A long history of expertise and know-how

Established in 1855 by Henri Merle, the Salindres factory originally produced sodium carbonate, chlorine and sulfuric acid. In 1860, using the process invented by Henri Saint-Claire Deville, the factory was the first (and only one for thirty years) in the world to produce alumina and aluminum. At that time, production rates ranged from one to two tons per year.

In 1877 Alfred Rangod, also called Mr. Pechiney by colleagues in the industry, took over from Henri Merle and began to diversify Salindres production activities. The site was to become the cradle of innovation for the Pechiney group.

In 1959 the joint venture, Procatalyse, was founded by Pechiney and IFP to manufacture and market catalysts on alumina support media. In 1999, the complete ownership was transferred to IFP. Two years later, Procatalyse and IFP's Industrial Division merged to form Axens.

Throughout those fifty years, the Salindres plant has developed a wealth of know-how in the physico-chemical aspects of alumina.

A large set of high performance products to satisfy client needs

Today, the plant transforms hydrated alumina through miscellaneous operations such as drying, grinding, calcining or screening. The Flash Process invented in Salindres enables production of very high surface area alumina. Products appear in the form of extremely porous beads or extrudates, always exhibiting high activity.

In order to answer client needs as best as possible - for instance in the area of drying or purification of liquids and gases via adsorption - activated aluminas are designed with meticulous care by tuning various characteristics. They may also be used as supports on which active materials are deposited to obtain catalysts.

Today the Salindres production lines have the ability to produce over 150 types of catalysts and adsorbents, used in many industries: refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, natural gas, industrial gases,... In charge of developing new products and processes, by converting research results into industrial scale catalysts and adsorbents, a dedicated team continually improves the performances of our products, in a world where innovation is a key success factor.

Quality, Health, Safety & Environment (QHSE): a top priority in Salindres

In accordance with Axens global commitment to Sustainable Development, our plant management policy sincerely puts the emphasis on Quality, Health, Safety & Environment. For instance, a major Environment Plan was launched a couple of years ago, the results of which being synthesized on the following graphs.