Sanitser, an innovative sanitary ware body, formulated with waste glass and recycled materials

Abstract

In the present paper, the results of "Sanitser" Life European project are presented. The aim of this study was to reduce the firing temperature for ceramic body (from 1250 to 1170 °C). This was achieved substituting feldspar and quartz with recycled blend materials and a little percentage of flux (less than 3%); in a sanitary ware vitreous china formulation a waste glass, granitic materials and fired broken ceramic pieces were introduced. Tests performed on the Sanitser formulation showed that it has the same final physical-chemical characteristics of the industrial vitreous china (VC) body. Besides, different ceramic pieces (wash basin, bidet and WC pan) were compared with VC production. The results showed that Sanitser body can replace vitreous china in the sanitary ware production. In this project, the firing temperature of the ceramic body is reduced significantly with a supposed decrease of the CO 2 emissions. In Sanitser formulation, about 43.6% of recycled materials that would end in dumps were utilized. Keywords: waste glass ceramic, porcelain, slip casting, thermal application. Resumo Neste artigo são apresentados os resultados do projeto europeu LIFE "Sanitser". Este trabalho teve como objetivo reduzir a temperatura de queima da massa cerâmica (de 1250 para 1170 °C). Isto foi obtido substituindo a mistura de feldspato e quartzo por materiais reciclados e uma pequena percentagem de fundente (menos do que 3%); em uma formulação de massa de sanitário vitrificado foram introduzidos resíduos de vidro, granito e materiais cerâmicos quebrados após queima. Os testes realizados mostraram que a formulação Sanitser apresenta as mesmas propriedades físicas e químicas da cerâmica vitrificada (VC

Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of sanitaryware ceramic produced with waste material

“…This glass, which is mixed with impurities, dirt, and other materials, amounts to around 200,000 ton/year, which can thus be recovered in Italy by SASIL Spa. Besides glass scraps, other recycled raw materials are used to produce the Sanitser VC (as reported in a previous paper [13]). These include ceramic scraps and minerals, taking from the recovery of historical white granite quarries.…”

“…In recent years, more different uses have also been proposed for the glass, such as stoneware tiles [14][15][16][17][18] and glassceramic foams [19]. In the previous paper [13], the formula of the slip and the data obtained in the laboratory phase of this project, in which different concentrations of this blend were tested, are reported. In the present paper, the data provided by the final formula used in three ceramic manufacturers that have been involved in testing Sanitser VC slip at an industrial scale is shown.…”

“…The objective was to characterize the Sanitser VC sample bodies from three factories and to evaluate its firing behavior and microstructure (porosity and crystalline phases). The main purpose was to corroborate if changes in conditions could improve the fired properties, such as mechanical strength, water absorption, and linear shrinkage [1,2,13,[20][21][22][23], in compliance with standards [24][25][26][27]. Through the knowledge of the microstructure and the characteristics of the ceramic body, one expects that an eventual reformulation of the body slip, introducing such a ceramic blend, positively changes the industrial firing conditions.…”

“…* https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6203-8675 EXPERIMENTAL Materials for body slip: ceramic blend for the Sanitser VC slip (composed of sodium glass GS-VF, pitcher BVC-VF, and F60-PBVF) was provided by Minerali Industriali Srl (Novara, Italy). In a previous paper [13], the technical data of the recycled materials inserted into the blend and all the raw materials used for Sanitser and conventional VC are shown. The waste glass GS-VF came from glass bottles, the pitcher BVC-VF came from the recovery of sanitaryware ceramics production, and the F60-PBVF was the recovery of the Verbania 'historical' white granite quarries.…”

Characterization of Brazilian Northeastern plastic clays

“…This extremely worrying scenario is stimulating the search for alternative sources of raw materials to supply the Brazilian industry in coming years. The importance and difficulty in finding high-quality plastic clays that can be used as ball clays have prompted several studies worldwide [8][9][10][12][13][14][15][16][17] aiming at the discovery of new deposits or finding alternative plastic clays that can replace ball clays in their applications. Therefore, the aim of this study is to characterize plastic clays from Northeastern Brazil.…”