Tableware
White, translucent tableware – the natural way
From mineral solutions to prepared bodies and glazes, Imerys is a leading partner for tableware manufacturers.
The right product for the right process
Tableware manufacturers benefit from our unique product range of high quality ball clays, feldspars, halloysite, kaolins, pegmatites, pressing bodies and transparent glazes.
Imerys minerals are known for their unparalleled consistency, providing outstanding mechanical strength and plasticity. Their very low levels of iron oxide and titania also provide exceptional whiteness and translucency.
Our mineral solutions are widely used in high quality whitewares including porcelain, bone china, hotelware, earthenware, stoneware and technical ceramics.
With deposits in many countries, Imerys is able to provide specially engineered solutions to optimize the performance of tableware bodies during the challenging stages of forming, drying and firing for isostatic pressing, casting, jiggering and 3D Printing.
Imerys tailor-made offerings include:
• high quality products
• laboratories dedicated to tableware formulation and certifications
• state of the art technical service, including demo lab for 3D Printing
• on-site production support
Raw material solutions
Our raw material solutions provide:
- High level of consistency and controls
- Outstanding mechanical strength and plasticity
- Very low levels of iron oxide and titania
- Exceptional whiteness and translucency
Mineral range:
With references refined at our sites in the UK, France, Thailand and the USA, our selected ball clays confer high plasticity and a good white-fired colour to the end product. In glazes and engobes, ball clays ensure a perfect finish.
Main feature:
• excellent workability
• high green strength
• stable rheological properties
• low organic and residue content
Feldspars & pegmatites are used as fluxing agents and play a vital role during the firing process of ceramic bodies.
Imerys potash feldspars offer:
• High K2O, resulting in low pyroplastic deformation
• Low Fe2O3 & TiO2, which are essential for high whiteness and translucency.
Imerys feldspars are particularly prized for their consistency for white tableware.
Our halloysite solutions are prized for the manufacture of thin porcelain, bone china, fine china and aluminous tableware. The combination of tubular shape and low iron and titanium content produces fine ceramic ware presenting exceptional whiteness and translucency. Its fine particle size makes halloysite a useful suspension agent in glaze preparations.
As kaolin typically comprises 25 % to 50 % of tableware body formulations, its high quality is essential.
Imerys offers an extensive range of kaolin products which can provide:
• high clay content to give the maximum economic advantage and great flexibility in developing formulations
• low to ultra-low levels of Fe2O3 & TiO2 to produce very white and translucent tableware
• a range of K2O contents to enable fine control of vitrification and to minimise pyroplastic deformation
• fast casting to give optimal productivity
• good workability and high unfired strength to provide easier processing and lower production losses
• a range of particle size distributions to optimize to allow optimize particle packing
• low residue to limit sieving wastes
Imerys wollastonites are excellent, low loss on ignition (LoI) reinforcing agents in tableware green bodies, improving the mechanical properties and surface finish of tableware. They are ideal, natural frit additives which improve the durability and surface appearance of glazes.
Prepared bodies and glazes expertise
As a world leader in industrial minerals, Imerys has the technical expertise to design tailored formulations with a portfolio of compatible glazes which has been developed in close collaboration with our customers.
Prepared bodies and glazes enable customers to lower their production costs as they don’t have to invest in a slip house, body preparation and raw material silos.
Prepared ceramic bodies
With 5 plants dedicated to body formulation, our ceramic prepared bodies are offer is suitable for all production processes:
- Isostatic pressing
- Casting/high-pressure casting
- Jiggering and RAM pressing
- 3D Printing
Our typical tailor-made bodies include: crème, extra white, colored and high strength bodies.
Glazes
With 3 plants dedicated to glaze formulation, Imerys manufactures ready-to-use ceramic glazes in a form which suits both modern and traditional technologies:
- Spray-dried granulates
- Slurry form
- Dry powder form
Main mineral solutions
Large range of white & plastic kaolins:
- Grolleg key features
- Standard porcelain
- BIP key features
- Kaopearl key features
Diamond
Diamond is an intermediate-grained montmorillonitc kaolin known for its good strength and white-firing characteristics.
Rogers
Rogers is a fine grained montmorillonitic kaolin that has high strength and good deflocculation, making its use advantageous in casting bodies on a controlled basis.
Large range of ball clays with outstanding combination of high whiteness and plasticity offering exceptional workability:
Superb
Prima
Magnum
Todd Light is a fine-grained ball clay providing excellent strength and plasticity.
J-2 is a fine grained ball clay with good plasticity and strength. It is particularly noted for its exceptional white firing characteristics.
Tennessee No.5 is particularly known for its fast casting properties, making it ideal for tableware applications.
Related minerals
Kaolin
Kaolin is a rock from which the clay mineral kaolinite is derived. This one has been used for millennia as the principal ingredient in porcelain tableware. Today Imerys kaolins bring critical properties to a host of end applications ranging from paper to paints, fiberglass to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
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