Oven-Dewatering of Otamiri Clays Designated for Production of Porcelain and Multi-Factorial Analysis of Periodic Water Loss

C. I. Nwoye^1, , E. Obidiegwu², E. M. Ameh³ and S. O. Nwakpa¹

¹Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

²Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria

³Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Enugu State University of Science & Technology, Enugu Nigeria

Cite this paper:
C. I. Nwoye, E. Obidiegwu, E. M. Ameh and S. O. Nwakpa. Oven-Dewatering of Otamiri Clays Designated for Production of Porcelain and Multi-Factorial Analysis of Periodic Water Loss. Materials Science and Metallurgy Engineering. 2014; 2(2):11-16. doi: 10.12691/msme-2-2-1

Abstract

Oven-dewatering of Otamiri clay designated for production of porcelain was carried out over a time and temperature range: 30-130 mins. and 80-110°C respectively, following a well strategize step-wise preparation of the clay in as-mine condition. Multi-factorial analysis of periodic water loss during the drying process was also carried out using a derived empirical model. Water loss at 100°C by evaporation through a rectangular surface was found to be least compared to other drying temperatures considered irrespective of the drying time. This was basically due to the fall-back of condensed part of the water leaving the drying clay as steam, since steam can re-convert to water without any change in temperature. Evaluations from generated results indicate that the evaporation rates of the Otamiri clay and the standard error incurred in predicting water loss for each value of the drying times considered, as obtained from experiment, derived model and regression model were 0.0770, 0.0733 and 0.0733g min^-1 as well as 0.8051, 2.1 x 10^-4 and 3.45 x 10^-5 % respectively. The maximum deviation of the model-predicted water loss (from experimental results) was less than 20%, implying a model confidence level above 80%.

Keywords:
Oven-dewatering water loss analysis Otamiri clay porcelain

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