are much older and go back to the establishment in 1914 of the German firm Karrena. Beroa can therefore draw on decades of experience in the engineering and assembly of refractory material – material that is resistant to heat. Many areas of industry require boilers and furnaces with refractory linings and Beroa works for many different customers. Its refractory linings are used in everything from rotary kilns for the cement industry to boilers
in power plants. Another important business area is providing linings for the anode baking furnaces used in the aluminium industry. The company has successfully lined around 70 anode pit furnaces around the world, employing more than 20,000 tonnes of refractory material for the purpose. Beroa not only installs refractory systems for new furnaces, but also repairs and upgrades older equipment. For example, in Argentina the Group is currently engaged in the