GLOBAL LEADER IN HIGH-PRESSURE VESSELS Austrian Schoeller-Bleckmann Nitec GmbH designs and builds high-pressure vessels for the chemical and petrochemical industries. It is one of the global market leaders in industrial apparatus engineering for the fertiliser industry. Marco Siebel spoke with CEO Hermann Kernberger to find out more.
S
choeller-Bleckmann Nitec employs 150 people whose efforts generated a turnover of €50 million in 2014. The company has four production sites, of which two are in Ternitz, a town south of Vienna. The history of the company goes back to 1862, when Alexander Schoeller acquired the iron and steel works in Ternitz. In 1935 Schoeller-Bleckmann began the manufacturing of vessels for the chemical, food and drink industries. In the past 30 years the company has positioned itself as a producer of industrial vessels for the fertiliser industry. Schoeller-Bleckmann Nitec GmbH has been part of the group J. Christof Apparatebau Beteiligungs GmbH since 2008. 58 Industry Europe
Vessels for the fertiliser industry Schoeller-Bleckmann Nitec (SBN) produces high-pressure heat exchangers and high-pressure reactors for urea and ammonia production to be used in the fertiliser industry. The reactors are cladded in highly corrosion-resistant materials, and have built-in liquid distribution systems. The materials used for these products include heat-resistant chrome-nickel steels and nickel-based alloys, as well as pressurised hydrogen resistant steels. The welding is computercontrolled using software developed by Schoeller-Bleckmann Nitec’s own team of engineers and programmers.
