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MATERIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CERAMIC PROCESSING
Impact/Purpose:
It is theorized that froth flotation can be used to separate frit from pigment in waste glaze systems. In this way, components from glaze could be separated, purified, and reused in the process. Froth flotation is feasible because it exploits surface chemistry differences, and the pigment and frit particles typically have substantially different surface chemistries.
Description:
Materials Characterization
The density of 3124 Ferro Frit and Mason Chrome Free Black Pigment was measured to be 2.4911 g/cm3 and 5.0703 g/cm3 respectively. The single point, BET and Langmuir surface area of 3124 Ferro Frit was determined to be 0.67945 m2/g, 0.69545 m2/g and 1.0901 m2/g respectively. The single point, BET and Langmuir surface area of Mason Chrome Free Black Pigment was determined to be 1.81365 m2/g, 1.85055 m2/g and 2.9035 m2/g respectively. From the surface area (SA) and density (r) measurements the spherical particle diameter was estimated using the following equation (units are shown in parenthesis):
Diameter (μm) = 6 / SA (m2/g) x ρ (g/cm3)
Substituting the 3124 Ferro Frit single point surface area and density values into the equation, the diameter was estimated to be 3.54 μm. Substituting the Mason Chrome Free Black Pigment single point surface area and density values into the equation, the diameter was calculated to be 0.652 μm.
Flotation Studies
Flotation cells were set up containing 7.5 grams 3124 Frit and 2.5 grams Mason Chrome Free Black Pigment (10 grams of glaze material total). The anionic collector used was Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS). The cationic collector used was Dodeclyamine. The amount of collector used was 0.2g, 0.1g, 0.05g and 0.01g. It was found that SDS was not efficient in flotation, whereas the Dodecylamine effectively floated the vast majority of material (95% plus) but density measurements confirm that the flotation was not selective between the frit and pigment.
The results of these trials are tabulated below.
