Abref invites delegates from all Ceramic Industries

1. Abref invites delegates from all Ceramic Industries In & around Morbi to participate in a seminar On Refractory Kiln Furniture & Energy Conservation To be held at “Dariyalal Resort-Hotel Park” (8A National High way-Rafaltshwar-Morbi) On Friday 26 March 2004 Between 5 pm to 7 pm followed by Dinner kindly confirm your presence for successful planning N.G.MANOHARAN MANAGING DIRECTOR

2. Seminar on Refractory Kiln Furniture & Energy Conservation On Friday 26th March 2004 at Morbi by Abref team Faculty: M/S K.Swamiraj (Director) Mr.M.Neelavarnam (AGM-Marketing) Mr.V.Gopal (Development Engineer)

3. Agenda • Welcome address • Message from our MD’s desk • Company Profile & product questionnaire • About our product range & application • Do’s & Don’ts • Factors affecting kiln furniture • LTM Concept • Energy Conservation • Complaint handling • Some useful information for ceramic industries

4. MESSAGE FROM OUR MD’s DESK I welcome you all on behalf of the entire team at Abref. We are very grateful to you all for having reposed faith in our products and the encouragement you have continuously been giving us to do better year after year. We shall be failing in our duty if we don’t record our gratitude to the Ceramic Entrepreneurs of Gujarat without whose support we could not be what we are to-day. We salute you all on this glorious occasion. We have organized this meet to-day to exchange knowledge amongst us to perform better in the area of kiln furniture application and energy conservation.

5. MESSAGE FROM OUR MD’s DESK We have selected a few areas for discussion and we hope you will find the Seminar useful. We have brought out a collection of the Seminar papers and would request you to give your valuable feed back for further improvement. I thank you all for sparing your valuable time to be present with us to-day. Thank you, N.G.Manoharan (Managing Director)

6. MILESTONES • ABREF STARTED AS A VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANY WITH IDBI —1991 • INTRODUCED CORDIERITE KILN FURNITURE TO MARKET —1993 • ENTRY INTO GUJARAT MARKET - MAJOR IMPORT • SUBSTITUTION AT HINDUSTAN SANITARY WARE — 1993 • MAJOR IMPORT SUBSTITUTION AT TATA CERAMICS -1994 • INSTALATION OF 2 KILN — 1999

7. MILESTONES • RECEIVED ISO — 9002 CERTIFICATION —TUV — IN THE YEAR - 2000 • STARTED EXPORTS TO INDONESIA — MALAYSIA – SRI LANKA — BANGLADESH — 2001 • RECEIVED ISO — 9001 CERTIFICATION — TUV — IN THE YEAR — 2003 • ACHIEVED 3 CRORES TURNOVER -2004

8. SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT • PRODUCT WAS INTRODUCED BY ABREF AT A TIME WHEN MAJOR CERAMIC INDUSTRIES WERE IMPORTING THE SAME IN PLACE OF THE MORE EXPENSIVE SILICON CARIBIDE TILES • HINDUSTAN SANITARY WARE SUBSTITUTED PRODUCT FOR THEIR IMPORTED CORDIERITE TILE UK AS FAST FIRING CYCLES WERE BEING

9. SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT • THE CERAMIC INDUSTRIES CORDIERITE WAS THE ONLY KILN FURNITURE CABABLE OF WITH STANDING THE THERMAL SHOCK CONDITIONS • INTRODUCED IN THE TOTAL PRODUCTION OF ABREF WAS EQUIVALENT TO IMPORT SUBSTITUTION KEEPING CONSERVE FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND ALSO LESSER BURDEN FOR LOCAL INDUSTRIES ON WORKING CAPITAL REQUIREMENT TO MEET OUT IMPORT COST

10. FACTORS AFFECTING KILN FURNITURE • MAGNITUDE OF LOAD • DISTRIBUTION OF LOAD • SPAN & THICKNESS • METHOD OF SUPPORT • TEMPERATURE BENDING

11. FACTORS AFFECTING KILN FURNITURE • MECHANICAL BREAKAGE • THERMAL SHOCK CRACKING

12. FACTORS AFFECTING KILN FURNITURE • COMPLETE IMPREGNATION OF BATT • PART IMPREGNTION — ONE SIDE ONLY • SURFACEATTACK GLAZE ATTACK

