Home Assignment No, 4

Chem. Engg, Dept. Batch -- 6 8/6/2016

Marks: 10 to deposited 15 th June.

Write down all the chemical reactions

involved in the manufacture of single supper
phosphate (SSP) - (5)
Draw the flow sheet diagram for the
manufacture of cement by wet process and
explain the temperatures zones in the kiln.
(5)
 What is Ceramic
Ceramics are classified as inorganic and
nonmetallic materials that are essential to
our daily lifestyle. Ceramists and material
engineers are the people who design the
processes in which these products can be
made, create new types of ceramic
products, and find different uses for
ceramic products in everyday life.
Ceramics are all around us. This
category of materials includes things like
tile, bricks, plates, glass, and toilets.
Ceramics can be found in products like
watches (quartz tuning forks-the time
 What is Ceramic
Ceramic material can also be found on space shuttles,
appliances (enamel coatings), and airplanes (nose cones).
Depending on their method of formation, ceramics can be
dense or lightweight. Typically, they will demonstrate
excellent strength and hardness properties; however, they
are often brittle in nature. Ceramics can also be formed to
serve as electrically conductive materials, objects allowing
electricity to pass through their mass, or insulators,
materials preventing the flow of electricity. Some ceramics,
like superconductors, also display magnetic properties.
Ceramics are generally made by taking mixtures of clay,
earthen elements, powers, and water and shaping them
into desired forms. Once the ceramic has been shaped, it is
fired in a high temperature oven known as a kiln. Often,
ceramics are covered in decorative, waterproof, paint-like
substances known as glazes.
 Ceramic Processing

Ceramic processing is used to produce

commercial products that are very diverse in
size, shape, detail, complexity, and material
composition, structure, and cost. The purpose of
ceramics processing to an applied science is the
natural result of an increasing ability to refine,
develop, and characterize ceramic materials.
Ceramics are typically produced by the
application of heat upon processed clays and
other natural raw materials to form a rigid
product. Ceramic products that use naturally
occurring rocks and minerals as a starting
material must undergo special processing in
order to control purity, particle size, particle size
distribution, and heterogeneity. These attributes
 Ceramic Processing
Chemically prepared powders also
are used as starting materials for
some ceramic products. These
synthetic materials can be controlled
to produce powders with precise
chemical compositions and particle
size.
The next step is to form the ceramic
particles into a desired shape. This is
accomplished by the addition of
water and/or additives such as
 Ceramic Processing
. After the particles are formed, these
"green" ceramics undergo a heat-
treatment (called firing or sintering) to
produce a rigid, finished product. Some
ceramic products such as electrical
insulators, dinnerware and tile may then
undergo a glazing process. Some
ceramics for advanced applications may
undergo a machining and/or polishing
step in order meet specific engineering
design criteria
 Ceramic Properties
The properties of ceramic
materials, like all materials, are
dictated 1. by the types of
atoms present, 2. the types of
bonding between the atoms, 3.
and the way the atoms are
packed together. This is known
as the atomic scale structure.
Most ceramics are made up of
two or more elements. This is
 Ceramic Properties
The atoms in ceramic materials are held
together by a chemical bond. The two most
common chemical bonds for ceramic
materials are covalent and ionic. For metals,
the chemical bond is called the metallic
bond. The bonding of atoms together is
much stronger in covalent and ionic bonding
than in metallic. That is why, generally
speaking, metals are ductile and ceramics
are brittle. Due to ceramic materials wide
range of properties, they are used for a
multitude of applications.
 Ceramic Properties
In general, most ceramics are:
Hard,
wear-resistant,
brittle,
refractory,
thermal insulators,
electrical insulators,
nonmagnetic,
oxidation resistant,
prone to thermal shock, and
chemically stable
 Technical Ceramics Material Properties

Ceramic materials used as technical ceramics or advanced

ceramics in technical applications must satisfy extremely high
demands in terms of their properties. The property spectrum
ranges from wear and heat resistance, temperature and
corrosion resistance all the way to biocompatibility and food
compatibility.
Flexural strength
Biocompatibility
Chemical resistance
Density and stiffness (Youngs modulus)
Compressive strength
Electrical insulation
Dielectric strength
Hardness
Technical Ceramics Material Properties

