Sustainable Clay Tile Production Using Partial Replacement of Precipitated Silica

The usage of ceramic tiles as an efficient construction material for flooring and roofing has increased with the advancements in the manufacturing processes. Ceramic tiles are traditionally made of plastic and non-plastic clay. An attempt was made to study the performance of the clay tiles which the replacement of Precipitated Silica (PS) at 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 percentages. It was proposed to optimize the production of tiles with an objective of sustainable development. PS is derived from quartz sand in the form of amorphous silicon dioxide. It is also a product of rice husk ash. So Precipitated Silica was used in the unglazed tile manufacturing process and the partially replaced tile specimens were investigated for its water absorption, shrinkage and strength characteristics. The mixing of raw materials was done in a ball mill and the pressing of the tiles was performed in a hydraulic press. The specimens were fired at temperature ranging from 200ºC to 1500ºC in the furnace. Shrinkage test, water absorption test and flexural strength test were carried out and the performance of 2.5% Precipitated Silica replaced tiles was found to be similar to that of the conventional tiles. The studies also proved that the ceramic tiles performed better than PS replaced tiles at higher proportions due to the lack of densification and porous nature of PS.