The modern day ceramics industry has, amongst their raw materials, a variety of products that are essentially silicates.

These are known chemically as hydrated aluminium silicate and is found in large deposits throughout the world mainly in Europe and USA.

The finished products of the ceramics industry mainly include:

· White wares …… Pottery, China and Porcelain.

· Refractories …… Firebrick and Silicon Carbides.

· Structural Products …… Building Bricks, Terracotta and ‘Clay’ Pipes.

· Specialised Products …… Electricity Isolators

There are a number of basic ‘clay’ raw materials the best-known ones being:

· Kaolinite (Aluminium Silicate)

· Montmorillite (Magnesium / Calcium! Aluminium Silicate)

· Illite (Potassium / Magnesium /Aluminium Silicate)

The raw clay deposits are washed down in the ‘clay-pit’ by high-pressure water jets. The subsequent slurry is pumped to settling tanks where the clay and other impurities sink to the bottom of the tank and the water reused.

CORROSION & EROSSION

Erosion of pipe work and ancillary equipment is a major problem in the ceramic industry.
Even medium velocity ceramic slurry can ‘destroy’ a pump, valve or pipe bend in a matter of hours. The plant operators are searching for equipment to give the longest economic life. For them Diaval® offers a range of valve designs to combat the effects of erosion. The latest addition to the Diaval® range is the Linatex® lined straight through type.