Corrosion resistance
Food compatibility
Piezo-electricity and dynamics
Temperature resistance
Thermal shock and fluctuation resistance
Metalization (joining technology)
Wear resistance
Thermal expansion
Thermal insulation
Thermal conductivity
These diverse properties make it possible to use technical
ceramics in a variety of applications in the
automotive industry, electronics, medical technology,
energy and environment and in
general equipment and mechanical engineering.
 Manufacturing Methods
All ceramics start as a mixture of powdered base material
(Zirconia, etc.), binders and stabilizers. This mixture is
"formed" into shapes and then fired (sintered) at high
temperature to create hard, dense materials. Forming is
done using standard processes such as pressing,
extruding, injection molding, tape casting or slip casting.
Ceramics can also be machined prior to being fired using
standard machine tools in a process known as "green
machining." Green machining is inexpensive because
unfired material is soft. However, firing causes ceramics
to lose 20% to 40% of their volume; therefore, green
machining followed by firing is suitable only for those
applications with loose tolerances (~1% of characteristic
lengths). In contrast, tight tolerance parts must be
machined using high speed, diamond tools after ceramics
are fired.
Process flow diagram
Process flow diagram
Block Diagram
 Ceramic Material
Sintering (Firing)
Ceramics are consolidated into dense material
by exposing them to 1800C - 2000C for days
or weeks at a time, depending on the ceramic
and process details. The addition of the thermal
energy promotes strong bonds between the raw
ceramic particles, leading to densification.
Green machined, near net shapes or raw stock
material can be sintered. Knowledgeable
ceramics manufacturers are very adept at
accounting for volumetric shrinkage.
Chemical reactions
Chemical Reaction
Ceramic Plant
 Ceramic Material
Hot Pressing
Hot pressing combines the forming
and firing steps to produce relatively
simple geometric shapes. The
ceramic powder is simultaneously
subjected to sintering temperatures and
uniaxial pressure. Simple shapes are
generated by placing the raw material in
a high temperature die while under load.
Ceramic Production Unit
 Ceramic Material
Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP)

Hot isostatic pressing is a uniform pressure assisted

method of sintering ceramics into simple and complex
shapes. The pressure, usually applied via an inert gas like
Argon to prevent reactions, significantly reduces porosity
and therefore improves physical properties. Often times,
the pressurization process is preceded by evacuating all air
to reduce moisture and impurities. In order for the hot
isostatic press process to work, the green ceramic must be
placed in a gas tight container. An alternative method is to
pre-sinter the ceramic to remove porosity at the surfaces.
In this way, the ceramic material itself acts as the pressure
vessel. Hot isostatic pressing differs from isostatic pressing
in that the former applies uniform pressure to the ceramic
during sintering.
 Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
Chemical vapor deposition is the process of converting
gases (called precursors) into solids by continuously
depositing monolayers of material onto a heated
substrate. This is a thermodynamically driven process,
so control of substrate temperature and chamber
pressure is critical. Certain ceramic materials, such as
Silicon Carbide and Silicon Nitride, can be manufactured
using chemical vapor deposition techniques. Shapes are
formed using sacrificial targets pre machined into the
desired shape of the part. Although the resulting
material is much more expensive than its conventionally
made counterparts, the cost is warranted by
applications requiring superior physical properties.
 Reaction Bonding
Reaction bonding uses a chemical reaction to bind
ceramic powders into a solid form. After forming,
the binder is burned off to create a porous
perform, and then capillary pressure is used to
infiltrate liquefied reactants (different reactants
for different ceramics) into the perform at
temperatures just above the ceramic melting
point. The resulting reaction creates the solid
ceramic form. For example, liquefied Si is used in
reaction bonded Silicon Carbide. The main
disadvantage of reaction bonded ceramics is that
it leads to relatively high porosity
Ceramic Materials
Ceramic Materials
Ceramic Materials
Ceramic Materials