Industrial equipment

Making industry more efficient

Saint-Gobain produces and supplies technical solutions, equipment and high-tech consumables to a huge variety of industries. Heavy manufacturing and high-tech industry segments benefit from Saint-Gobain’s capacity for innovation. The Group’s products, often co-developed with its partner customers, contribute to extending the life span of industrial facilities and to making them more efficient and less costly because of their reliability and durability.

Industrial applications 

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 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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

To meet the precision grinding market’s needs for demanding applications, Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials has designed an innovative new grain based on a composition that maximizes cutting power and grain hardness. 

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.

Plaster

Saint-Gobain Formula supplies industrial casting plaster for various applications: from ceramics for washbasin, crockery, etc. molding, to the manufacture of dental prostheses, and applications in the tire industry.

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.