22nd Global Gypsum Conference, Exhibition & Awards
13 - 14 November 2024, Bangkok, Thailand
The first speaker at the conference was Manuel Achúcarro of XITASO GmbH, who spoke on the use of digital passports for gypsum-based products. The EU has started to oblige producers of products - including building materials - to gather together all of the pertinent information on a product’s environmental impacts, from production and use, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). All products must have completed their digital passports by 2030 at the latest. If a product has not completed its passport by the deadline, then it will not be permitted to sell it within the EU. Industries are still tussling over the requirements, which could potentially mean having to track the manufacture and use of individual boards. Despite the hassle and expense, the scheme also offers many opportunities for producers. “Start digitalising your data,” advised Manuel, and prepare to complete the process.
Seyfettin Hizarci from Ovo Chemicals next asked, “Is it possible to have a non-competitive gypsum industry?” He made a powerful call for producers to work together to promote the use of wallboard, compared to other building materials. “Never talk about products - talk about the system,” he stated, and particularly about the advantages and performance of plasterboard-based systems. Seyfettin stated that walls made of AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks are the main competitor to plasterboards, and listed the advantages of wallboard systems over blocks.
A tag-team of Serge D’Haeyere and Peter Mersmann from Owens Corning then spoke about exterior sheathing for gypsum products. The market for exterior sheathing for gypsum boards in the EU is forecast to grow to 130Mm2 by 2027. Plywood/OSB, cement boards and glass-faced gypsumboards can all be used for exterior sheathing. However, glass-faced gypsumboard offers impact resistance, improved fire-resistance and moisture resistance, and the facers can be supplied in a variety of colours. Glass facers can be used on any standard gypsumboard line, with only small modifications required. The speakers suggested that glass-faced boards have superior characteristics to other sheathing.
R. Subramanian of Coromandel International of India next spoke about the use of phosphogypsum (PG), or as he called it, “white gold.” Global production - largely from sulphuric acid manufacture which produces 5t of PG for each tonne of acid - amounts to 350Mt/year. 58% is stacked, 28% is discharged at sea, and the rest is used, partly as a soil conditioner, as a building material and in road construction. There are billions of tonnes in legacy stacks around the world, and both strict and lax regulations prevent the use of much of this material. The Indian government aims for the reduction of legacy piles by 2028. Subramanian pointed out that the Indian cement industry has a gypsum demand of around 25Mt/year, offering a great opportunity for PG. He also suggested that the wallboard industry in India should use more PG (which his company can supply). Panels, blocks and plaster have all been manufactured in India using PG. Without further processing, PG can have a pH of 3, moisture of up to 20%, P2O5 content of 0.4% and fluorides levels of up to 0.6%. He mentioned radioactivity levels, suggesting that levels are close to those in some naturally-occurring rocks.
Jay Agustin, Watlow, noted that sustainability legislation around the world has started to trigger the adoption of electrification of various industrial processes, especially with regard to tightening targets. Electric process heaters, such as the ones Watlow supplies, have been in use for 75 years but were generally below 250kW until recently. Sizes have increased to reach 5-200MW. Agustin identified control management as being a key part of this changing dynamic. In addition to heaters, Watlow also provides dynamic real time load and temperature control management systems. These avoid stress on local power grids and allow for smooth power delivery. Additionally, load shedding helps to avoid exceeding defined thresholds.
Steven Sun, Anderson Thermal Solutions (Suzhou), questioned whether the air-to-gas combustion ratio of 10:1 was still ideal for control optimisation to reduce CO2 emissions in machinery such as gypsum board dryers and calciners. His experience from previously working in the glass industry suggested that a ratio of 11:1 was better in this situation, as the fuel consumption remained similar. This approach also reduces NOx emissions. Sun recommended either adding a variable frequency drive or a control valve to meet this ratio. He then presented a case study of a 9Mm2/yr gypsum wallboard plant in Vietnam, at which Anderson Thermal Solutions (Suzhou)’s combustion control optimisation system had been installed. It saw its total gas consumption fall by 14%. Finally, Sun discussed burner tests that his company has run, in which methane gas was used alongside hydrogen. These have found that a H2 volume of up to 25% worked well with limited change required.
