Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Austria: Austrotherm has invested Euro20m on an upgrade to its extruded polystyrene (XPS) production capacity at its Purbach insulation plant. The project added a production hall with new extrusion technology supplied by Germany-based KraussMaffei Group. The expansion has also created 20 new jobs at the site. A further upgrade to the plant will be built in 2023 when a photovoltaic system will be installed on the roof of the hall.

UK: Knauf Insulation has concluded a deal to acquire the Pilkington Architectural site next to its glass wool plant in St Helens. The purchase of the seven hectare area is part of a combined Euro46m production capacity expansion project at both the St Helens and Cwmbran plants that was previously announced in April 2022. At the St Helens plant the company plans to use the additional space storage space and better logistics arraignments.

UK: Denmark-based Rockwool has announced plans to replace natural gas used in its Bridgend stone wool insulation plant's combustion systems and curing ovens with green hydrogen produced on-site. Engineering company Marubeni Europower and consultancy Mott MacDonald will also be involved in the project. H2 News has reported that the work will rely on US$462,000 in government funding.

Rockwool's managing director Rafael Rodriguez said “The group has set ambitious decarbonisation targets, verified and approved by the Science Based Target Initiative, and in line with this, we are looking forward to enhancing our own understanding about the potential for green hydrogen use in our business.”

China/US: France-based Arkema has announced progress at two locations towards increasing the production capacity of its blowing agent product Forane 1233ZD. In China the group says its partner Aofan has started operation at a production plant. In the US at Calvert City, Kentucky the group has broken ground on the construction of an upgrade to a production line at its existing plant. The US$60m project is expected to be completed by early 2024. Both units are intended to increase the global availability of the Forane 1233ZD product.

The chemicals company is promoting the use of fluorinated liquid blowing agent due to its sustainability advantages. The product is used primarily in closed celled polyurethane foam for building insulation and cold chain applications. It also has applications for the thermal management of batteries in electric vehicles.

Romania: Knauf Insulation has begun mineral wool production at its recently acquired Tarnaveni plant in central Romania after investing Euro4m in upgrades. The investment covered the initial stages of modernisation at the Gecsat plant production line in Mures County, according to a Knauf press release.

A second stage of refurbishment began in September 2022. Once the entire investment plan is implemented, the Knauf Insulation factory in Tarnaveni will have an annual production capacity of about 60,000t/yr of mineral wool, with the aim of serving both domestic needs, as well as markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Founded in 1918 in Tarnaveni as Ardeleana Glass Factory, former owner Gecsat started producing glass mineral wool at the site in 2007. Knauf announced that it was acquiring the glass mineral wool plant in January 2022 and became its owner in March 2022.

Germany: Heraklith has announced that its wood wool production plant in Simbach will be comprehensively modernised in 2023, alongside a significant increase in capacity. The focus of the planned investment is the moulding of the press line. Here, dimensionally accurate, single-layer lightweight panels and top layers for wood-wool multi-layer panels are created from wood-wool fibres and a mineral binding agent. The conversion work is currently planned for the second half of 2023. However, the exact schedule depends on the delivery situation of some key components.

“The modernisation of the system will ensure the high quality of our Heraklith products in the long term and also further increase occupational safety for our colleagues,” explained Rico Neumann, Director for Sales, Building Construction and Marketing in Germany. “The investment is a positive signal for the long-term prospects of the Simbach site and the future of our most important wood wool plant.”

Markus Uhl, Sales Manager Germany Heraklith Contract Business and Timber Construction, added “Our customers will benefit both from the additional production capacities and from the reliability of the new systems. We assume that our investment will have a significant impact on the rapid availability of our extremely popular wood wool products for underground car park ceilings and timber construction.”

South Korea: KCC Corporation is upgrading its Gimcheon and Munmak glass wool plants. A second production line is being built at the Gimcheon plant in Gyeongbuk and the production capacity of the existing production line is being increased at the Munmak plant in Gangwon-do. The upgrade projects will be completed in October and March 2023 respectively. Once finished the combined projects will increase the company’s total production of glass wool by 80,000t/yr.

KCC says that it is making the investment in inorganic insulation production capacity in response to revisions to local building regulations. It added that the law was changed in 2021 due to several fire-related incidents. The upgrades are also expected to reduce production costs per unit.

US: Huntsman Corporation has started commercial operation of a new US$180m methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Geismar plant in Louisiana. The new splitter will allow the chemical manufacturer to produce more grades of MDI than previously. Company president and chief executive officer Peter Huntsman attended an inaugural event as well as the Jeff Landry, the Attorney General of Louisiana.

“The new splitter reinforces our strategy of delivering value over volume by creating a more differentiated product portfolio,” said Tony Hankins, president of Huntsman’s Polyurethanes division. “It enables us to provide our customers in automotive, furniture, construction, adhesives and coatings markets with more options for innovative, sustainable polyurethanes products.”

Huntsman produces a range of chemicals including polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) building insulation products.

UK: Knauf Insulation plans to upgrade two of its glass wool insulation plants in the UK at a cost of Euro53.7m. The upgrades consist of a packaging equipment upgrade at the Cwmbran, Torfaen, insulation plant and the replacement of the furnace and connected equipment at its St Helens, Merseyside, insulation plant, as well the acquisition of land adjacent to the latter from NSG Group. As a result of its upgrade, the Cwmbran plant will begin producing insulation slabs as well as rolls and blowing wool. The company said that the investments are a response to anticipated glass wool insulation demand growth on the back of the government’s Future Homes Standard energy efficiency policy.

Managing director Neil Hargreaves said “This series of investments will boost capacity as well as improve the range, availability and sustainability of our products.”

US: Saint-Gobain plans to spend US$32m towards to upgrade to CertainTeed’s Chowchilla glasswool plant in California. The investment is part of a US$400m expansion package planned for four US plants previously announced in November 2021. The upgrade work at Chowchilla will include the addition of a new furnace and other equipment that will use less natural gas and electricity. It is the largest investment in the site since its creation in 1978. Saint-Gobain Group estimates that these improvements will reduce CO₂ emissions by 4000t/yr at the site.