Transcript Slide 1

Mechanical properties improving of calcinated clay synthetic aggregates by
crystalline ceramic phase development in conventional thermal treatment
L. F. Berti, S. M. de Souza, D. M. Trichês, F. B. Laraz, C. A. Frota
Particulate aggregates are common raw material within the
Brazilian territory. Nevertheless, in the north Brazil the stone
exploitation is not a widely feasible activity due to its deposits
covering with a layer of sedimentary material. The Amazonic region
fits to this situation and alternative materials were already studied
in the literature with appropriated feasibility [1,2]. One alternative
material is the ASAC, which is an aluminium silicate phase
containing red ceramic. Author [3] addressed the production of
crystalline ceramic phase from common minerals at temperature
ranges consistent with the conventional clay ceramic thermal
treatment. These minerals are abundantly available in the
Amazonic region and present high quality in phase composition.
This work focuses, therefore, mainly in proposing a feasible
processing route based on the reactive sintering for improving the
mechanical properties of ASAC by developing the crystalline
phase.
According to Y. Zhao et al. 2011, heating up kaolinite produces, in
intermediate temperatures, mullite and amorphous silica:
When T=400-500°C,
2SiO2.Al2O3 .2H2O…
(kaolinite†
) ˆ2SiO2 .Al2O3 …
(metakaolinite†
) +2H2O
when T>980°C,
2SiO2.Al2O3 …
(metakaolinite)† SiAl2O4 …
(spinel)†+
‡ SiO2 …
(amorphous†
)
or
2SiO2.Al2O3 …
(metakaolinite)† Al2O3 …
(γ-alumina†
) + 2SiO2 …
amorphous†
when T>1100°C,
SiAl2O4 …
(spinel)†+ SiO2 …
(amorphous)  1/3.…
(3Al2O3.2SiO2†
)(mullite†
) +
4/3 SiO2 …
(amorphous†
)
Therefore, at high temperatures starting in 1100°C the product of
kaolinite is mullite and amorphous silica.
The idea behind this work is to adapt the
conventional red ceramic manufacturing
process in order to develop particular
ceramic phase, which can improve the
body mechanical property. This is a
preliminary work, which intends to show
the theoretical fundamentals for basing the
idea.
Mineral phase
adding
Raw Material
Mixing
According to C.Y. Chen et al. 2000, mullite
may be produced by adding alumina in 42
wt.% at temperatures starting from 1200°C.
Clay
Water
Chemical additives
The main idea of this work is to produce mullite out of a mixture
consisting of kaolinite and bauxite in temperatures lower than
1200°C, following the expression:
Raw material
When T < 1200°C,
2SiO2.Al2O3 .2H2O…
(kaolinite†
) + (bauxite)  3Al2O3.2SiO2†(mullite†
)
An highlight point, the amount of silica in the final product is to be
minimized by balancing with bauxite content.
extrusion
Thermal treatment
Ceramic brick
Manufacturing process flowchart
With vacuum help
Up to 1200°C
Conclusion:
The production of a mullite ceramic phase by kaolinite and Al-rich
minerals mixture is feasible, so the original ideal of this work is to test
the production of mullite in red ceramic within the conventional
manufacturing process cycle. Although the idea bases in preliminary
results, in the literature there are several sources which corroborate for
the successful of the work.