Sebastian Schuch, Grenzebach BSH, provided a comprehensive look at the past, present and future of gypsum calcination trends. After introducing some previous technologies, Sebastian turned to the current state-of-the art. For example, inline burners can greatly speed up the pre-heating of the process, saving significantly in terms of energy costs and manpower. Alternative energy sources, including electrically-generated heat from renewable power sources, CO2-neutral fuels like biomass / biogas, and waste heat, can all be considered using Grenzebach’s equipment. Sebastian provided an example of an electrically-powered calcination process in North America. Understanding the behaviour of recycled gypsum material is also increasingly important, with details of a 100% recycled gypsum calcination trial. In terms of the future, Sebastian suggested making use of currently-lost sensible heat using pressurised local hot water circuits, a compact add-on that could save 3-5% on dryer energy consumption, as well as the use of latent heat from the condensation of water in the exhaust gas. Up to 80% of the water from the exhaust can be recovered using a high-temperature heat pump, in theory at least.
Tom Robinson, Adaptavate, gave a passionate presentation about his company’s aim to decarbonise the building materials industry, starting with the plaster and wallboard sectors. In 2023, humanity used the resources of 1.75 Earths. This will rise to 2 Earths by 2030. 39% of greenhouse gas emissions and 30% of all waste are from building materials. Adaptavate’s technology, based on calcium-carbonate derived minerals combined with biomass residues and industrial CO2, can be used to produce low-CO2 and CO2-negative alternative wallboards. Adaptavate has already developed Breathaplasta and Breathaboard for the UK market, with discussions ongoing in other countries towards the development of similar products with existing industrial partners. Tom likened this to ‘Intel-inside’ or ‘Gore-Tex,’ both of which are licensed technologies used by other companies to provide tailored products in different markets. The concept is to develop drop-in solutions with the highest possible sustainability standards.
Niklas Johansson, Gyptech, presented a rapid-fire series of wallboard dryer upgrade case-studies, all of which were achieved with a rapid turnover to minimise costly downtime. Clients approach Gyptech to gain improvements in quality, production volumes, energy use, CO2 emissions, maintenance and automation. In one case-study, a 100% increase in production capacity was achieved via the addition of one extra dryer zone. Full demolition of the previous dryer, construction of new foundations and commissioning was carried out in just six weeks using 13 pre-assembled sections. Elsewhere, a 10% reduction in energy consumption was achieved alongside an increase in production capacity, by switching from two boards wide to three boards wide in the dryer and increasing the number of decks from eight to 10. In another project, a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions was obtained using electrification in just six weeks.
Global Gypsum Awards Dinner
Delegates enjoyed a spectacular cruise along Bangkok's Chao Phrya River, during which the Global Gypsum Awards were presented, after global online nominations and voting. Beijing New Building Materials (BNBM) was named 'Company of the Year,' while supplier of the year (equipment/services) was GypTech - for the 9th time. The 'Innovation of the year' award went to Watlow, for its efforts on electrification of thermal systems, and the USG Boral Cilegon plant in Indonesia was named 'gypsum plant of the year.' Grenzebach was awarded the 'Outstanding contribution to the global gypsum industry' award, and the gypsum-based product of the year was Georgia-Pacific's DensDeck StormX hail-resistant roof board. After consideration by the Global Gypsum judging panel, the 'personality of the year' awards went to Hamad Al-Sourayia of United Mining Industries, Saudi Arabia; to Marcelo Pereira of Alier, and a joint award to Neil Wooliscroft and Ton Brusche of Derco. To huge cheers, the location of the conference in October 2025 was revealed as Amsterdam.
Second day
Richard Spaargaren of ESI Eurosilo kicked off the second day of the conference with an overview of storage options for non-free-flowing sticky FGD gypsum. He pointed out that before you design the silo, you have to know the exact characteristics of the material that you are working with. Shear cell testing is the first step, to determine whether it is free-flowing, easy-flowing, cohesive, non-flowing, or very cohesive. The duration of storage is also critical, since cohesion increases with storage time. High-density polyurethane screw auger conveyors can be effective in material transport, but it is important to avoid clogging and fouling of the screws. A wide variety of storage options are available, including on piles outside, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Richard gave details of the sophisticated and highly-evolved ESI Eurosilo offering, which allows effective recovery of sticky FGD gypsum that has been stored even for a couple of years. The largest example of a silo that he showed had a capacity of 12,000m3.
