Text/Zhong Taojun
The 2020 Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition has ended, but the craze for rock slabs continues to rise. When ordinary people go to Tanzhou to see the exhibition, they mostly go to Halls 1-5 to watch the excitement; few people will notice that the exhibition is actually a great opportunity for slate production companies to find new technologies/equipment. . According to incomplete statistics, 6 new slate production lines were signed during this exhibition, and they are all expected to be put into production by the end of this year.
As an emerging plate material, slate breaks the boundaries between customized home furnishings, stone materials, and ceramics, providing a new track for the future development of the ceramic industry. The design and production thinking of industrialization, standardization, and mass production will inevitably become the core competitiveness of future stone slab production enterprises, and these require the guidance of new materials, new equipment, and new technologies. Next, let’s take stock of what new “skills” have been born in slate production in 2020.
一
Raw materials
Penetrating ink is the key to the integrity of the rock slab
Slowly, you may find that the full-body slate currently seen on the market is nothing more than three main colors: black, white, and gray. This is because the key to the whole-body technology of rock slabs is to maintain the color consistency between the surface formula of the penetrating ink and the base formula, and“Black, white and gray” colors are simpler to achieve for the whole body. Penetrating ink plays an important role in the whole body. Along with the development of intelligent digital cloth technology, it can allow rock slab products to achieve more complex body colors and texture details. . Moreover, during the production process, the penetrating ink is used in conjunction with ordinary ink, and the final rendering effect will be better and the cost will be lower.
▲Full-body rock slab
Digital glaze has more texture and high wear resistance
In addition to the whole body, texture is also the focus of the decorative nature of rock slabs. The popularity of large-sized products in recent years means that the texture of the product needs to be more refined, andThe surface texture of rock slabs is mostly achieved through the use of digital glazePresented in a way. The biggest difference between digital glaze and ordinary spray glaze is that it can control the uniform distribution and three-dimensional presentation of glaze, achieving a breakthrough from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, which will directly affect the texture, touch, light and transparency of the surface of the rock slab.
Since rock slabs are used in a wide range of applications and are no longer just used as surface materials, in addition to having good decorative effects, their practical performance also needs to be enhanced. Qiu Haibo, chairman of Kehaiino Ceramics, said in an interview, "There is no clear standard for slate yet, but we who make glazes can solve the problem of wear resistance through digital systems and some process improvements." With both appearance and strength, this kind of rock slab has stronger vitality and wider application space.
▲Kehai Booth
Ultra-white, antibacterial functional glaze innovation
At this Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition, Zhongyang Glaze exhibited a new digital glaze for rock slabs and a basic glaze for rock slabs. The most eye-catching one was the ultra-white glaze(achieved by reducing zirconium silicate) and Antibacterial functional glaze(Nobel antibacterial slate is added with zirconium phosphate and silver). Quan Chunhui, general manager of Zhongyang Glaze, said, “As a supplier and service provider of glazes, we are accelerating product development and application in slate; like functional slate, its antibacterial rate(E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus)can achieve more than 99%. ”
Water-based ink is the new trend in industry development
Experts and scholars in the industry have asserted that the advent of water-based ink has a disruptive impact on the development of the ceramic industry. Compared with traditional ink, water-based ink is more compatible with the existing slate production process. It can completely eliminate glaze ink separation and ink diffusion, make the printed image clearer , wider color output and color gamut; at the same time, safety and environmental protection are also a major advantage of water-based ink. However, there has always been a major obstacle to the promotion of water-based inks, which is the incompatibility with printers and nozzles used in traditional solvent-based inks.
▲New water-based ink
二
Equipment
Digital printer, smart inkjet machine
▲EFI Cretaprint hybrid digital ceramic printer
Regarding the issue of using water-based ink mentioned above, Qidaping has made a printer that can use both solvent-based ink and water-based ink——EFI Cretaprint hybrid digital ceramic printer. This printer can be used with existing solvent-based inks or water-based inks; it can also expand the color gamut, improve color clarity, and save overall ink costs. At this Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition,Champion Tiles introduced this equipment to add to the newly built slate production line.
"Continuous pattern"It can be said that it is a bonus for large-area applications of rock slabs. Jingtao Electromechanical has launched a newdigital printing system and a new slate digital printer for this purpose. Based on the specifications of 1.8 meters × 3.6 meters, this equipment and system can achieve 100 non-repeating surfaces, which can completely avoid the problem of texture duplication when paving a large area.
▲Meijia "D+" series slate intelligent high-definition digital inkjet machine
High Definition" is a major indicator for the use of inkjet equipment in the production of large rock slabs. Meijia Ceramic Machinery has launched the "D+" series of large-sized intelligent high-definition digital inkjet machines dedicated to rock slabs/large slabs, which can print up to 2300mm in size. Supports large-capacity image formats and supports over 16G image screening. Print patterns can reach 500G, and can be customized to 1TB for special requirements. strong>It is reported that Jiangjun, Xiangda and other manufacturing companies have purchased this equipment.
