Influence of packaging cullet size on synterized properties produced from clay used In the ceramic industry

Abstract

In the process of producing sintered clay components, solid waste can be incorporated as raw materials. One of the wastes that is widely used for reuse is packaging cullet. There are several works in the literature in which cullet is used as a raw material in the production of clay aggregates and other sintered products, but there are few reports of the influence of their particle size on the sintering process. The present work aimed to investigate the influence of particle size of cullet embedded in a clay that is used in the ceramic industry of Sergipe. The clay was characterized by XRD diffraction, DTA-TG differential thermal analysis. Subsequently clay, cullet and clay-cullet samples were characterized by FRX chemical analysis. The cullet was incorporated into the clay in the proportions (10, 20, 30 and 40% by mass) with two different average cullet particle diameters (450 and 37.5 μm) being characterized by dilatometry. Subsequently sintered were made with the clay-cullet samples burned at 3 different temperatures (1050, 1100 and 1150°C), which were characterized by their linear shrinkage, loss of fire mass, density evolution, water absorption and mechanical resistance. The best result of mechanical resistance was the aggregate containing 30% 37.5 μm cullet, sintered 1100 ° C. Particle size was a key parameter to ensure the efficiency of cullet incorporation into clay, within incorporation and temperature ranges.