HK-Ceram Ltd., a Hungarian company based in Szentes, launched a development project in consortium with the University of Szeged to explore how the ceramics industry can operate more efficiently while facing increasingly serious environmental challenges.
Kiln operation requires significant energy and produces considerable carbon dioxide emissions. For both economic and environmental reasons, reducing the ceramics industry’s reliance on fossil fuels will become increasingly important in the years ahead. Achieving this is far from simple, and it also requires the modernisation of kiln furniture and firing aids.
Since 2005, HK-Ceram Ltd. has been manufacturing refractory ceramic firing aids used to fire clay roof tiles and other ceramic products in gas-fired kilns. The company employs 100 people at its one-hectare production site. In addition to serving the Hungarian market, it receives orders from many parts of Europe.
In HK-Ceram Ltd.’s EU-funded project, industrial and academic experts worked together to better understand the relationship between material structure and manufacturing processes. They developed a new material composition for producing firing aids, improving the material’s structure and resistance with the help of nanoparticles.
The project examined how the material reacts during firing, how temperature, pressure and firing intensity affect it, and how much stress it can withstand in thermal shock resistance tests. As a result of the three-year development process, a new formulation was created that is comparable to the existing product range in cost, durability and strength, but offers greater heat resistance. By shortening the firing cycle, the new solution can reduce energy consumption by up to 20%.
The project resulted in a new product family and technology that can meet the changing needs of the ceramics industry in the long term. It contributes to making ceramic production more efficient, more cost-effective and more environmentally friendly. As a supplier to manufacturers of clay roof tiles and other fired ceramic products, HK-Ceram Ltd. can also further strengthen its position on the international market.
The development was implemented from EU funding in the project GINOP_PLUSZ-2.1.1-21-2022-00046 under the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme Plus.
Find out more about the project in the Project Finder:Details
