Efeitos da co-utilização dos resíduos do beneficiamento do caulim e da extração do granito rain-forest para a produção de revestimentos cerâmicos de baixa absorção de água

Abstract

Mineral exploitation is regarded as one of the most impactful to the environment due to the great generation of wastes and residues. The insertion of residues in a production cycle is an alternative use for those materials, which is interesting both in terms of environmental and economical issues. Accordingly, the ceramic industry has demonstrated great potential for the use of inorganic waste. Among the ceramics, stoneware is considered a prime coat due to its low water absorption (typically bellow 0,5%) and by having excellent characteristic such as high strength, and high resistance to scratching and staining. This study aims to evaluate the potential of co-use of waste granite (Rain Forest) and the residue of kaolin, as raw material for the manufacture of ceramic tiles with low water absorption. The raw material was characterized by x-ray fluorescence (XRF), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Six compositions were formulated by adding the kaolin residue to the granite residue in proportions of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% wt. Samples were made by pressing and then firing at 1175ºC, 1200ºC and 1225ºC. Several properties such as firing linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent specific gravity, three-point bend strength test, hardness and microscopy were determined. The results showed that co-use of the residues studied can provide a raw material of great potential for floor and wall covering tiles similar to porcelain. Sintering at the temperature of 1225 ºC allowed maximum use of waste materials. Therefore, samples containing 50% of each residue sintered at that temperature yielded results compatible with the minimum values required by the NBR 13818 (1997) when tested for water absorption, shrinkage and density.