The document describes Ukraine Premiere clays that are engineered for optimal performance in tile pressing applications. They possess excellent plasticity and strength from a unique illitic mineralogy. Key features include high strength, low color, and stable shrinkage at low firing temperatures. The clays are well-suited for large format, super thin tiles and improve pressing and firing characteristics of porcelain tiles through enhanced plasticity, strength, and dimensional accuracy. Trial data shows formulations using these clays achieve improved whiteness and mechanical properties compared to local clays.

1. TILE PRESSING CLAYS
reduce production costs through greater flexibility

2. Optimum performance for modern tile manufacturing
The Premiere™ range of plastic clays (ball clays) are carefully selected, engineered mineral products designed to give optimum
performance in tile pressing applications.
Sibelco Ukrainian Premiere tile pressing clays have been engineered using mineralogically unique feed clays which are blended to
have excellent plasticity and strength. They possess an exceptionally unique illitic mineralogy which combines very high dry strength,
plasticity and high vitrification together with stable shrinkage at low firing temperatures.
These low carbon clays are ideal components to control thermal expansion, dimensional accuracy and fired colour in high quality tile
applications
Key Features of the Ukraine Premiere range include:
• exceptionally high strength & plasticity
• low colouring oxides
• low carbon
• high fusibility with controlled vitrification & shrinkage
They are ideally suited as the sole clay in a formulation or can be used to improve the performance of local clays.
Recommended Applications
Recommended Tile Applications
Glazed Unglazed
Product Wall Floor
Porcellanto Porcellanto
DBY – 4 
DBK – 0  
DBK – 1   
DBK – 2E  
The Ukraine Premiere range is especially suited for making large format, super thin tiles due to their exceptional plasticity which
supports improved mechanical resistance and high dimensional accuracy.
Premiere products can benefit customer production processes by improving pressing and firing characteristics of porcelain tile due to:
• low colouring oxides = white firing colour
• unique mineralogy = high plastic unfired strength & production yield
• high alkali content = low fired porosity & improved frost resistance
• consistency in quality variations = high first grade tile production & minimized size variation for end customer
products
Chemical and Analytical Data – typical values which do not represent a
specification
Property unit DBY – 4 DBK – 0 DBK – 1 DBK – 2E
SiO2 Mass % 60.0 61.0 62.0 66.0
Al2O3 Mass % 26.0 25.0 24.0 21.0
Fe2O3 Mass % 1.0 1.1 1.2 0.9
TiO2 Mass % 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7
K2O Mass % 2.6 2.4 2.3 2.5
Loss on Ignition % 7.2 7.1 6.8 6.0
Modulus of Rupture (dried 110°C) Mpa 9.0 8.5 8.5 8.0
Residue > 125µm % greater 4.5 4.8 4.8 5.0
Particle size @ 2µm % finer 75 75 75 75

3. The Ukraine Premiere range of products offers significant advantages over locally available tile pressing clays.
Their unique mineralogy and pressing characteristics can improve plasticity and breakage resistance:
Figure 1: Plot of modulus of rupture against strain to illustrate the difference in overall unfired strength improvement in a standard vitreous
porcelain body against local plastic clays
20
18 Body
Standard
16
14
Body
12 3% Figure 2: Calculated body “toughness”
Premiere
-2
MOR/Kg cm
10 Toughness
8
Body
/kg cm-2
5%
6 Premiere Body Standard 0.000651
4
Body 3% Premiere 0.001191
2 Body
10%
0
Premiere Body 5% Premiere 0.001149
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016
Body 10% Premiere 0.001254
Strain (%)
Premiere products have high vitrification yet stable linear shrinkage, optimising firing cycle times and providing greater dimensional
accuracy.
Figure 3: Vitrification properties: water absorption & linear shrinkage
contraction %
Water absorption %
o
o
Temperature C Temperature C
When fired to the same temperature, there is no significant change in visual properties (L*a*b*) between the trial body formulations.
However, if we compare the whiteness at similar water absorption, by plotting % water absorption against L, then significant
improvements in whiteness can be seen by using Premiere products, especially at low water absorption values.
Figure 4: Plot of L* against % water absorption
Whiteness (L)
Water absorption %
Trial data is based on comparisons of Premiere DBK-0 to local clay used in a large format pressed vitreous stoneware tile formulation. Utilising feldspar @ 55%, Kaolin @ 5%,
Silica @ 8%, Talc @ 2% and local plastic clay @ 30%.

4. over 220 production sites
in more than 40 countries
www.sibelcoceramics.com
e-mail: qualityceramics@sibelco.com