Gypsum industry news

UK: The European Space Agency, University of Glasgow and others are using France-based Saint-Gobain's Bantycock, Nottinghamshire, quarry to test new drill bit designs for their Drill for Extensive Exploration of Planetary Environments Using Robots (DEEPER) project. The project aims to develop tens-of-metres-long spoolable drill 'strings' to help in the search for water on Mars. Researchers will use their prototypes to drill directly into the mine's gypsum deposits. Saint-Gobain said that the hydrated mineral gypsum provides a similar geological profile to that of Mars.

Gypsum wallboard production by Saint-Gobain subsidiary British Gypsum at its nearby Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, and East Leake, Nottinghamshire, gypsum wallboard plants relies on Bantycock gypsum.

US: Sensortech Systems is looking for client companies to run extended trials of its new Kiln Jam Detector KJD-7000. Part of the trial will be to test the functionality of the sensor and, over a period of some months, check reliability and stability. Another part is to receive input from users as to what features need to be incorporated, particularly in the software design.

The company says that its new radio frequency (RF) gypsum wallboard jam detector product offers a saving compared to previous sensors. The RF sensor requires no maintenance and is unaffected by siloxane build-up or other debris. The Kiln Jam Detector KJD-7000 uses a custom-designed coaxial cable able to withstand the high operating temperatures.

The sensor itself follows the design of open-frame planar sensors used for moisture measurement. The outer frame is formed from 16ga stainless steel; ceramic insulators isolate a stainless-steel centre electrode to which the high temperature cable is attached. The electronics unit is located outside the dryer at each deck level. An on-board 32-bit ARM-Based micro-controller processes signals from up to three sensors and networks via RS-485 to a dedicated programmable logic controller (PLC).

The system software is set to trigger an alarm when either no product is detected over the sensor for a pre-defined time interval, a blockage upstream, or if a failure to detect gaps between boards over a pre-defined time is recognised. All sensors in an array are node addressable on an RS-485 network. If an anomaly occurs at any sensor, the exact position will be known including which deck and its position on the deck (left, right, centre).

Sensortech will be displaying its new kiln sensor at the Global Gypsum Conference & Exhibition taking place in Krakow, Poland on 25 – 26 October 2017.