Test methods for heavy clay ceramic raw materials: raw material composition (primary properties) – part 1

»1 STA curves, measured with Netzsch STA 409, atmosphere: air, Al₂O₃ crucible, reference: Al₂O₃, heating rate: 10 K/min

»2 Results of sieve and sedimentation analysis

Prior to designing any dryer and kiln layout, Lingl, as one of the worldwide suppliers of equipment for the ceramic building materials industry, always conducts comprehensive raw material tests. This is the basis for high-quality products made by Lingl’s customers. This article presents those laboratory tests at least necessary from the point of view of the plant supplier as well as supplementary tests. Part 1 of the article deals with material analyses of the raw materials (primary properties). Part 2, which will be published in one of the next Zi Brick and Tile Industry International, introduces tests on the ceram-technological behaviour, i.e. the drying and firing behaviour (secondary properties) as well as possible tests at pilot-plant scale.

1 Introduction

Clay is the basis of any silicate ceramic product. According to [6], the official definition of the Nomenclature Committee of the Association Internationale pour l’Etude des Argiles (AIPEA) for clay is a “naturally occurring, fine-grained material, which is generally plastic at appropriate water contents and will harden when dried or fired”. Furthermore, clay minerals are defined as “phyllosilicate minerals and minerals which impart plasticity to clay and which harden upon drying or firing” [4-6]. Clay minerals show colloidal properties because of their low particle size, their...

Issue 04/2014

Differences in the production-related properties of the three primary clay minerals kaolinite-illite-montmorillonite (Part 1)

1 Introduction Nanotechnology and nanopowders have become very popular terms today. There is, however, one raw material that has been used for thousands of years and whose special properties are...

Issue 04/2010 Raw materials for the clay brick and tile industry

Clay as a raw material – the finest nature has to offer

1 Introduction Clastic sediments with a median particle size smaller than 2 µm (0.002 mm) are described as clays by definition [1]. They consist largely of phyllosilicates and clay minerals,...

Issue 01/2022

Modern raw materials for the clay brick and tile industry –Part 3: Mica schist from the andalusite-mica rock quarry in Schelmberg

1. Geological background and location Andalusite-mica rocks are contact-metamorphic texture-free rocks. Mineralogically, they consist mainly of mica, quartz and feldspar. The metamorphic mineral...

Issue 7-8/2013

Assessing ceram-technological properties from the raw material mineralogy

1 Introduction With the help of statistical processes, a selection of data was analysed, and input and output parameters correlated. For this purpose, it was necessary to establish relevant input and...

Issue 06/2014

Differences in the production-related properties of the three primary clay minerals kaolinite-illite-montmorillonite (Part 2)

4 Shaping properties To this day, there is no uniform laboratory process for measuring plasticity as this is used as a collective term for many complex properties such as viscosity, yield or...