Dennis Schattauer of Grenzebach then spoke on the new patented exhaust air condenser as a solution for water use efficiency for plasterboard manufacture. Water scarcity is an increasingly important issue all around the world, and the five counties at most risk are Moldova, Ukraine, Bangladesh, India and Serbia. Standard plate heat exchangers are not optimised for water condensation, while also having a huge footprint, high investment and operating costs, and high internal resistance. The new patented Grenzebach water condenser is optimised for water recovery, and uses stainless steel pipes to avoid issues with corrosion. It has a much smaller footprint, with lower investment, water recovery of 30-85%, and lower internal resistance and operating costs compared to standard condensers. The condenser can be retro-integrated as a bypass in front of the chimney, and a combination of heat exchanger and condenser is possible as well. The recovered water does not require chemical treatment, has low chloride content (so no issue with paper bonding) and the recovered water has a temperature of 45-55°C.
Andreas Schieler of Gebr. Pfeiffer spoke about grinding and calcining plants. The company’s GC mill effects grinding, drying, calcining and separating in one vertical roller mill, while the B mill just grinds and dries gypsum. Recycled gypsum may have abrasive inclusions (such as particles from tiles or concrete), which can cause issues with wear, but additional wear protection can be retro-fitted if a mill starts to use recycled gypsum. Hot gas generators can be fuelled using natural gas, light fuel oil, waste cooking oil, biogas, hydrogen or by electrical heating. GP Link and GP Pro are the company’s AI-powered digitalisation solutions for reporting and plant optimisation, which, in one case, brought a 15-18% reduction in specific power consumption on a gypsum mill.
Jeff Warren of Gyptech spoke about the possibility of ‘making the best stucco ever.’ Stucco is at the start of the board making process, and quality carries forward, as Jeff put it. Uniformity, phase balance, particle size distribution and temperature are the primary stucco factors which will translate into optimised strength, weight, cost and uniformity of the resultant boards. ‘Good’ stucco will have high hemihydrate, low soluble, low deadburn, low dihydrate and maximised hydratables, with around 92% of less than <150um, at 70-80°C and maximised uniformity. The Gyptech GT series hammer mills is a critical start to the process, but Jeff quoted industry veteran Alfred Brosig saying “the dust collector is the calciner,” given that the material spends longest in the bag house. Conditioning and cooling are the next important step, while a hot pit allows the dihydrate conversion, degassing, and homogenisation to be completed. Jeff emphasised that data is king, and that a variety of sensors are critical to provide insight into the process. Foremost among the sensors are particle size determination, the GMA moisture analyser instrument for free and combined water analysis, the Gyptech stucco analyser (GSA) for phase analysis and the Gyptech thermal set analyser. However, there is still room for improvement, Jeff concluded.
Bo Johansson of Limab described how his company’s laser-based measurement system products work. The GMS 1100 product uses optical triangulation principles with one- and two-dimensional sensors. This allows for non-contact thickness, profile, taper, width, edge profiles and edge angle measurements on gypsum production lines in a variety of positions. The logged data can be stored in an SQL server or made accessible via an OPC server. A recent update has been the development of the second generation of the FalconEye visual inspection system. This camera-based system was updated in 2023 and an example of a site installation in Sweden in October 2024 was shown at the conference. The new version of the product is used to inspect boards for surface defects on both wet and dry surfaces. It is supported by software that can classify defects and alert users depending on pre-set thresholds.
Houssem Taouai, Lanxess SAS, identified the growth potential for gypsumboard products in the Asia Pacific region as urbanisation intensifies. However, local climate conditions such as high humidity levels and temperatures call for mould-resistant boards. Taouai impressed that Lanxess needs to know how a particular board is manufactured so that it can then recommend an appropriate biocide product from its portfolio. Fungicides are either added to board paper or the gypsum core. Sometimes, in challenging cases, they are added to both. He also noted that recycled paper presents additional issues in this area. Lanxess offer mould detection, technical support, application settings and local regulation support services. The latter can be particularly helpful given the wide range of national laws in the region.
