Suitability of Ball Clay from Mukah, Paloh and Chamek to Be Used in the Porcelain Tile Industry in Malaysia by Joanna Anusha A/P Darmarajah
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SCHOOL OF MATERIALS AND MINERAL RESOURCES ENGINEERING UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA SUITABILITY OF BALL CLAY FROM MUKAH, PALOH AND CHAMEK TO BE USED IN THE PORCELAIN TILE INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA BY JOANNA ANUSHA A/P DARMARAJAH Supervisor: Assoc Prof. Dr. Hasmaliza bt Mohamad Co-Supervisor: Mr Chin Chee Lung Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering with Honors (Materials Engineering) Universiti Sains Malaysia JUNE 2016 DECLARATION I hereby declare that I have conducted and completed the research work and written the dissertation entitled “Suitability Of Ball Clay From Mukah, Paloh And Chamek To Be Used In The Porcelain Tile Industry in Malaysia”. I also declare that this has not been previously submitted for the award for any degree or diploma or other similar titles of this for any other examining body or University. Name of Student: Joanna Anusha a/p Darmarajah Signature: Date: Witnessed by: Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hasmaliza binti Mohamad Signature: Date: ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I give all thanks and praise to God for His goodness and faithfulness. I thank Him for granting me the wisdom and perseverance needed to carry out this study. It is truly only by His grace, favor and mercy that this final year project was completed successfully. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my FYP supervisor, Assoc Prof. Dr. Hasmaliza bt Mohamad for her continued support, encouragement and guidance throughout the course of this project. The concern and level of detail she has shown in guiding me is extremely humbling, and for that I am thankful. I am honoured to have had the chance to carry out my FYP under her supervision. Special thanks and appreciation goes out to the manager at CRC, Mr Sow for giving me the opportunity to carry out my project in collaboration with Guocera. Not forgetting also my FYP co-supervisor, Mr Chin Chee Lung, the Manager of the Quality at Source (QAS) department at the Ceramic Research Company (CRC) in Kapar, Klang. Many thanks are due for his guidance and helpful suggestions that have allowed this project to take shape. He has helped me increase my knowledge on the procedures that need to be carried out in the clay selection process. I would also like to thank the other CRC managers and technicians who have shared their knowledge with me and offered their assistance to me throughout the course of this project. They have played a very important part in the completion and success of this project. Not forgetting also the technicians at USM who have helped me greatly. Last but not least, I wish to thank my beloved family and friends who have supported me and motivated me. Without their persistent prayers and unconditional love, this project would not have reached completion. Thank you all. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi ABSTRACT xii ABSTRAK xiii CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Clays 1 1.1.2 Clay Mining in Malaysia 1 1.1.3 The tile manufacturing scenario in Malaysia 2 1.1.4 Research Background 3 1.2 Problem Statement 4 1.3 Objectives 5 1.4 Scope of Study 5 1.5 Thesis Outline 6 CHAPTER 2 7 LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Clays 7 2.2.1 Formation of clays 8 2.3 Types of clays 11 2.3.1 Ball Clays 12 2.3.2 Structure present in clay raw materials 13 2.3.2.1 Kaolinites 15 2.3.2.2 Illites 18 2.3.2.3 Smectites 20 2.4 Silica Sand 22 2.5 Clay Mines in Malaysia 23 iv 2.5.1 Batang Berjuntai 29 2.5.2 Paloh and Chamek 30 2.5.3 Mukah 30 2.6 Tile Manufacturing Industry 31 2.6.1 Porcelain tile Production 34 2.7 Technical aspects and specification of porcelain tiles 37 2.7.1 Water absorption of porcelain tiles 38 2.7.2 Dimensional and surface quality 40 2.7.3 Modulus of Rupture (MOR) 42 2.7.4 Fired Color 45 2.8 Processing Processes Involved 45 2.8.1 Sorting of raw material 48 2.8.2 Milling Process 49 2.8.3 Viscosity Measurement 51 2.8.4 Firing 53 CHAPTER 3 54 METHODOLOGY 54 3.1 Selection of mine site 55 3.2 Property testing of the clays 57 3.2.1 Milling 57 3.2.2 Viscosity Measurement 58 3.2.3 Drying and Pressing 59 3.2.4 Firing 60 3.2.5 Fired Shrinkage and Weight loss 60 3.2.6 Fired Color 61 3.2.7 Water Absorption 62 3.3 Characterization methods of porcelain tiles 62 3.3.1 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) 62 3.3.2 X-ray Diffraction (XRD) 63 3.3.3 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) 65 CHAPTER 4 67 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 67 4.1 Introduction 67 4.2 X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) of clay 67 v 4.3 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) of clays 69 4.4 X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) of clays 72 4.5 Raw Material Milling Behavior 75 4.6 Water absorption results 77 4.7 Fired Shrinkage Measurement 78 4.8 Fired Color 79 4.9 Modulus of Rupture (MOR) of clays 80 4.10 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) 81 4.11 Comparison of clay properties 83 4.12 Comparison of the milling results of porcelain tiles 84 4.13 Porcelain tile property 85 4.14 Modulus of Rupture (MOR) of porcelain tiles 88 4.15 Comparison of properties of porcelain clays 89 CHAPTER 5 92 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 92 5.1 Conclusion 92 5.2 Recommendation for future works 94 REFERENCES 95 APPENDIX 99 vi LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 2.1 Current names of clay 12 Table 2.2 Malaysia’s production of kaolin by state 17 Table 2.3 Malaysia’s production of kaolin 18 Table 2.4 Malaysia’s production of Silica by state 23 Table 2.5 Malaysia’s Historic production of silica 23 Table 2.6 Malaysia’s production of Clay and Earth Materials by state 26 Table 2.7 Malaysia’s production of clay and earth materials 26 Table 2.8 Top ceramic tile exporting countries 36 Table 2.9 Worlds top ceramic tile manufacturers 37 Table 2.10 MOR calculation 43 Table 3.1 Milling conditions for the clays 58 Table 4.1 XRF analysis results of the clays 68 Table 4.2 Properties of the milled clays 76 Table 4.3 Weight measurements of the clay samples 77 Table 4.4 Length Measurements of the clay samples 78 Table 4.5 Fired Color of the clays 79 Table 4.6 Dry MOR values for the clays 80 Table 4.7 Comparison of all the properties of the fired clays 83 Table 4.8 Properties of the milled porcelain tile using different plastic 84 clays Table 4.9 Properties of porcelain tiles fired at 1113.5°C 85 Table 4.10 Properties of porcelain tiles fired at 1120°C 87 Table 4.11 Properties of porcelain tiles fired at 1127°C 88 vii Table 4.12 Dry MOR values for the porcelain tiles using different clays 89 Table 4.13 Comparison of the properties of the porcelain tiles fired at different temperatures 90 viii LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 2.1 Schematic illustration of rock alteration 10 Figure 2.2 Diagram of the structure of the kaolinite layer 15 Figure 2.3 The structure of illite 19 Figure 2.4 Smectite structure 20 Figure 2.5 Mines in Peninsular Malaysia 27 Figure 2.6 Mines in Sarawak 28 Figure 2.7 Site location of the BB clay mine 29 Figure 2.8 Location of the MS mine in Sarawak 32 Figure 2.9 Dimensional changes of the porcelain tile 35 Figure 2.10 Central elements in the ceramic tile manufacturing process 38 Figure 2.11 Scheme of dimensional properties 41 Figure 2.12 Loading system in the measurement of modulus of rupture 43 and breaking strength Figure 2.13a Stage 1 of the selection process of mines 46 Figure 2.13b Stage 2 of the selection process of mines 46 Figure 2.13c Stage 3 of the selection process of mines 47 Figure 2.13d Stage 4 of the selection process of mines 47 Figure 2.14 Coning and quartering method 48 Figure 2.15 Typical Alumina fortified jar mill 50 Figure 2.16 Porcelain mill in a polymer encasement 50 Figure 2.17 Slip Rheology curves 52 Figure 3.1 Summary of research methodology 54 Figure 3.2 Location of Batang Berjuntai (BB) in Selangor 55 ix Figure 3.3 Location of Paloh (PJ) in Johor 56 Figure 3.4 Location of Chamek (CJ) in Johor 56 Figure 3.5 Ford cup for viscosity measurement 58 Figure 3.6 Schematic diagram of an x-ray diffractometer; 64 Figure 3.7 X-ray diffraction geometry 65 Figure 4.1 SEM images taken under 3x and 5x magnification 75 Figure 4.2 XRD plot of the BB clay 77 Figure 4.3 XRD plot of the CJ clay 78 Figure 4.4 XRD plot of the PJ clay 79 Figure 4.5 XRD plots of the MS clay 80 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BB Batang Berjuntai CJ Chamek, Johor CRC Ceramic Research Company CTE Coefficient of Thermal Expansion GTI Guocera Tiles Industries MOR Modulus of rupture MS Mukah, Sarawak PJ Paloh, Johor SEM Scanning electron microscope XRD X-ray diffraction XRF X-ray Fluorescence xi SUITABILITY OF BALL CLAY FROM MUKAH, PALOH AND CHAMEK TO BE USED IN THE PORCELAIN TILE INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA ABSTRACT Ball clays are an important raw material in the manufacture of porcelain tiles to offer fired strength.