Recycling of Boron Waste to Develop Ceramic Wall Tile in Turkey

In the present study, dissolution unit's waste of Kirka borax mine, Turkey (BW) was employed in different amounts as a partial substitution for the marble in order to develop an experimental wall tile body composition. A series of ceramic tile formulations were prepared with 2, 4, 6 and 9 wt% of BW incorporation into the batch compositions and shaping by dry pressing under laboratory conditions. The obtained samples were single fast-fired at a peak temperature of 1150 degrees C for a total firing time of 38 min (from cold-to-cold) under industrial conditions. Some technological properties of the resultant products, namely linear firing shrinkage, water absorption and bending strength were determined as a function of increasing BW content in place of marble at these temperatures. The phase contents of the starting raw materials and fired compositions of BW were determined by XRD. The relevant polished surfaces of selected fired samples were examined using SEM and EDX. According to the results, increased presence of BW compared to the standard wall tile formulations accelerated the vitrification process and improved the physical properties of the body. The overall results indicated a prospect for using the BW as a raw material up to 4 wt% for the production of a wall tile body, and with this recipe lower firing regime than that applied at the factory (1150 degrees C), could be employed. Rheological behaviour of the R2 formulation containing 4 wt% BW was studied as a function of the deflocculant amount by means of viscosity analysis. It is possible to produce a wall tile at 1100 degrees-1120 degrees C according to Turkish Standard TS EN 14411.