Use of concentrator wastes of Etibor Kirka Borax company in soft porcelain opaque glazes as an alternative fluxing agent

Abstract

Both manufacturers and customers in ceramic sector like all industrial branches always demand high quality products with less cost. With the increase in consumption levels of final products the considerable decreases in deposits of readily used raw materials take place all around the world. Therefore, economical and conscious usage of these deposits is crucial. Consequently, numerous numbers of searches for finding alternative raw materials and recycling wastes as a possible replacement have been conducted. In the present study concentrator wastes of Etibor Kirka Borax Company of Turkey with the chemical composition of 27.69 SiO2, 4.58 Al2O3, 7.52 Na2O, 2.77 K2O, 8.95 CaO, 12.45 MgO, 14.28 B2O3, 0.04 ZnO, 0.07 TiO2, 0.96 Fe2O3, 0.04 Li2O, 0.02 PbO, 20.63 loss on ignition (in wt %) were incorporated into a soft porcelain opaque glaze recipe as a replacement of K-feldspar. Such a modification in starting glaze batches led to the improvement in opacity without deteriorating maturation and final properties. Therefore, it was concluded that these wastes could easily be added into the relevant glaze system.