Hanyoung Kim, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, presented the results from his research into a new gypsum superplasticiser made from partially sulfonated polystyrenes. The motivation was to improve on the negative aspects of a common plasticiser, such as Naphthalene Sulfonate (PNS), such as its carcinogenic properties and discolouration. Sulfonated polystyrene (PS) was studied. The key aspects of the eventual selected formulation of PS was comparable fluidity and setting characteristics to PNS, but without the associated issues with formaldehyde and less impact on the eventual colour of the gypsum. Kim noted that the bubble size in the resulting gypsumboard depends on the kind of gypsum used. The project used natural gypsum and did not test FGD gypsum. Kim worked in conjunction with South Korea-based Silkroad, which is now marketing a commercial product based on this research.
Kevin Sim and Stefano Gaidano, Ammega, discussed their company’s conveyor belting and power transmission approaches. Sim outlined the key ‘pain points’ that end-users face in the belt market: production downtime; cross-contamination; handling abrasive sticky, hot products; high maintenance costs; and working with splices and fasteners. He then showed how the group’s ZipLink rubber belt products use a proprietary splicing system that allows for retrofitting a belt on site. The company offers variations of the concept with differing cover and bottom materials. Finally, Gaidano spoke about the V-belts products that are manufactured for power transmission applications on gypsum board production lines.
Tomás Vivot, Alier, outlined the benefits of his company’s wallboard liners. He explained that Alier uses post-consumer paper streams that have been traditionally viewed as ‘impossible-to-recycle.’ It has developed 100% recycled, 100% recyclable products to ensure full circularity. The company has reduced its Scope 1 emissions by 66% through cutting natural gas out of its production process, while Scope 2 emissions have been minimised using roof-top solar panels. The company’s most successful product line reduces the weight of wallboard liner needed for 1Mm2 of wallboard from 340t to 270t. Its Hydro Paper is water-repellent, which reduces the need for silicones / waxes in the core of the wallboard. Alier’s Hydrofungic Paper is resistant to mould, moisture and water. Its Deco Papers range provides sustainable and recyclable options for ceiling tiles. Finally, Alier Coat is for exterior wallboard and is fully water-proof. Many of these products offer greatly enhanced economics for wallboard manufacturers, potentially increasing margins by a factor of five.
In the final presenattion of the conference, Kyle True, Climate Surfaces, introduced his company’s use of powder coatings for building materials, including wallboard. This is a secondary process after the main manufacturing process, in which dry polymeric paints are applied to the surface electrostatically and then heated at 100-180°C in a short curing step. The coating process has 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to other coating technologies, and panels produced using it have around 50% of the CO2 emissions of other technologies. The company, operating from New Zealand, says that powder-coated wallboard, when properly designed for demolition (DfD) can be re-used and easily recycled. A variety of functionalities can be included in the powder coatings, for example the ability of the surface to adhere optimally to primers and paints. The company is investigating resins from bio-sources, although these are currently limited by supply. Kyle also introduced his audience to a wide range of potentially-disruptive fixing systems and alternative methodologies that may alter the way that the gypsum industry operates, as we currently understand it.
Prizes and Farewells...
At the end of the second day of the conference, delegates gathered together one last time for a Farewell Reception, during which the prizes for the best presentations were awarded, based on audience voting. Richard Spaargaren of ESI Eurosilo was third for his paper on storage of sticky gypsum, while Tomás Vivot of Alier was second for his presentation on 'value-added paper.' The winner of the best presentation award was Kyle True - the final speaker - for his presentation on powder coating of plasterboards. Michael Balzer of Moritz J. Weig company was honoured for his parallel career alongside the Global Gypsum Conference - he attend the very first event, in 1999 in Bangkok, and is retiring after this year's event, back in Bangkok, 25 years later. A lot of water has flowed along the Chao Phraya river during that time!
Delegates were unanimous in hailing Amsterdam as a great choice for the next Global Gypsum Conference, and all agreed to meeting again, on 22-23 October 2025. See you in Amsterdam!
Above: 'Ladies of gypsum' - Bangkok 2024
