Other industrial markets

Saint-Gobain places its products and materials at the service of many industries with the aim of improving their added value and high-technology content.

Ceramic Materials

Saint-Gobain technical ceramics can be used to line metal or glass-making furnaces. From the glazed façades of the world’s tallest towers to the special glass for flat screens, these glass products are manufactured in furnaces lined with Saint-Gobain SEFPRO’s particularly sophisticated ceramic refractory components.

For the industrial segment, Saint-Gobain ZirPro manufactures ceramic beads used to grind calcium carbonate for paper coating or to give consumer electronics, such as smartphones, a satin finish. Refractory Zirconia offered by Ceramic Zhengzhou is being used widely as the raw material of Nozzle for steel continuous casting process. Long lift time of the Nozzle makes sure the high efficiency of steel continuous casting process, which is also driving the better costing position to our end users. It’s a superior insulation material for sapphire ingot growth process. Besides, Alundum and Alumina-Zirconia grains offered by Ceramic Zhengzhou could be used as raw material in abrasive tools (Ex: abrasive wheels or belts). The mechanical property of Alundum and Alumina-Zirconia is much better than commodity grains, and therefore makes sure high lifetime and excellent stock removal capability of abrasive tools. Ti can also be used as blasting medium to treat metal/alloy and other materials surface, and additive in wear-resistant metal parts.

For the security segment, Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials manufactures Hexoloy® ceramic sheets designed using sintered silicon carbide. Used for bullet-proof vests and land vehicle and aircraft armor, they have exceptionally high wear and impact resistance.

For the energy segment, Saint-Gobain designs innovative products and technical solutions for the oil and gas industry. Saint-Gobain NorPro also develops high-technology ceramic solutions for the energy market, including ceramic proppants to improve the extraction yield from oil and gas fields; catalytic supports designed to speed up chemical reactions; and catalyst bed supports, that is a layer of ceramic beads used to maintain the catalyst media in place in a reactor.

 

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Abrasives

Saint-Gobain Abrasives has a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for all abrasion processes. Its abrasives are used in heavy industry, such as steelworks and paper mills, manufacturing industries, and high-tech segments, such as the automotive, aerospace and electronics industries. Often manufactured to specification for industrial customers, Saint-Gobain Abrasives wheels for grinding, surface finishing and even cutting steel parts, provide high operation speeds and exceptional productivity.

 

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Pipes

Saint-Gobain PAM ductile iron pipes serve the mine segment and a variety of industrial applications: industrial markets and specific markets, such as hydroelectricity, anti-seismic applications, snow blowers, etc. In 2013, Saint-Gobain PAM set up a specific marketing structure to capture the growing demand for pipes in these various segments.

 

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Performance Plastics

Polymer-based products are used in a variety of applications. The electronics industry, for example, has recently shown considerable growth. Saint-Gobain manufactures plastic films for LCD flat screens and foams for assembling mobile phones, always with an eye to creating lighter and smaller devices that are better for the environment. Besides, products from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics are also used in other electronics, food processing, chemical process, molding process, energy exploration, environmental monitoring, textiles & screen printing and pumps& valves.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics provides a range of ONESuit® chemical protection suits designed for professionals exposed to high-risk hazardous materials and toxic industrial chemicals with a risk of spontaneous combustion. These products, with high resistance to abrasion and puncture, guarantee protection against liquid or gaseous chemicals, and biological weapons and agents. They also provide the highest level of fire resistance.

 

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Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics airborne radomes provide the most transparent and the most durable protection for radars on military aircraft. Radars require precision radomes to provide coastal surveillance, search and rescue, meteorological mapping functions and other special airborne missions. Radomes are often made from Saint-Gobain Quartz Quartzel fiber.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics also manufactures air-supported ground radomes. The RAYDEL® radome shields antenna systems while maintaining optimum electromagnetic performance. The RAYDEL® product has an obvious advantage over rigid designs as it does not require a frame or bolted panels that otherwise interfere with the radiofrequencies. Assembled into a single piece, the absence of seals means it remains permanently watertight.

 

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Crystals

Saint-Gobain Crystals specializes in producing ruggedized detectors to meet the increasingly demanding applications of the oil and gas exploration market. These include neutron and gamma measurements during the drilling process, for both Measurement/Logging While Drilling (MWD/LWD) and wireline measurement. Saint-Gobain Crystals also builds large ruggedized detectors for use in aerial survey by helicopter or airplane to survey potential areas for further exploration. For less environmentally challenged surface measurements such as Flowmeters or Core Logging, Saint-Gobain Crystals also provides the full spectrum of detection solutions.

In the area of security, Saint-Gobain Crystals manufactures transparent sapphire glass armoring to protect military vehicles. These windows and windshields are made of large sheets of sapphire laminated with multiple layers of glass and polycarbonate. They withstand sand abrasion and the corrosive gases emitted during rocket fire. Saint-Gobain Crystals’ scintillators are also used in baggage screeners and radiation detection systems.

 

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High value added transparent organic materials

Saint-Gobain Sully supplies windows and other high value added transparent organic materials for aeronautical and military armor, and civilian security applications. In particular, Saint-Gobain Sully supplies laminated and composite bullet-proof windows able to withstand all types of munitions and projectiles for armored vehicles and the wheelhouse of naval ships, and windshields and canopies with stealth coatings for military aircraft.

 

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Insulation Materials

Saint-Gobain’s mineral wool solutions are designed to industrial processes and plant equipment, especially in the oil & gas and chemicals industries. ISOVER products guarantee a very high thermal performance in response to economic and environmental requirements to make processes more energy efficient. They can withstand temperatures of up to 700°C (1,300°F) and are not combustible. ISOVER insulation materials additionally provide excellent acoustic performance needed to control ambient noise in production plants. The household appliance industry also uses ISOVER’s solutions for certain specific applications, such as insulation for ovens and refrigerators.

 

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Technical fabrics

High-performance glass fiber fabrics designed by Saint-Gobain Adfors are used by industry. Its geotextile solutions are, for example, used in mining operations.

 

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