13. FACTORS AFFECTING KILN FURNITURE THERMAL • USE OF UNSUITABLE BATT WITH POOR THERMAL SHOCK • DUE TO THERMAL GRADIENT- GRADIENT GREATER THAN 1O*C/INCH TO BE AVOIDED • DIRECT FLAME IMPINGEMENT TO BE AVOIDED • INSUFFICIENT CIRCULATION OF KILN ATMOSPHERE • DIRECT CONTACT BETWEEN BAT & SUPPORT WARE SHOULD BE MINIMUM (CENTER IS COLDER AND EDGES ARE HOT) • GRADIENT IS DANGEROUS WHEN FORED COOLING IS DONE BELOW 400*C

14. BENDING • IF SUBJECTED TO A TRANSVERSE LOAD AT TEMPERATURE ABOVE 1000*C ANY BATT WILL BEND • THE RATE AT WHICH THIS HAPPENS DEPENDS ON THE MAGNITUDE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LOAD, THE • TEMPERATURE, THE THICKNESS, THE UNSUPPORTED SPAN AND THE METHOD OF SUPPORT • IT IS USUALLY CONSIDERED THAT WHEN A BENT BY AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO (0.5 % ) OF DIAGONAL LENGTH, IT SHOULD BE TURNED BAT HAS ITS SPAN • ON AVERAGE, A LIFE OF 150 FIRINGS IS EXPECTED BY MOST INDUSTRIAL USERS BEFORE IT REACHES THE MAX LIMIT

15. CRACKING • IF BATS CRACK OR BREAK IT IS IMPORTANT TO OIFFERNTIATE BETWEEN THERMAL AND MECHANICAL DAMAGE • MECHANICAL DAMAGE

16. MECHANICAL DAMAGE • DURING TRANSIT - SHATTER DAMAGE CAUSED BY BLOWS ON THE EDGE OF THE BAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY SMALL CHIP OR FLAKING ON THE EDGE OF THE BAT — THIS MAY ALSO INITIATE MICRO CRACKS • ROUGH HANDLING • DISMANDLING FOR EACH FIRING • STACKING THE BAT FLAT & MOVING THE SAME IN THE PALLETS • EXCESS WEIGHT OF WARES ON THE BATT • KILN CAR JOLTING DUE TO IMPROPER TRACK

17. THERMAL • USE OF UNSUITABLE BATT WITH POOR THERMAL SHOCK • DUE TO THERMAL GRADIENT- GRADIENT GREATER THAN 1O*C/INCH TO BE AVOIDED • DIRECT FLAME IMPINGEMENT TO BE AVOIDED • INSUFFICIENT CIRCULATION OF KILN ATMOSPHERE • DIRECT CONTACT BETWEEN BAT & SUPPORT WARE SHOULD BE MINIMUM (CENTER IS COLDER AND EDGES ARE HOT) • GRADIENT IS DANGEROUS WHEN FORED COOLING IS DONE BELOW 400*C

18. GLAZE ATTACK DURING GLAZE FIRING A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF VOLATILE CONSTITUENT WILL EVAPORATE AND THIS MAY ATTACK THE TILE IN SUCH CASES IT IS BETTER TO WASH COAT THE TILE WITH ALUMINA OR ZIRCONIUM SILICATE TO AVOID THE GLAZE ATTACK

19. QUALITY PROBLEM • DURING TRANSIT • DURING STORAGE • ROUGH HANDLING • WRONG SELECTION • WRONG LOADING • EXCEEDING THE TEMP LIMIT • FLAME - GLAZE - BEDDING MATERIAL ATTACK • FURNITURE QUALITY PROBLEM

20. COMPLAINT HANDLING • ENSURE THE SUPPLIER CORRECTLY • ENSURE THE SUPPLY DATE • ASSESS THE COMPLAINT ON THE SPOT • STOP FURTHER USAGE • FIND OUT THE CAUSES OF FAILULRE • PROBLEM IS GENUINE INFORM OFFICIALLY TO THE SUPPLIER WITH CORRECT DATA. • PRESERVE THE DEFECTIVE ITEM FOR THE SUPPLIER’S INVESTIGATION