A record of how the gypsum board industry actually works.
Patent readings, process equipment deep dives, plant troubleshooting and whitepapers. Written by formulators and process engineers, for the people who run the line.
Foam Collapse: A Root-Cause Checklist for Plant Engineers
Twelve questions to ask before you call your supplier.
The Pin Mixer: Geometry and Foam Incorporation
Why two physically identical mixers produce different boards.
Why Your Set is Drifting: Water Hardness, Stucco Age, Accelerator Mill
A drifting setting time is almost never a single cause. It is usually three small ones.
Reading the Saint-Gobain Lightweight Board Patent Family
Foam stability, core density and what EP2090559 actually claims when you strip the legal language.
Forming Station Physics: Meniscus, Edge Dam, Slurry Rheology Window
Where the board becomes a board. Three forces, one window of survival.
Knauf's Moisture-Resistant Core: Silicone vs Wax Emulsion
Two chemistries, two failure modes. A side-by-side reading of the public hydrophobization literature.
Calcination Variability and Dispersant Demand
When the kettle drifts, your dispersant dose changes whether you adjust it or not.
The Setting Belt: Controlling the Hydration Curve
From extruder to knife, you have ~60 seconds to deliver a cuttable board.
USG Sheetrock UltraLight: the Foam Architecture Behind 30% Weight Reduction
How the 2010 UltraLight launch reframed what a 'standard' gypsum board weighs.
Paper Bond Failures: Starch Migration, Sizing, Surface Tension
A delamination complaint is almost always solvable in the slurry — if you know what to look for.
Board Kiln Zones: How Additives Shift the Flash, Main and Equalization
Three thermal zones, three different things to optimize. Additive choices ripple through all of them.
Etex / Siniat Type X Patents: High-Temperature Core Behaviour
Fire-rated boards live or die in the second dehydration. The patent record explains why.
Edge Profiles and Knife Chemistry: Tapered, Square, Beveled
The edge is sold to the finisher. Get it wrong and you lose a customer the third time it happens.
DensGlass and the Fiberglass-Mat Bonding Problem
Paperless boards rewrite the bonding chemistry. Here is the surface that matters.
Reducing Calcination Energy through Dispersant Optimization
A whitepaper on the energy economics of water reduction in the gypsum board kiln.
Foam Stability Index: A Practical Lab Method
A simple, repeatable method for characterizing board foam outside of the production environment.
Field Note: An 1,800 m/h Conversion to Ultralight
Three weeks, eight trials, one production-released formulation. The story of a line conversion.
Stucco Storage and Aging: A Quiet Variable
Hemihydrate doesn't last forever in a silo. Here is what changes, and what to do about it.
PCE vs BNS: The Real Economic Trade-off
Modern PCE is more expensive per kilo. It is usually cheaper per square metre. Sometimes it is not.
Type X Fiber Loading and Slurry Rheology
Chopped glass changes the slurry. Plan for it, don't fight it.