Porcelain production by direct sintering

Most of the energy consumed during the processing of porcelains is accounted by the heating rate, dwell time and cooling rate employed. Efforts are made in this study to lower the total energy consumption, and thereby total emissions, by optimizing the porcelain processing parameters. Porcelain samples processed at 5, 15 and 30 °C/min heating rates were compared with samples processed under direct sintering. X-ray diffraction and microstructural characterisation confirmed that the phase evolution, such as mullite formation in the porcelain, is heating rate independent while glass formation is heating rate dependent, and directly sintered porcelain had physical and mechanical properties comparable to conventionally heat-treated samples. Direct sintering reduced total processing time by ∼50% and also lowered the sintering temperature from 1200 °C to 1175 °C, suggesting that the direct sintering method provides benefits meaning it may in future replace conventional porcelain processing.