Wide-bodied and multi-layer kilns are the trend, and energy saving and emission reduction are the original intention
The size of rock slab products is getting larger and larger (maximum 4.8 meters), and very thin (3mm ), very thick (30mm). Therefore, the production equipment of rock slabs has achieved great breakthroughs. Even the conveyor belts are becoming wider and wider. The birth of wide-body kilns is undoubtedly a smooth development. A wider kiln means longer rollers. At the Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition, King Kong Roller exhibited its "combination punch" developed in the field of rock slab kilns, which includes high-rigidity rollers dedicated to low-temperature zones, thin rod close-packing technology, high straightness and 4.5m extra long roller with same roundness.
Energy consumption is a major pain point in rock slab kilns. At present, most of the slate production lines have high energy consumption, and the most energy-saving System complete line also maintains an energy consumption of 0.1 kilowatt/square meter. Delitai recovers 70%-80% of the kiln's heat through the kiln's heat exchange system and heat supplementation; Jing Haishan, deputy general manager of Delitai, suggested that if thin plates below 6 mm are made, the kiln should be as wide as possible ization, which can greatly reduce energy consumption.
▲The General Slate Production Line constructed by Modena
Making the drying kiln 5-7 layers can also achieve the effect of recycling and reducing energy consumption. The application of multi-layer kilns in the production of rock slabs has to be mentionedModena HB7 seven-layer drying kiln and MDS double-layer kiln in the Jiangjun Slate Production Base The dual waste heat recovery reheating system and combustion air heating system are Modena’s patented technologies. This kiln is the first ultra-long kiln in China.
三
Processing
Think about the difficulty of processing rock slabs from the perspective of production
Stone slab processing is the number one problem in the development of rock slabs. As early as the 2019 Ceramics Expo, Qiu Ziliang, general manager of Foshan Zihua Trading Co., Ltd., shared the theme of "Solution to Slab Stress" and put forward the idea of slate burning Residual stress problems during the formation process. For details, please see "A speech explaining how to improve the yield rate of rock slab processing!" 》. During the Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition, Wu Jianqing, a professor at South China University of Technology, also put forward several suggestions on "the impact of rock plate stress on processing", such asreduce the use of raw materials containing free quartz , Properly extend the high-fire heat preservation time, avoid rapid cooling at around 573°C (quartz conversion temperature), etc.
▲Comparison chart of mechanical strength of each raw material
As for the processing of rock slabs, Huang Huining, vice chairman of the Foshan Ceramic Society, said that the cutting problems of ceramic rock slabs are not only related to the composition of the green body, the combination of the green glaze, the expansion coefficient, It is related to the firing speed and the stress of the bricks after cooling,it also involves the entire production system, operating model, input-output, and business thinking of the enterprise.
Although it is necessary for rock slab manufacturers to strictly control the formula, glaze matching, firing and the entire process from the beginning, but relying solely on the production front-end to reduce the difficulty of rock slab processing will inevitably lead to There is a bottleneck. The cutting methods and cutting tools that truly serve as the back-end are a bigger breakthrough direction. After all, the difficulty of processing rock slabs cannot be completely solved by improving technology and materials.
Supporting rock slab processing technology/equipment makes it easier to break through
▲Tanzhou Ceramics Exhibition Hall 8 Slab Processing Center
At present, the industry still uses the production method of ceramic tiles to produce rock slabs, but the cutting and processing of rock slabs can no longer use the thinking of processing ceramic tiles. While most rock slab processing still uses "hard cutting" such as blades and water jets, "soft cutting" such as lasers and rays have been widely used in other slab processing. During this exhibition,Yongda, Yongtao, JING YOW, Xilingou and other processing equipment manufacturers exhibited five-axis water jet, CNC cutting, various New rock slab processing equipment such as edge chamfering and grindingAt the same time, Hall 8 has set up a rock slab processing center, and the display related to rock slab processing has attracted much attention. It is understood that Jinyitao purchased a number of slate deep processing equipment at the exhibition, with the purpose of enhancing its hard power for the subsequent delivery of Jinsheng slate home furnishings.
Finally, the author would like to end by borrowing the views expressed by Monalisa Vice President Liu Yijun at the "3rd Ceramic Industry New Materials, New Equipment and New Technology Forum": processing of rock slabs The application is different from that of ceramic tiles. The front-end raw material formula, ball milling fineness, firing cycle, quartz free time and amount all need to be adjusted. If the molding press and decorative inkjet machine, ink and other equipment companies join in, By forming a supporting system, the entire slate production chain will be connected. Coupled with the advancement of supporting equipment and technology for slate processing,slate products will surely form a very complete system from formulation, firing to processing and application.
Author: Hong Xiaochun
