Introduction. One of the urgent tasks of the wall ceramics industry at present is the production of large-format ceramic stones with compressive strength of 10–15 MPa and thermal conductivity less than 0.12 W/(m·оС), while the market cost per 1 m3 should be competitive with gas-concrete blocks and be in the range of 5–6 thousand rubles per 1 m3. This problem can be solved by developing modern energy-efficient production technology and using opoko-like rocks and coal processing wastes as the main raw material as fuel and burnout additive.Materials and Methods. The opoka-like rocks — opokas from the deposits of southern Russia — Nagolnovskoye, Bakanskoye, Shakhtinskoye, Avilo-Fyodorovskoye, and coal cake produced by Pyramida LLC were used for research. The study of chemical and mineral composition was carried out by standard methods on prepared samples. The study of ceramic and technological properties (plasticity, molding moisture, degree of crushing, air and fire shrinkage, compressive strength, water absorption) of raw materials was carried out according to generally accepted methods on samples precrushed to a certain grain composition, since opokas, depending on the type, do not soak or slowly soak in water.Results. Pre-firing technological properties of opokas and their differences from traditional clay raw materials soaked in water were confirmed: increased molding moisture, small air shrinkage, low sensitivity to drying. The dependence of density and strength of samples on the degree of pulverization of opoka, firing temperature and the amount of carbon cake in the raw material mixture has been established. The influence of coal preparation wastes and their optimal amount on physical and mechanical properties of fired samples has been determined. The introduction of carbon cake allows to exclude the use of gas for firing or minimize its introduction. On the basis of the obtained results a simplified technological scheme for the production of large-format stones with minimum production cost has been developed.Discussion and Conclusion. The proposed technological scheme consists of two units of the main mass preparation equipment, molding of products is carried out by semi-rigid extrusion, drying of products is carried out directly on kiln cars, and for firing coal cake is used, which is introduced into the raw mix. These factors and technological methods allow to obtain products with low thermal conductivity, but with strength 3–5 times higher than that of aerated concrete blocks of similar density. The prime cost of ceramic stones will amount to 3–3.5 thousand rubles per 1 m3 of products. Rostov region, possessing opoka-like rocks and unclaimed reserves of technogenic coal raw materials, can become a center of production of large-format ceramic stones with low cost and provide the south and central part of the country with highquality wall materials.
