• MTEC Director Initiative Program
• Project Leader : Dr. Duangduen Atong ( )

   Alumina usage in the ceramic industry accounts for small fraction when compare to other raw materials such as clay but it is a portion which generates significant value added, specialty products, widely used in several operations. Products which require addition of alumina are those in which high strength, high hardness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance at elevated temperature are essential. 

   More than 77% of Thailand’s ceramic industry is traditional ceramics while only around 2% is based on advanced materials. Over 80% of advanced ceramic parts and products are imported, and the few that are manufactured within the country are mainly by foreign companies, particularly by Japanese. In addition, these manufactured ceramics usually contain low amounts of alumina. Therefore, the development of proprietary alumina formulations for domestic usage is vital to the promotion of the local advanced ceramic industry.

   In this work, the development of alumina formulations with purity in the range of 80-95% had been carried out for production of alumina granule via a spray dry process for use in the fabrication of alumina product by the dry pressing process. This would allow the production of complex alumina parts at various purity levels required by the industrial sector. The production variables studied were content of alumina and other components such as clay, dolomite and celsian, the addition of binder, as well as optimal conditions for the spray drying process. Emphasis had been placed on formulas which utilize the locally available raw materials to replace imported ones. 

Benefit from this Project

   This project resulted in the manufacture of various alumina granule and alumina ceramic prototypes with a purity of 80-95% from partial supplements of domestic raw materials. The overall properties of these prototypes are comparable with those made of imported raw materials while improvement of some properties such as hardness and tensile strength are observed. The saving from using locally available raw material to produce this alumina would be beneficial to the country since these alumina products are as much as 11-12% more economical when compared to those using all imported raw materials. In addition to the making of this alumina prototype, the information, data, and know-how with regard to this project have widely been shared by seminars, workshop as well as by publication to gain acceptance and confidence from any interested industrial parties. 

Research team