The production of slurry-cast products begins with selecting qualified raw materials (including natural sillimanite, synthetic mullite, high-alumina clinker, kaolin, etc.). Simultaneously, plaster molds are made according to the product's shape, and a binder (electrolyte) is prepared. Then, the slurry required for casting is prepared.
Next comes the slurry casting process: qualified slurry is slowly poured into the mold, and once full, it is spread evenly. A plasterboard is then placed on top (the upper mold), and the mold is removed. The demolding time depends on the thickness of the blank. After the rough blank is formed, both the inside and outside are finished.
The formed semi-finished product is dried to a certain moisture content before being loaded into a kiln and fired at high temperature to become the finished product. Further processing, product inspection, and packaging are then carried out before shipment.
During the flotation process in the ore beneficiation plant, sillimanite inevitably carries some of the chemical activators used in the flotation, which significantly interferes with the slurry casting performance during product molding. Therefore, careful selection of the binder, i.e., the electrolyte, is crucial for slurry casting to meet the molding requirements of irregularly shaped products.
