This article is based on a report published by L’Épicentre Magazine on its website after a visit to our production plant, where their editorial team observed our processes and energy transition strategy firsthand.
Long considered an unavoidable loss, so-called “waste heat” from industrial processes has become a key lever for competitiveness and environmental performance. IFB Refractories, one of the last European manufacturers of insulating refractory bricks, has made it a strategic pillar of its transformation.
Founded in 1919 in Buzançais, IFB exports 85% of its production and has set an ambitious objective: to divide its CO₂ emissions by ten in the coming years while drastically reducing its consumption of fossil gas. Although the company already demonstrated strong sobriety in raw material and water use, energy consumption linked to its kilns remained a major challenge.
With the support of Eco-Tech Céram, IFB carried out a detailed energy audit of its manufacturing processes. The solution emerged through the recovery of waste heat from the three 70-meter-long industrial kilns. Heat from the exhaust gases is now captured by heat exchangers and reinjected into the burners as combustion air, improving efficiency and significantly reducing gas consumption.
After four years of work, the results are striking:
- a 60% reduction in gas consumption per ton of bricks produced,
- more than a 50% decrease in CO₂ emissions, from 2 tons to less than 1 ton of CO₂ per ton of bricks.
This initiative demonstrates that a century-old industrial process can successfully combine traditional know-how with modern technological innovation to meet today’s climate challenges. Industrial heat, once seen as a fatal loss, is now a powerful driver of decarbonization and sustainable performanc
Read the full article on l'épicentre
