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General questions pretaining to RockTron as a company and or RockTron's website:
Who is behind RockTron? RockTron is a privately owned group of companies run by its two co-founders Philip G Michael and Dr John H Watt.
What is the structure of the RockTron Group? The RockTron Group currently comprises four companies:
1. RockTron Limited is the holding company of the Group and our head office is based in Keynsham near Bristol.
2. RockTron (Widnes) Ltd is the operating company for the RockTron PFA Beneficiation plant at Fiddler's Ferry power station . Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) have a 17.5% share holding in RockTron (Widnes) Ltd.
3. RockTron (Gale Common) Ltd is the operating company for the Gale Common RockTron PFA Beneficiation plant.
4. RockTron Research Limited co-ordinates the Group's on-going technology development.
How do I contact RockTron? Please contact us by phone, fax, letter or email as you prefer, a list of product and departmental email addresses is also provided. If your enquiry is not catered for please call our head office on: +001 (704) 910 8057 or follow this link for the wider set of options 
What is Fly Ash?
What services do RockTron provide? 1. Feasibility studies on the potential beneficiation of fly ash deposits worldwide.
2. Design, construction and management of RockTron fly ash beneficiation plants worldwide.
3. Sales and marketing services for beneficiated fly ash products.
4. Research, development and technical services.
5. Environmental services, including land remediation of exhausted fly ash deposits at the end of their life.
6. Sales of beneficiated fly ash products including Alpha and Delta cementitious products, cenosphere products, carbon products, magnetite products and mineral filler products.
RockTron Operating Standards: RockTron is in the process of implementing the following standards:
ISO 9001 quality management system
ISO 14001 environmental management system
RockTron is also investigating the following standards:
ISO 14064 greenhouse gas reporting protocol (PAS 2050 under review)
Do I have to register to access this website? No, you have access to most of the corporate information about Rocktron found under the following menus: ‘About RockTron’, ‘Eco Matters’, ‘News and Events’, ‘Help/FAQ’s and ‘Contact Us’ buttons along the top menu.
All we ask is that if you wish to access product information and published papers you provide us with some basic information about yourself and your organisation.
We will not share your details without your permission, nor will we deluge you with emails and phone calls, simply courteous and timely levels of business communication. Please see our Privacy Policy for full details.
Can I download RockTron product specifications? Yes you can – all we ask is that you share some basic information about you so that we can provide you with the most relevant contact points within RockTron. We will not share your details without your permission, nor will we deluge you with emails and phone calls, simply courteous and timely levels of business communication. Please see our Privacy Policy for full details.
Please select the following link to see the RockTron product range
Can I download RockTron Material Safety Data Sheets? As above yes you can – once registered on our site for access to product specifications you will have full access to MSDS data and other published papers.
Please select the following link to see the RockTron Material Safety Data Sheets
Who do I contact if I have a technical problem accessing the website or downloads? Please send an email to
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outlining the nature of the problem.
Other frequently asked questions:
Q1. Who is RockTron?
A: RockTron is a world leader in innovative recycling technology, beneficiating coal-fired power station waste, (fly ash / PFA – pulverised fuel ash) into valuable eco-minerals with no waste stream.
Q2. What exactly does RockTron’s new technology do?
A: RockTron’s technology transforms coal-fired power station waste ( fly ash / PFA – pulverised fuel ash) into valuable eco-minerals for use across a wide variety of manufacturing industries.
Q3. How much fly ash is produced each year and what currently happens to it?
Literally millions of tonnes of fly ash is produced globally each year and until now, it has been stored and ignored in lagoons and landfill sites. On record there are 2bn tonnes known to be stored, which is anticipated to be an underestimate. There was over 4bn tonnes of coal burnt in power stations in 2008 alone, which was estimated to have produced 600m tonnes of fly ash.
Within the UK, depending on the coal that is being burnt it is estimated that for every tonne that is burnt it can produce between 15kg and 150kg of fly ash (Source: Dr Lindon Sear, Technical Director, UK Quality Ash Association – UKQAA).
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Q4. How does the RockTron beneficiation process work?
