Project description
Utilising digital technology to enhance safety and efficiency of ceramic tile glazing
Europe boasts world-leading companies in the ceramic tile industry. However, tile manufacturers are challenged by the slow and hazardous glazing methods of screen printing and spraying that result in significant material loss and pose a serious health threat to workers. The EU-funded Glazetile project aims to make use of digital technology to create a safer and more efficient in-line glazing process. It will speed up glazing at reduced costs while producing higher-quality products in a safer working environment. Overall, the project will lead to greater sustainability for European tile manufacturers.
Objective
The ceramic tile industry is a critical industry within the EU, accounting for over 200,000 jobs in the EU-27, with an annual production value of €28 bn. World-leading companies in this sector are headquartered in the EU. According to Grand View Research, the Ceramic Tiles Market size worth is estimated to reach a value of €151.18bn by 2024.
The main challenge faced by the ceramic tile industry is of long processing times – glazing is one main processing stages that is also slow. This process is currently carried out through highly unsustainable screen printing and spraying technologies that uses organic solvents and experience significant glaze and solvent loss. These technologies are slow and pose serious health threat to ceramic tile workers due to continuously exposure to high levels of toxic organic solvent and Silica.
Although inkjet printing for the decoration of ceramic tiles is a mature technology and several machines are currently commercially available, there is currently no digital machine able to apply and dose the ceramic glazes on the tiles in a continuous in-line process. Further spray technologies available use glazes with of <40 microns and mixtures of water and organic solvents in different ratios as suspension media, and thus use a lot of energy in glaze milling and extractors to maintain acceptable level of volatiles in the atmosphere.
The Glazetile project seeks to develop a new family of digital machines (named DigiGlaze and DigiGraphic) to achieve in-line deposition of glass/ceramic glazes using water based suspensions with particle size of < 50 microns. Our water based suspensions eliminate the vapour origins from organic solvents and create a healthier and safer working environment. In addition to this, the glazes deposed with our technology have a better tactile impression when the tile is touched. Glazetile thus reduces the cost of glazing and decorating, producing a higher quality end-product.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcontrol systems
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthoccupational health
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringceramics
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
41126 MODENA
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.