Demand for zirconium silicate is increasing
Zircon powder and zirconium silicate can be used stably in the fields of traditional ceramics, daily-use porcelain and special ceramics. Their stability in various materials is relatively good, so they are basically an irreplaceable material. Zirconium silicate is mainly used in the field of daily-use porcelain, exterior wall tiles, floor tiles, sanitary ware, and used in some nuclear facilities as zirconium fiber. Zirconium silicate, which is used for structural ceramics, also uses zirconium silicate, such as ceramic knife special material. In China, the largest amount of zirconium silicate is used in traditional ceramics, and the amount of structural ceramics and functional ceramics is also increasing, but the proportion is not large. The application of zirconium silicate has greatly increased with the increase of traditional ceramic output. In Asia, especially in China, there has been a noticeable increase; in Europe, the relative decline has occurred; in Africa, it is more stable because of the slower development of ceramics there; in the Americas, especially in South America, the consumption is gradually increasing; and the Oceania ceramics industry, which is relatively small, has declined.
Due to the relocation of the entire industry in Foshan, Guangdong, in addition to the traditional daily use of porcelain and sanitary ware for zirconium white glaze, there will be a slight increase. With the relocation of exterior wall and floor tile enterprises, the overall use of zirconium silicate in Foshan has declined. In Heyuan, Qingyuan, Zhaoqing and other production areas, the output of floor tiles has increased, so the amount of zirconium silicate in other areas of Guangdong has increased to a certain extent. In the past two years, due to the relocation of external ceramic tile enterprises and production control, the overall production capacity of Zibo in Shandong has decreased, and the demand for zirconium frit and zircon powder has also declined. However, the amount of use in Linyi, Shandong has been increasing. Fujian's growth in the field of exterior bricks has shown, but as the industry moves abroad, the demand for zirconium silicate as a whole has declined slightly over the past two years. The consumption of zirconium silicate in Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Northeast regions increased slightly.
From the perspective of the entire industry, there are two aspects of zirconium silicate demand for daily-use porcelain. The first aspect is that the use of low-quality raw materials for daily-use porcelain may increase the demand for zirconium silicate, but many daily-use porcelains improve the embryo body. After whiteness, the demand for zirconium silicate will decrease, but the overall trend is still increasing. The second aspect is that the demand for zirconium silicate has increased in the field of interior wall tiles, because the amount of raw materials for making interior wall tiles has decreased, the amount of cosmetic clay and face glaze has increased, and zirconium silicate has continued to increase. In terms of exterior wall tiles, the demand for zirconium silicate from external wall tiles has increased moderately due to the small overall growth of external walls. In terms of ceramic floor tiles, the growth of zirconium silicate is relatively large, because we have only begun to control the application of zirconium silicate in the field of polished tiles in the past three years, but most of these factories have been converted into glazed tiles. The amount of zirconium is also gradually increasing, so we say that the demand for zirconium silicate from domestic antique tiles and glazed floor tiles is gradually increasing. There is a moderate increase in the field of sanitary ceramics.
Traditional ceramic industry has seven requirements for the quality of zircon sand
Generally speaking, zirconium silicate processing is characterized by the independent processing of zircon powder and zirconium silicate from small factories, medium-sized enterprises to large enterprises. However, these enterprises do not produce, because the stability of zirconium silicate is relatively poor and the fineness cannot be guaranteed, so the production enterprises of zirconium silicate show two obvious trends. The first one is the relative expansion. The larger enterprises are generally concentrated in Guangdong. These companies have listing plans. The second is the professional production of zirconium silicate and the planned, intensive, and standardized processes that have improved the stability of zirconium silicate products. Some foreign companies have also made stable zirconium silicate in China. Zirconium silicate The amount is constantly increasing.
Zirconium silicate has two good uses to make it more stable in the ceramic industry. The first is opacification and whitening, and the second is the main crystal phase of colorants. The first is used in ordinary wall and floor tiles, and the second is the coloring material related to wall and floor tiles. In the three major color systems containing zirconium, red and yellow use zirconium silicate as a carrier, so this hair color is stable. Sex is better.
We simply analyze zirconium resources in Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hainan, and South Africa. The quality requirements of zirconium silicate or zircon sand in the traditional ceramics industry are firstly chemical composition; secondly, particle size and distribution; The third is the impurity phase content; the fourth is the loss on ignition and water; the fifth is the quality stability; the sixth is the supply and price; the seventh is the radioactive index. The zirconium content is also an important indicator. Generally speaking, the content of zirconium dioxide in Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hainan, and South Africa can reach 65%. The sands of Australia and Indonesia are better than the sands of China. The zirconium content determines the price of zirconium. Under different process conditions, as the zirconium content increases, the whiteness also increases. In fact, the highest mineral source is 65.5%, and the theoretical composition is 67%. It can be seen that there is a gap of 1-2 percentage points. Speaking of the effect of zirconium content on whiteness, in fact, the zirconium silicate-containing raw material also contains aluminum. As the silicon, zirconium, and magnesium content increases, the Wh value and L value decrease. As the content of zirconium decreases, the overall whiteness also decreases. Therefore, we require that the content of zirconium silicate should be greater than 64%. When the content of zirconium is higher, the price is lower. When the content of zirconium is smaller and the size of D50 is smaller, the price will continue to rise. In addition, experimental data show that if the amount of zirconium silicate in the tile is less than 4%, there is basically no whitening effect, and greater than 14% is waste.
In terms of the use of zirconium silicate, we want to maintain a relatively narrow distribution. D100 is less than 10 μm, D90 is 3-5 μm, and D50 is 1.2-2.0 μm. We generally require D50 to be less than 1.5 μm. This is also the processing of zirconium silicate. Basic corporate requirements.
Prospects and discussions on the future development of zirconium silicate
First, because zirconium silicate has limited resources and is non-renewable, the demand for high-tech ceramics for zirconium materials continues to increase, and its added value is relatively high. The traditional ceramic industry should increase research and development efforts on how to improve the role of zirconium silicate.
Second, the application of zirconium silicate in the traditional ceramic industry is expected to have a particle size of 1.5 μm. Recently, the concept of sub-nanometer and sub-micron is still in the field of zirconium silicate. To improve its opacifying ability and reduce the amount of zirconium silicate (30-40%), it is worth studying from the principle and application. If the production practice proves feasible, more efforts should be made to promote the application.
Third, the demand for zirconium silicate in Chinese traditional ceramics is expected to continue to increase in the next five years, with the main growth coming from ceramic tiles, sanitary ware, colorants and daily-use porcelain.
Fourth, due to the rapid rise of (matt) porcelain glazed tiles in China, the use of zirconium silicate in glazes will also increase significantly in such products.
Fifth, glazed interior wall tiles (ceramics) will increase significantly in recent years, because "township urbanization" and "national construction of new rural policies" will promote the rapid development of housing at the county, town, township, and village levels. Glazed The demand for zircon powder from the frits used in interior wall tiles will also increase significantly.
Sixth, from the global situation, due to the impact of the financial crisis, the traditional ceramics of Italy and Spain have been significantly affected. Their production, consumption and exports have declined to a certain extent. cut back.
Seventh, the production volume of zirconium silicate in developed countries will decrease, while the production volume of zirconium silicate in developing countries, especially China, will increase.
Eighth, the quality of zirconium silicate production and processing in China will continue to improve, and the stability of zirconium silicate will further increase.