A: RockTron’s beneficiation process uses Froth Flotation – a proven mining technique. This cleans, separates and helps classify the valuable minerals that make up fly ash.Q5. What three factors make RockTron’s new technology extraordinary?
A: i) It is designed to process 100% of both fresh AND stockpiled fly ash.
ii) It typically removes more than 90% of the carbon, making the resulting products much more versatile.
iii) It offers manufacturing industry commercially viable eco-mineral substitutes on an industrial scale, which will cut their costs, increase their margins and protect their bottom line.
Q6. Can RockTron empty fly ash landfill sites and demolish fly ash mountains?
A: Yes, over time. A RockTron plant is designed to process 800,000 tonnes of fly ash p.a. for 25+ years thereby allowing full site remediation.
Q7. In what other ways will RockTron help the environment?
A: Essentially RockTron helps “green” the supply chain. They help cut the carbon footprint of large manufacturers by providing them with 100% recycled alternative eco-minerals that require none of the usual mining, excavation, crushing or conventional processing associated with ordinary inorganic fillers / extenders.
Q8. Has RockTron secured any large customers yet? A: Yes. In addition, negotiations are being held with manufacturers across a range of industries. RockTron will be announcing major contracts in the near future.
Q9. Where exactly is RockTron’s first plant located and how much fly ash will it process in a year? A: RockTron’s first plant is located at Fiddler’s Ferry, near Widnes in Cheshire (North West of England) and is designed to beneficiate 800,000 tonnes of fly ash per year.
Q10. Do RockTron have plans to build more plants other than that at Fiddler’s Ferry? A: Yes. Plans are underway for a second plant at Gale Common, near Doncaster, which will generate hundreds of new jobs. In addition, RockTron is negotiating for plants in China, Russia, Malaysia and the USA.
Q11. How does RockTron achieve its impressive material recovery?
A: RockTron’s beneficiation does what no other process can.
i) It recovers the surface alkali salts on the glass microspheres,
ii) It removes and subsequently recovers all the cenospheres,
iii) It recovers +90% of the carbon to leave a clean and highly pure glass product, ready for classification
iv) It recovers the spherical magnetite
Q12. How many organisations turned RockTron down before SSE said yes?
A: Given the adversity RockTron had to overcome and the time taken to raise the money, it is amazing that it is still a British owned technology. Not counting the obvious financial institutions, RockTron was rejected by more than 53 financing organisations during the past 10 years. However, they were then and still are today, determined to keep the company British, which is why they persevered.
Q13. How many people does RockTron employ?
A: RockTron currently employs: 56 people around the world.
Q14. Who are RockTron’s Investors?
At £30 million Scottish and Southern Energy plc is the principle investor with a number of others who wish to remain private.
Q15. How much has the new RockTron plant cost?
Costs available upon request.
Q16. Is the plant at Fiddler’s Ferry up and running?
Yes and annual output is expected to be 800,000 tonnes p.a.
Q17. What are the key environmental impacts of the RockTron process?
The plant is designed to process 100% of the waste fly ash - both fresh ash AND uniquely the stockpiled fly ash, kept in lagoons and landfill stockpiles. The process treats 100% of the waste, producing no solid or liquid waste, just some water vapour from drying the final products. It uses a clean and closed system. By recovering 90% of the carbon from the fly ash RockTron can return c80,000 tpa of carbon to the power station for reuse as fuel, effectively returning 5 times more energy to the national grid than they consume each year (4.6 million gigajoules p.a.).
Q18. Will manufacturers need to change their manufacturing processes to use RockTron products?
A: No. Manufacturers should be able to use all their existing facilities. They simply substitute RockTron eco-minerals for their current raw materials.
Q19. Is there any waste product produced?
No, the RockTron process is a clean, closed system. The only waste is water, which is recycled and then reused by the process within the plant but never released into the environment.
Q20. Will manufacturers need to change their manufacturing processes to use RockTron products?
A: No. All the concrete producers have the facilities for handling either fly ash or GGBS or both and they would simply replace one or both of these materials. In time as customers become used to the performance they will reduce the quantity of cement added for a given strength.
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