Use of beneficiated blended clays in traditional ceramics

An attempt has been made to develop a singular blended clay having all the plastic and dry properties required for the casting of traditional ceramic products, especially sanitaryware and table wares. One semi-processed china clay, one plastic ball clay and one plastic fireclay from Indian origin were crushed and blended together in a predetermined proportion and beneficiated using the existing techniques of levigation, sieving, hydrocycloning, deironing and filter pressing. The physico-chemical properties of feed raw materials as well as blended clays were studied. The investigation also included the rheological properties of the blended clay. The results indicated that the blended and beneficiated clay obtained by levigation as well as by hydrocycloning, apart from ensuring consistency, showed higher unfired strength and increased particle fineness. The content of alumina in the levigated blend and the levigation-cum-hydrocycloned blend increased by 41 and 72% respectively in comparison to that of the feed. The investigation regarding their use in a standard sanitaryware body showed an increase in unfired strengths by 23.4 and 77.2%