By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

AK Steel has landed a new customer for its antimicrobial-coated steel.

The Middletown-based steel maker said it signed an exclusive agreement to supply its AgION-coated steel to Carrier Corp. for its 39M Aero air-handling equipment and Racan-Carrier custom air-handling system.

Financial terms weren't disclosed for the agreement announced at the International Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Expo in Chicago this week.

The AgION coated steel, which uses silver ions to suppress the growth of germs and microbes, will be used as part of the prepainted steel inner liners by Carrier. Production of the Racan-Carrier systems will begin immediately, and the 39M Aero units will use the product starting in March, the companies said.

Firms in Erlanger, China eye joint venture

Officials of Post Glover Resistors Inc. in Erlanger have returned from China with a memorandum of understanding with its Chinese partner on a planned joint venture.

The agreement with Shenzhen Farad Electric Co. envisions completing the partnership in about three months.

John Whincup, Post Glover president, and Mark Meister, vice president of sales and marketing, spent 3‡ days in Shenzhen, a Chinese boomtown outside of Hong Kong, setting the timeline for the agreement with Shenzhen Farad, which has represented Post Glover in China.

Many of the details, including the name of the partnership, haven't been set. But Post Glover hopes to hire a Chinese speaking electrical engineer to facilitate the venture.

The joint venture, in which Shenzhen will expand its product line and Post Glover will import an expanded line of low-tech resistors, is a natural evolution of an eight-year relationship between the two companies, officials said.

Delhi manufacturer to expand product line

OnSpec Composites, the Delhi Township manufacturer of composite decking, is expanding its product line under an agreement with BioLumber, a California-based maker of composite lumber.

OnSpec, which has been producing composite decking for about four years at its plant on Muddy Creek Road, has begun making deck beams, joists and other support lumber using a process developed by BioLumber.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources awarded BioLumber a $150,000 market development grant. Jay Mayer, OnSpec owner, said the grant will be used to purchase dyes and equipment to expand production of the patented BioLumber product. BioLumber, which is made from recycled glass and plastic, looks like wood.

"A 2-by-6 of BioLumber has the same strength as a 2-by-6 of pressure-treated material," Mayer said.

Local firm's jet engine sets record in China

China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, the first operator of CFM56 engines in China, was recently recognized for setting a new high-altitude time-on-wing record with a CFM56-3 engine, logging more than 20,000 flight hours without a shop visit.

CFM56-3 engines, which power the Boeing 737-300/-400/-500 series of aircraft, are produced by CFM International, the Springdale-based joint venture of Snecma Moteurs of France and GE Aircraft Engines.

China Yunnan Airlines took delivery of its first CFM56-3-powered 737 in 1985. The airline also operates CFM56-7-powered 737-700s. The record-setting engine was delivered on a 737-300 in May 1995. During its in-service life, the engine has undergone routine inspections but has remained trouble-free, the company said.

In 2002, China Yunnan was integrated with China Eastern, and its aircraft now operate under that livery. China Eastern has been a CFM customer since 1994.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com