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Abstract: Porcelain stoneware tile is a non-equilibrium porcelain material produced by a fast firing process of kaolinitic clay, quartz and feldspar mixtures. This building material, generally used in pavements and also as wall covering and ventilated façades, is endowed with high technological properties such as low water absorption, high bending strength and abrasion resistance, and excellent chemical and frost resistance. These properties cause that porcelain stoneware tile was actually the material with the highest increase in production and sales over all other ceramic building material. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of high quality research focused on the effect of mullite growth on technological properties of porcelain stoneware tile and on the effect of different fluxing agents on both mullite growth and evolution of physical and technological properties during firing. In this paper, the behaviour of a potassic porcelain stoneware body during the firing process is investigated. A porcelain stoneware composition was prepared by mixing 50% kaolinitic clay, 40% feldspar and 10% quartz. The samples were sintered following a fast firing process. The sintering behaviour of the fired samples was evaluated by linear shrinkage, water absorption and porosity measurements. Both green powder and fired samples were characterized by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dilatometry and bending strength measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effect of iron oxide content on the crystallisation of a zirconium-based glass-ceramic glaze was investigated using a glass-ceramic “white of zirconium” frit and a granite waste glass. Measurements by X-ray diffraction (XRD) combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDX microanalysis showed that Fe2O3 gives rise to the crystallisation of an iron-zinc ferrite, which is acting as nucleating agent of feather-like crystals of pyroxene while granite frit enhances the partial dissolution of zircon into the glassy phase, which is sharply increased for granite frit additions greater than 50%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effect of iron oxide content on the crystallisation of a diopside glass–ceramic glaze was investigated using a glass–ceramic frit in the K2O–ZnO–MgO–CaO–Al2O3–SiO2 system and a granite waste glass. Measurements by X-ray diffraction (XRD) combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDX microanalysis showed that the distribution of Fe3+ ions among different crystalline phases such as franklinite (ZnFe2O4) and hematite Fe2O3 depends on the iron content in the original diopside mixture. Thus, the original glaze crystallises to franklinite or hematatite when iron content is greater than 2 and 15%, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Integrated gasification in combined cycle (IGCC) is an electrical power generation system which is characterized to be a clean coal technology different than conventional process in combustible treatment. IGCC process gives rise to inorganic solid wastes in the form of vitreous slag and fly ashes with singular thermal properties. The gasification of the fuel takes place at high temperature and pressure in reducing atmosphere. Under that conditions, gases such as H2, N2 or CO, which are the main components of the gas mixture in the gasifier, show a high solubility in the melt and during the cooling remain enclosed in the vitreous slag. When these wastes are afterward thermal treated in oxidizing conditions, two phenomena occur. The development of a crystalline phase by devitrification of the glassy matrix and the releasing of the enclosed gas, which starts at temperatures nearly to the softening point. At higher temperatures the bubbles with increasing kinetic energy tend to ascent with difficult through the viscous liquid phase and promotes an expansive reaction, giving rise to a foam glass-ceramic product. This paper has been focused on the study of thermal expansion in slag and fly ash samples from the ELCOGAS IGCC power plant located in Puertollano (Spain). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is presented the Nd doping of the glassy ZnO–CdO–TeO2 ternary system. The Nd-doped oxide glasses were prepared by conventional melt-quenching method using three different compositions from this system. X-rays diffraction (XRD) diagrams in these materials reveal that they are basically vitreous structure. Infrared (IR) spectra of the glasses showed the characteristic bands at 665, 670, and 675cm−1, which correspond to the trigonal structure of TeO3. The presence of Nd3+ was detected in the visible and infrared region of the spectra by optical absorption (OA) measurements of the band gap and by photoluminescence (PL) experiments. Glasses showed light emission due to the transition: 4F3/2 → 4I9/2. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) of these glasses have shown that T g temperatures are in the 465–485°C and T c in the 800–1000°C ranges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effect of the heating temperature on the properties of sintered ceramic bodies from three different contaminated marine sediments was investigated. The sintering behaviour was evaluated by means of the variation of shrinkage degree, bulk density, water absorption, open and closed porosity, while the phases transformation were investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results have shown that the sintering process follows a viscous liquid phase mechanism due to the formation of a glassy phase. The optimum sintering temperature is 1125°C for Astilleros and Cuchia sediments and 1150°C for Raos sample. Above this temperature, a significant overfiring with an increase of closed porosity was observed. Water absorption values and mechanical properties as bending and compressive strengths of sintered bodies show that the investigated marine sediments are suitable to be used as secondary raw materials in ceramic tiles and bricks production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The subject of this study is the application to the construction of soft mud bricks (also known as pressed bricks), both green and heat-treated bodies, built from raw materials from Santa Cruz de Mudela, Ciudad Real, and IGCC slag from the power central of Puertollano (Ciudad Real, Spain). For this purpose, industrial level tests have been performed: the production of these kind of bricks from mixes of waste from ores of construction clays and to significant fraction of different ratios and clay granulometries mixed with IGCC slag. The results of this experimentation suggests that not only can IGCC slag be applied to a ceramic process, but also its use gives several advantages, as water and energy savings, as well as improvements on the final properties of products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]