Shortening of fast firing in the ceramic tile production by inorganic additives - an upscale to the industry

The paper discusses the usage of additives that are protected by the European patent to enhance the features of ceramic tiles. Under laboratory conditions, various types of additives in different concentrations (0.15, 0.30 and 0.50%) were added to the ceramic mass, and changes in shrinkage, modulus of rupture and water absorption were observed. After selecting the appropriate additive and its concentration, a series of industrial tests is performed. The characteristics of regular ceramic mass and mass with the selected additive were monitored without adjusting process parameters in the industrial conditions. Furthermore, utilizing additives allowed for shortening of the fire time without distorting the characteristics of the final products. The application of additives in industrial settings has demonstrated that floor tiles can be produced with improved characteristics and increased production capacity by 6.8%. Thus, significant energy savings and a lowered CO2 footprint can be provided.