 |
 |
||||||
[June 2002]
Complete Plant Will Produce Tiles During Tecnargilla For First Time Ever
Fiera Rimini says that nothing of the kind has ever been seen before either at Tecnargilla or at any other exhibition of ceramic machinery in the world. At Tecnargilla 2002 - to be held in Rimini, Italy from 1-5 October 2002 - visitors will not need to imagine the ceramic tile manufacturing process: they will be able to watch it with their own eyes.An entire production plant will be installed and operated inside the stand of System (Fiorano, MO, Italy), one of the world's leading suppliers of machinery to this sector. The plant will take up half of the company's massive 2,000 square metre stand and will produce Sinterflex 1m x 3m ceramic slabs, the innovative 3mm thick flexible slab developed from painstaking research over the past few years in System's laboratories.
The plant will enable visitors to get an idea of the novelty of the entire production process. After raw materials feeding, dry decoration is carried out by means of powder application directly on to the tile body prior to pressing and firing. The body is then sent to the 15,000-ton 'compactor', a special press for forming large slabs. After pressing and squaring off, the slabs are fired at 1220°C in a special 60 metre-long fast firing electric kiln. The finished product is withdrawn from the kiln just 20 minutes after the start of the cycle described above.
This process is said to represent a very evident innovation in terms of both product and process, all machines being totally new and specially designed for this product. These ceramic slabs have extremely high resistance (based on a porcelain tile body), they are flexible (they do not break, even when jumped upon), they are bendable (allowing them to easily be used for cladding the concave walls of tunnels and underground stations), and they have unprecedented dimensions as well as being extremely thin (3mm).
"We have great belief in Tecnargilla," said System Chairman Franco Stefani, "and we wanted to contribute to making the event more spectacular and interesting for visitors. This plant and the product that it creates are our way of interpreting the slogan of the exhibition, namely 'The future of ceramics', a challenge to us to imagine ceramic in a different form from conventional tiles. An area of the stand will also be set up to display possible applications of Sinterflex in various fields of surface coverings and interior design."
For full details on Tecnargilla, e-mail Paola Giacomini at: sala@acimac.it
ENDS