0. Warehousing of
RAW MATERIALS
1. Pre-conditionning of
RAW MATERIALS
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Mainly from chinese, german, french or belgian origins, the raw materials are transported by lorry or barge (by the way of Hautrage's channel) and stored in dedicated "cells".
These raw materials are :
Miscellaneous clays, which some comes from our
Hautrage's ton-pits
Bauxites or Andalusians,...
Chamottes
Porcelains, refractory reconditionned bricks, ...
Miscellaneous : chemical linkages for wet bricks,
natural pavement colors, ...
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| The raw materials are prepared regarding the needings, by the help of heavy adapted stuff :
Clays dryer
Clays grind
Crusher
Baked products grind
Pounder
in order to provide elements that can take part in special mixtures, used in every kind of manufacturing.
Vehiculed to operated material silos by the help of travolators, it must be measured out to take part in different mixes conforming to the needings.
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2. MIXTURES
pre-conditionning
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| Tremies's batteries allows to control, by a calculated measurement the necessairy quantities to each component. These all components are then stired up by the
Mixer
to generate special material regarding to required characteristics of product to manufacture.
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3. SHAPING
3.1. DRY WAY
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Two kind of technologies allows to obtain quality products, which conforms to trade needings : both dry and wet ways.
The dry way corresponds to a pressing way of manufacturing : dry overpressing, a lot more efficient than wet way, which for process is based on stretching.
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Choice of pressing machinery depends on the kind of product to operate and on quantities to produce. We have got four automatic presses dedicated to huge quantities or some manual presses for special items or small quantities.
That kind of tooling provide us a bigger flexibility in order to be able to satisfy every request.
ALL our SOLID and refractory products dedicated to industrial or private uses, as well as pavement are all produced using dry way. Only some hollow product stay produced by stretching way. That represents only at least 2 to 3 % of our total manufactred volumes.
For special items, our studies office outlines and schemes in order to choose adapted "moulds", either on existing or special-created matrix. Majority of our moulds is designed in our workshops, to be than fixed on our presses.
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3.1.1. AUTOMATIC PRESSES
3.1.2. MANUAL PRESSES
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Four automatic hydraulic presses deals with 75% to 80% and even 85% of our total manufactured volumes. Two from the 3 LAEIS presses and HORN press are located in the same room while the last machine is located in shortest neighborhood of this room to certify the best dispatching of mixtures and a fastest loading on rollers directly from presses outs. The manufacturing process is electronically under control, that certifies the best quality of pressed products.
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Concerning some kinds of items or small quantities, it is indeed produced by using manual rubbing presses. More easily flexibles for small quantities, these machines are logically less efficient, by the fact that they need a more important labour, but they certify a better flexibility by offering a satisfying producing quality.
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3.2. WET WAY
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The manufacturing process of some hollow products consists in stretching way. The manoeuver is quite basic : the mixture is molded in measurements-cutted cylinders, then shaped by the 'mould' on the mantlers. That's an useful overtreatment to warrant a better versatility to the production's needings.
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The produced items are then placed on rollers for drying and baking operations. These rollers are conduced and finished in blasting platforms to optimize furnaces operations. That delicate job demands a constant research, either on items specs or each baking operation characteristics. That seems every time like a state of the art work. A "gauge" secures good following of baking operations without risk of crushing.
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4. DRYING
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All the produced items have then to dry before continuing manufacturing process. In a first time that will be at ambient temperature on transfer rollers then getting in the dryer at a temperature from ± 120° to 150°. The needed heat by dryer is the captured in next blast.
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5. BAKING
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Just getting out from dryer, the rollets are either conducted to the sorting platforms for basic chemical linkage products, or placed at the entrance of the blast where they will continue in the
70 meters long
tunnel blast during few days, to secure its temperature rising, ceramisation and temperature decreasing before
blast's exit
in good conditions. The rollers are pulled in blast by the help of an automatic system.
The baking schemes curves are closely controlled by
remote control displays
by acting on burners power and special pyrometric control measurements.
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6. SORTING & WAREHOUSING
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After baking process or drying process for wet products, the rollers are driven to the sorting platforms. The last manufacturing quality checkings are operated depending on needings by automatic or randomized sampling. The checkings can be done by visual way, by the help of a gauge, by sonic way, using resonator, or by
samples analysis in laboratory, ...
The items are selected and
putted on palets
for storing or disclassed for non-conformity or other defects. The palets are then removed form the sorting platforms,
packed
and stored
in our warehouses from which they will start
for delivery to national and international landscapes.
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