Abstract
Sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) industrial waste was used to partially substitute feldspar in the production of porcelain electrical insulators from a mixture of locally available Bombawuha clay (BC), Chancho sand (CS), and mixture of Wolkite (WF) and Arerti feldspar (AF) (50:50%). The raw materials were characterized for their chemical composition, mineralogy, thermal behavior, and plasticity. The porcelain electrical insulator formulations containing various proportions of SCBA (0 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt%, and 20 wt%) were fired at different firing temperatures of 1200 °C, 1250 °C, and 1300 °C for 2.5 h. The fired bodies were evaluated for water absorption, apparent porosity, bulk density, flexural strength, dielectric strength, and microstructure. The results showed that SCBA had 65.06% silica (SiO2) and had higher alkaline and iron oxide (Fe2O3) contents than the natural feldspars. Bombawuha clay contained kaolinite as a major mineral with a middle range plasticity index (PI = 11.2%) and the met the required purity necessary for mullite phase formation. The feldspars had a low alkali content of sodium oxide plus potassium oxide (Na2O + K2O) of < 6 wt %. The prepared porcelain insulator containing 10% SCBA, 50% BC, 30% mixed feldspars, and 10% CS, and fired at 1250 °C for 2.5 h exhibited a water absorption of 0.35%, flexural strength of 42.50 MPa, and a dielectric strength of 6.59 kV/mm, which satisfies the obligatory properties for quality porcelain insulators. Further, the partial replacement of feldspar by SCBA up to 10 w% lowered the firing temperature by 50 °C.
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