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In this Issue:
- Stellar Materials Announces New Sales Team Member: Olivier Degruggillier
- Stellar Materials Announces New Thermbond Team Member: Ben McGee
- Thermbond Tips: Preparation of Existing Refractory Surfaces
- Application Report: Coal Fired Power Boiler
Stellar Materials is Pleased to Announce the Hiring of Olivier Degrugillier
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Olivier Degrugillier,
Sales Manager France |
Stellar Materials is pleased to announce the recent hiring of Olivier Degrugillier as Sales Manager, France for our Thermbond and Phoscrete products.
Olivier has a Masters degree in International Sales and Marketing. Prior to his employment here he worked for Parker Hannifin as a Sales Manager where he was successful in increasing sales.
Marcel Grootveld, Stellar's Sales Director for Europe and the Middle East comments "I am pleased to have Olivier joining our team in Europe, we have looked for a long time to find the right person and due to his sales capabilities we are sure he is a perfect fit. I am sure everyone will extend a warm welcome to Olivier as he joins Stellar Materials International."
We look forward to expanding Thermbond usage in Europe, we are confident Olivier will be very successful.
Testimonial from a Customer in Korea
"Great, thanks for the MSDS.
Your Korean versions are really great and I'm very, very impressed. I have to say again that Stellar is the most customer friendly supplier..."
Stellar Materials Announces New Manager, Installation and Field Services
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Ben McGee, Manager Installation
and Field Services |
Stellar Materials is pleased to announce the hiring of Ben McGee as our new Manager - Installation and Field Services.
Ben has over 25 years of experience in refractory contracting and refractory consuming industries. Ben's experience includes refractory supervision as a union brick layer, maintenance manager at a major Midwest aluminum facility, and for the past 16 years, as a manager over refractory contracting groups. Ben's experience will make him a quick study in learning our product line and the installation characteristics of our products.
Ben lives in Hudsonville, MI, near Grand Rapids, MI. He will work from home and from our manufacturing facility in Whitmore Lake.
Ben reports to Jens Decker, Vice President-Engineering. Reporting to Ben will be Pete Billi - Installation Specialist.
Please welcome Ben McGee to Stellar Materials.
Testimonial from a Customer in the Aluminum Industry:
"We got in contact with Thermbond-products by the representatives of your European Headquarters.
The advantages of these products convinced us. We are using Formula -Products and Phoscrete Hotfloor in our three melting furnaces with a good performance for three years now.
We learned to 'Think Thermbond" and we thank you for your valuable support."
Thermbond Tips: Preparation of Existing Refractory Surfaces
In order to assure a proper bond to an existing refractory surface, the following precautions must be taken:
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The surface being bonded to (if not the same Thermbond formulation) must have been fired. It cannot be green; otherwise the bond will not last.
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The surface being bonded to must be structurally sound and clean. When repairing an existing lining, make sure that the refractory lining is chipped back to solid, clean refractory. Remove all deteriorated refractory and dust including any refractory penetrated by metals or other foreign matter. If the refractory is not solid, it may come apart from within, taking the Thermbond veneer with it. If the refractory is not clean and solid, the veneer may delaminate. Remember the bond is only as good as the surface it is bonding to.
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The surface being bonded to must be DRY. Any moisture on the surface will inhibit bonding. Due to the exothermic reaction of Thermbond products, form release products can become less viscous and runnier. When slip forming, make sure that no grease or form release has accumulated on any surface that it is to be bonded to. TIP: Use the appropriate liquid activator as a form release agent on any forms that are in contact with a surface that is to be bonded to. If the surface is wet or oily the joint will delaminate. NOTE: We DO NOT recommend pre-dampening the existing refractory surfaces with liquid activator prior to installation except to test the surface for impurities.
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The surface being bonded to must be rough. When slip-forming, make sure that the surface to be bonded to is not overly smooth. If it appears smooth, or "glassy", then scarify the surface prior to attempting to bond it. If the surface is too smooth, the strength of the chemical bond may be inhibited by a mechanical bond-plane or it may lack the necessary porosity for a good chemical bond, ultimately causing a lamination. In general the alumina content of the Thermbond material should match the alumina content of the substrate material in order to obtain similar reversible thermal expansion and therefore the best possible bond.
Testimonial from a Customer in the Petrochemical Industry:
"We have used Thermbond refractory quite extensively for a number of years mostly in our Sulfur Recovery Units within the furnaces. The Thermbond refractory provided the quick application, high temperature capabilities, chemical resistant properties, and quick curing capabilities that allowed us to have a quick turnaround time on our damaged furnaces."
Application Report
Industry: Minerals Processing Industry- Plant Power Boiler
Description of Equipment: Coal Fired Power Boiler- Western US
Problem: Minimize downtime during plant outage. Refractory cure-out and dry-out are the bottleneck
Solution: Gun, ram, and cast appropriate Thermbond product in wet bottom ash hopper, wind box, and burner throats.
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| One wall of wet bottom ash hopper
gunned with Formula 6 AG |
Wind box to be cast with Formula 8B an insulating Thermbond product |
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Placing Formula 15R by hand before Ramming into place with bench rammer |
Burner throats near completion |
Product Being Replaced: Conventional castable refractories
Savings Using Thermbond: Approximately 3 days of downtime eliminated and over $60,000 in gas costs for longer, more controlled, firing in required for conventional refractories.
Products Applied: Formula 6AG was gunned 9 inches thick in the entire bottom ash hopper. Formula 8B was installed in the burner wind boxes, and Formula 15R was rammed into the burner throats.
Method of Installation: Gunning, ramming, and casting.
Scope of Work: The minerals processing customer who owns the power plant previously used Thermbond for time saving and performance benefits on a much smaller scale and specified it for this outage. Nearly 30 pallets of Thermbond were installed during this outage. A large, well known, refractory contractor from California performed the tear-out, anchor placement, and refractory installation. Their knowledge of Thermbond products was instrumental in meeting the deadline set by the customer. The ash hopper was completely relined with 9” of Formula 6AG. Rebound rates averaged between 10-15% depending on the crew and location in the ash hopper being gunned. Formula 8B, an insulating castable, was chosen to line the wind boxes attached to the burners. The wind box mixes preheated air before it is fed into the burners. Finally Formula 15R was rammed into 8- 4’ diameter burner throats.
The work was completed on time and the customer put the boiler back into operation without any problems. It was a very successful Thermbond installation and the customer intends to use Thermbond on future outages.
Installation Date: July 2008
If you would like additional information regarding this application report, please contact Brendan Gallagher @: Mobile: (520)906-2407, Email: brendan.gallagher@thermbond.com
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Stellar Materials Incorporated is a privately-held corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, FL with manufacturing facilities in Whitmore Lake, MI, stocking warehouses worldwide, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Rotterdam, NL and Abu Dhabi, UAE. |
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Stellar Materials Incorporated
7777 Glades Road, Suite 200
Boca Raton, Florida 33434
USA
(561) 330-9300 |
Stellar Materials International, LLC
Nieuw Mathenesserstraat 39 - 41 Unit 1 B
3029 AV Rotterdam
The Netherlands
+31 (10) 2460264 |
Stellar Materials M.E. FZE
P.O.Box No 10559
Ras Al Khaimah
United Arab Emirates
+971506891327 |
Thermbond and Phoscrete are registered trademarks of Stellar Materials Incorporated.
Copyright 2008 Stellar Materials Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
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Last modified at 10/22/2008 5:00 PM by Ashley Garcia
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