METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THERMAL CONDITIONING OF WET CERAMIC PRODUCTS

摘要

The present method and apparatus for thermal conditioning of wet ceramic materials or articles before drying, enables the crack-free and rapid drying of ceramic materials or articles, improves quality and reduces overall production time and cost, even of clay products with a high concentration of high plasticity clay. The method offers a significant increase in productivity of a factory without major restructuring or changes to the factory or the production method. The method is characterised by multi-level irradiation of wet ceramic materials or articles using small, localised sources of electromagnetic radiation so that the temperature of the water inside the wet ceramic materials or articles is raised uniformly and quickly to near the boiling point before they enter the drier, keeping the surface temperature of the ceramic materials or articles lower that the centre without drying.