Abstract
ANALYTICAL EVALUATION OF THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF EHANDIAGU AND UKPOR CLAY BLENDS FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
I.C.C Iloabachie*, A. S. Chukwuma, C. N. Onyia and Chime A. C.
ABSTRACT
Analytical evaluation of the thermal properties of Ehandiagu and Ukpor Clay blends for industrial application was undertaken in this work. The clay samples were collected by manual method of mining, with the help of a digger and a shovel. The collected raw clay samples were dried in air and crushed to a particle size of 0.325mm using a locally fabricated pulverizing machine and soaked in a plastic container containing about 20 liters of water. The filtrate was sun dried for three days followed by ovum drying at 1000C for three hours. Chemical analysis was carried out at National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA), Kaduna, with the aid of a Mini Pal 4 version (PW 4030) compact energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The clay samples were blended in the ratios of 80:20, 40:60, 60:40 and 20:80 designated as EU1, EU2, EU3 and EU4 respectively. E and U represent Ehandiagu and Ukpor in that order. Apparent porosity, bulk density and modulus of rupture of the clay samples were determined at 900oC, 1000oC, 1100oC and 1200oC in an electric kiln. The results showed that EU1 clay blend (80:20) had highest modulus of rupture of 23.58 at 1200oC and also maintained the highest values of apparent porosity at all service temperature. Also, the apparent porosity of EU1 at the studied service temperatures was between 20-30% which is within the standard rangerequired for the production of fireclay and siliceous fireclays. Therefore, this clay blend can be used for the production of fireclay and siliceous fireclays.
[Full Text Article] [Download Certificate]