Database of foundry byproducts information and acceptance criteria for ceramic products

A database with information of foundry sands and dust and the acceptance criteria for ceramic products has been developed.

Additional information about foundry byproducts physicochemical characteristics and ceramic raw materials chemical composition has also been compiled and is included in the annex of this report.

During Action A.1, the project partners have established contacts with companies from the foundry and the ceramic sectors.

The compilation of relevant information about the foundry byproducts characteristics and the requirements of different tile manufacturing processes has been carried out considering the data obtained from the contacts from foundry and ceramic sectors, the previous knowledge of the project partners and the analysis of scientific literature.

In the database with Foundry byproducts information, the data has been classified considering the type of moulding process and the type of binder used in the process. Two typologies of moulding processes have been differentiated: Green moulding and Chemical Moulding. Chemical Moulding processes have been subdivided in four types depending on the binder used: Phenol-Isocyanate, Furan, Phenol-Alkaline and Silicate-ester.

In each case, the total number of companies is indicated as well as the type of byproducts, the amount produced, their management option (valorization/ landfilling), the waste code, raw materials used, physicochemical characteristics and composition.

The information in the database with the Ceramic requirements has been classified considering the type of support used (red firing or white firing) and the type of ceramic product. In each case, the number of companies, the total production and the consumption of raw materials have been identified. The ceramic products’ formulation, the raw materials to be replaced, the potential replacing percentages and the amount of byproducts to be valorized is specified. Finally, the byproducts’ requirements regarding the presence of Fe₂O₃ and Organic Carbon are presented.      

The main conclusion extracted from the database is that the content of Fe₂O₃ and Organic Carbon in foundry byproducts is the most critical aspect to be considered in order to evaluate the feasibility of using foundry sands and dust as a raw material in ceramic tile production process. Initially, the content of Fe₂O₃ reported in scientific literature for all types of byproducts would be superior to the limits identified for white firing ceramic products. Thus, in this case the evaluation of foundry byproducts pre-treatments to be carried out in Action B.2 will be necessary. The content of Organic Carbon will be another important restriction and will be evaluated in the next stages of the project considering the results obtained from the characterization of foundry byproducts in Action B.1.