Valorization of granite waste powder as a secondary flux material for sustainable production of ceramic tiles

Abstract

Granite waste is one of the most abundant industrial by-products released from the construction industries. Irrespective of its unique chemical properties granite waste is still discarded in enormous amount without further use that has potential adverse environmental impacts. For that reason, the study presents a practical approach to recover and exploit granite waste as a secondary flux for production of ceramic tiles. The granite waste was crushed and ground to obtain a fine powder. Different batch compositions containing a varied proportion of granite powder were prepared and fired at different sintering temperatures: 1100, 1150 and 1200 °C. The raw materials and ceramic bodies were characterized for their chemical compositions, microstructural, mineralogical and physical–mechanical properties. The results showed that, a change in batch compositions and sintering temperature enhanced the quality of ceramic tiles in terms of mechanical strength and physical properties. The final experimental deduction showed that, the prospect to produce ceramic tiles containing up to 40 % of granite powder, at the firing temperature of 1200 °C with enhanced engineering properties that meet the minimum standards specified by ISO-13006 is feasible.