Ceramics industry: Spain

The development of the ceramic industry in Mexico and its precedents in Italy and Spain have been discussed by Florence and Robert... 

Clay was supplied by a clay quarry located in Bailen, Jaen (Spain) and was obtained by mixing three types of raw clay in equal parts red, yellow and black clay. Clay was crushed and ground to yield a powder with a particle size suitable to pass through a 150 pm sieve. The waste, olive wastewater and olive oil wastewater were supplied by a local olive oil extraction plant and used directly without any prior pretreatment. The ceramic paste for the extrusion was prepared by adding fresh water (FW) or residue resulting from olive oil extraction (OW or OOW) to the clay in a mixer. The amoimt of added water in the mixer depends on clay plasticity and on its consistency while performing the extrusion. In the present work 22 wt % of FW, OW or OOW was added to the clay. The same value as used at industrial scale for this kind of clay mixture. Extrusion was carried out in a laboratory Venco extruder. Extruded test pieces were dried at room temperature for about 24 h, and then heated in an oven at 110 °C until constant weight for at least 24 h. 

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