Albany Facility Expansion Completed

Blasch Precision Ceramics announces the commissioning of a new 18,860 square foot expansion at the Albany, New York headquarters and manufacturing facility.

“Global demand for large ceramic nitride bonded silicon carbide (NBSiC) components has increased significantly. We have added capacity to produce some of the largest pre-fired NBSiC shapes in the world to meet that increase in customer demand," said David Bobrek, president and C.E.O.

The addition is part of a $3.5 million capital expansion plan for the new state-of-the-art facility to further accommodate specialized needs for very large NBSiC shapes. Demand for these shapes is emanating from the increased installed capacity of new metallurgical refining technology cutting across several mainstream metals including gold, nickel and other refined, high purity metals.

"A host of new wear application markets including mining, power generation and other process industry markets are also being felt in the business today", according to Bobrek.

Blasch's NBSiC shapes are believed to be the largest NBSiC shapes ever manufactured commercially. Dimensionally, Blasch has produced NBSiC complex shapes exceeding unit part weights of 3,500 pounds, with widths/diameters exceeding 4 feet; lengths of 10 feet, and thicknesses approaching 1.5 feet.

This capability is believed to be unique within the ceramic industry.

"One of our hallmarks in the industry is our ability to produce very difficult-to-make complex shapes and respond quickly and accurately to these unique customer needs and opportunities. This increased capacity will help us to better serve our customers ", Bobrek added.

Blasch, long known as a worldwide leader in custom engineered innovative ceramic solutions, serves the petrochemical, power generation, and molten metal industries, amongst others.