The production of fine vitrified stoneware is in continuous evolution both in terms of quality, for the ever greater aesthetic possibilities defined by research, and of quantity expressed in square meters.

Many manufacturers of vitrified stoneware include in their range the so-called “white” or “extra-white”, that is sometimes obtained through an “ad hoc” body formulation or, in other cases, by adding bleaching agents to the base body such as micronized zirconium silicate and/or alumina with a 4-8% ratio. The first part of the article is a colour comparison between 3 different types of alumina, aimed to sec which among them had the most efficient “bleaching effect” when added to a base body for vitrified stoneware; the second part of the article the other characteristics of the bodies are taken into account.
The most suitable type of alumina has been identified: then the adding of alumina is compared to the adding of zirconium silicate with respect to the general results and changes. The way this work has been developed is reported in full, describing the many different stages, in order to better understand all the passages, including those that apparently seem less important but are linked to each other by the one object of the research.

It is a study of the characteristics of a special alumina used as a raw material for the ceramic tile industry. In the study are described the chemical-physical characteristics, the behaviour in glass and the effects that “Gilox 125” produces in glossy and semi-gloss glazes.

This artiche presents two types of aluminas produced by Alcoa in their S. Ciprian production plants in NW Spain. Following a brief geographic-logistics illustration of the plant and a rapid explanation of the production procedures, the different behaviour of the two products within a porcelain stoneware body is initially given in order to assess its whitening effect.
At the same time a comparison is made with zirconium silicate for quantifying the exsisting relations with the latter.
The report concludes with an out line of each product, both from a chemical-physical and mineralogical point of view together with the implications that derive from their use.

The articles illustrates some soda and potash feldspars produced by the company Felsarda, from the processing of granite rocks quarried in two different deposits of Southern Sardinia.
After a brief description of the production capacity and potential of this new supplier, a lithological and mineralogical description is given of the quarries.
The study is completed with the characterisation of the various products and their introduction in porcelain stoneware bodies, assessing their behaviour in the laboratory and on an industrial case.

The paper presents a new range of trihydroxides aluminas produced by Alcoa in the plant of Bauxite in Arkansas. These are special, very fine precipitated aluminas, conceived for special applications.
After the description of the chemical and physical characteristics, the paper shows the differences between these new aluminas and the traditional hydrated ground aluminas.
Then the paper evaluates the behaviour of these products as the fundamental component of a pigment which is very common in the ceramic industry: cobalt alumina, showing the possible advantages to the ceramic industry and opening the way to a very wide field of research, which as been little studied so far.

The first part of the paper shows the importance of a good logistics for an efficient service to the customers.
Mineral follows down to the smallest details both the transport from the production's plant (that has a strategic position on the Atlantic Ocean) to the customer, and the quality control on the material.
In the second part there's a brief study on the different types of alumina, to determine which is the suitable one for porcelain bodies.