Examination of Industrial Practice of Ceramic Glaze Making with Emphasis on Particle Size Distribution

Abstract

This article examines the existing industrial practice of glaze making with emphasis on particle size and particle size distribution of glazes. The importance of fine grinding affecting reduction in particle size on lowering the maturing temperature has been clearly established taking sanitaryware glaze as an example. Studies on gloss and thermal expansion of glazes having varied particle size distribution have also been carried out. An attempt has also been made to redefine the particle size distribution, which could produce better results. It has been found that the ceramic glazes can safely be ground to d₁₀₀ of 20 μm from the existing industrial practice of maintaining d₁₀₀ in the range of 45 to 32 μm. It has also been established that, along with the increase in particle fineness, not only the maturing temperature of glaze reduces by ∼80°C but also the maturing range of sanitaryware glaze significantly increases from 1150° to 1230°C as evident from the consistent gloss values of glazes (92–95 GU) and matching thermal expansion values.

Keywords:

• Ceramic glazes
• Industrial practice
• Particle size distribution
• Gloss values
• Thermal expansion