Institute News and Company News Jan The Refractory Man
you will never experience a dull moment. That was almost 20 years ago. His knowledge has since expanded with the help and inspiration of some of the great masters in the refractory industry. To name a few (in no particular order, of course); Ron Perry, John Hancock, Dave Thomas,Tex Palin, John Dover, Markus Horn, Wim Kastelic and Geoff Evans. One learns from the literature, but there is nothing to replace that personal contact with those who have first-hand experience of what works and what not.
Jan DuPlessis Theron is an elected member of Council at The Institute of Refractories Engineer and chairman of the Stoke-on-Trent branch. He is recognised as being a leading expert on investigating refractory failures and also has a good understanding of refractory maintenance and project management issues.
In his day to day job at Lucideon in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where he is the Refractory Consultant, he focuses on a range of technical and more often than not, highly complex issues such as failure analysis, improving lining integrity, refractory selection, quality control, design evaluation and commercial contracts. He says: “When a brick lands on my table I know that all the obvious solutions has been already been tried”.
He started his career as a chemical engineer in applied research at Sastech Research in South Africa. His career changed dramatically when he became involved with the refractory lining failures at Sasol, led by Louis Boshoff, a man who had a real passion for refractories, and who said that in refractories
His journey has taken him all over the world, working on units such as: reformers, heaters, arc furnaces, induction furnaces, rotary kilns, shaft kilns, sulphur burners, boilers, CFB reactors, FCC units and thermal oxidisers. When dealing with each unit, he believes that one has to bring the process and refractory together in order to obtain the best solution. Often the refractory lining reveals important information about the process conditions, not obtainable from the standard monitoring instrumentation. One needs a good comprehension of the refractory material behaviour, along with the tools to dissect it in order for the material to reveal its intimate secrets. Many a time, hours are spend obtaining relevant evidence inside these units, mostly during break-out; a dirty, dusty and noisy work environment.
With such an extensive and diverse knowledge of the Refractories industry, Jan is ideally placed to pursue his ambition of helping to train the next generation of refractory specialists, and this not only encompasses personnel working in such disciplines as inspection and plant management, but those working in quality assurance, R&D, chemical analysis and technical development as well as broader commercial areas.
His hobbies and interests have also made some dramatic turns over the years. It started with cross country marathons, then cycle racing and it ended with not only participating in pedal car racing, but also serving as committee member for the South African Cycle Car Racing Association. He farmed with milk goats and kept Koi ponds and marine aquariums. His interests have lately matured into arts and culture.
Company News Finalist in First Women Awards 2016
Katy Moss the Managing Director of Trent Refractories has been selected as a finalist for First Women in Engineering and Manufacturing in this years First Women Awards.
The First Women Awards is the UK’s leading awards programme for senior-level business women and professionals.
Supported by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and created by Real Business, Since conception in 2005, the awards have grown in influence and impact and enjoy the support of many of the UK’s leading firms, industry bodies and inspirational business leaders.
It tells the stories of sleeves-rolled-up leaders in our society which is critical as chief executives are urged to do even more to help capable women progress from entry-level to senior management positions.
Katy began managing the business after her late father and founder (Robert Crossland) of Trent passed away in 2011. The importance of maintaining the family business that Bob had worked most of his years in building is what motivates her.
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Having a background in business management, finance and customer relationships Katy believes that Service and Quality should be of the highest standard in everything we do and continues to strive for this.
Katy said "My aim is to continue to build upon the firm foundations of this business; to make our company one that people want to buy from because of our values and ethics whilst also delivering best value for our customers".
The awards are held in London on 22nd June when Katy will find out whether she has won the prestigious award, she will be facing tough competition from ladies in her class such as the President of Schneider UK and Head of Operations for the north east, National Grid to mention a few.
Katy said "Just to be nominated was very touching and thoughtful, then when shortlisted, I was incredibly humbled and the scale started to sink in. Going to London for the judging was more nerve wracking than I thought it would be, a truly fantastic experience to sit in front of such accomplished women and tell my story, now I have to wait and see".
Last year Katy also won an award as Living Wage Champion for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Good luck… ENGINEER THE REFRACTORIES May 2016 Issue
www.ireng.org
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