Red Clay
Red Clay Technology is an initial art of ceramics and has acted as a seed to Traditional & advance Ceramics. The technology is making its own importance in the field of Low energy, Cost effective production of Ceramic Products. Hence, the incorporation of Red Clay Technology, found to be essential tool of traditional Science from the Industrial point of view.
Mineralogically it manly consists of Micaceous Clay mineral which categories in Kaolinite mineral. However, the association of Montmorillonite and Illite group is also frequent. The presence of ferruginous impurities and other materials have favorable effects on vitrification behavior and fired properties of the clay. These clays can be used directly or generally admix with non-plastic materials/additives (10-40%). These additives impart strength and reduce water absorption.
With the advancements of science and technology, the rural artisian can utilize all other types of clays i.e. mountainous clay, desert clay and laterite clay as well. However, the percentage of utilization is limited to 40% with some additives, like low grade fire clays, ball clay etc.
Red clay is directly associated with living ones in many ways. Commonly it is used for making construction bricks for housing and roofing tiles. It is also used for parking tiles, decorative tile and mosaic. Pottery is also the major consumption sector of red clay in art, food storing, water containing, etc.
Features
Red clay from Bikaner has the property of low temperature maturing with limited porosity, high strength, Pure Red Burning Color, low coarse silica content and very good surface finishing.It is used in production of:
- Red Clay Bricks, Roofing Tiles, Parking Tiles and Mosaic etc.
- Thin Pottery, Heavy Ware, Small to medium artifacts, Pots making, etc.
- Pesticides
- Red clay powder for fillers
- Red clay as color
Density (gm/cm3) | 2.45gm/cc | Chemical analysis | Wt % |
Linear Shrinkage (%) | 4-6% | SiO2 | 60-65% |
pH | 7-7.2 | TiO2 | 0.01-0.5% |
TDS | 1000-1500 ppm | Al2O3 | 15-20% |
Water of Plasticity | 28-35 | Fe2O3 | 12-15% |
Oil Absorption | 28-45 | CaO | 1-1.5% |
Dry MOR (Kg/Cm2) | 15-20 kg/cm2 | Na2O | 0.1-1% |
Shrinkage at 1220°C(%) | 2-4% | K2O | 0.5-1.5% |
Fired MOR | 250 kg/cm2 | L.O.I | 10-13% |