Utilization of recycled sulphidic molybdenum ores for production of low-fired porcelain

Abstract

This article presents a description of one of the promising applications of overburden pegmatites and quartzofeldspathic tailings from molybdenum ore at Sorsky GOK copper and molybdenum mining complex in the production of low-fired porcelain. The proposal is to move away from exploiting natural fluxes which are becoming scarce, replacing them with secondary material resources. Presence of potassium and sodium in the chemical composition of pegmatites and quartzofeldspathic sand in feldspar may produce a viscous mass in a reasonably low temperature melt, contributing to the dissolution of quartz and clay matter. The research work presented below offers a solution to the challenge of replacing the classic porcelain mass (kaolin-quartz-fluxing agent) with industrial products by implementing a porcelain molding process. If the quartzofeldspathic tailings mass percent in porcelain ceramics is 45, a minimum water absorption of 0.84 percent is reached for the sintered ceramics. This optimizes the porcelain material composition and the mass percent (kaolin clay 60-50, quartzofeldspathic sand 35-45, cullet 5), as well as the sintering process parameters (firing temperature is 1,175 °С, isothermal exposure is two hours). A flow chart has been developed for achieving semiporcelain products with the water absorption of 0.8-5 mass percent.