An upgrade to benefit "Mother Nature"

Replace the unbelievably inefficient driers

For efficient powderization, grinding mills need dry clay. But Plainsman driers are unbelievably inefficient; basically, they are concrete saunas. Four tons of clay go in each of four; their 22 total burners go night and day for 10-11 months a year. And have done so for the past 50 years!

Thus, the equivalent of two full-blast burner-hours is needed to dry each box of clay from the 8-10% in the raw lump form down to 2-3% moisture. This is enough to fire the large gas kiln to bisque! A paved yard area for simple sun-drying would replace, reduce, or even replace these old driers (summer heat and dry weather are guaranteed here).

The ultimate: A rotary dryer. These are a standard for continuous processing in a wide range of bulk material processing industries (e.g. grains, seed, fertilizers, feeds, cereals, beans, wood chips, sawdust, chemicals, waste products, sand, gravel).

Related Pictures

An All-Canadian Fine Ball Clay is in Sight!

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On the right is Plainsman A2 ball clay with 35% nepheline syenite added to vitrify it around cone 6 (these bars are fired at cone 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 - top to bottom). The grinding equipment can process it to 42 mesh, as has been done since the 1970s. On the left is a Flintoft ball clay (cone 10R top and 10, 9, 8, etc - top to bottom). But this is the raw material, just slaked (not ground). It reaches zero porosity at cone 6 without a feldspar addition (because Mother Nature has added it for us). And the plasticity? This ball clay dry shrinks 9%, it is super plastic, much more than the A2/feldspar mix. While nearby deposits also contain refractory ball clays, this one is truly something special. It enables not just highly plastic vitreous stonewares but it fires white enough to be a potential ingredient in an All-Canadian plastic cone 6 porcelain. In an unexpected turn of events, there is an opportunity to get this clay in a way that is much easier than expected. Mixing this with PR3D has been tested, the best material in the Ravenscrag quarry - together the two can make killer clay bodies!

Here is why new grinding equipment is needed

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These two pieces have been fired to cone 6, without glaze, I use this as a way of comparing changes in the character of the fired surface over time. These are made from a mix of A3 and 3B, the two main raw stoneware clays. The mix has been ground to 42 mesh (using a hammer mill). These materials vary in the amount of sand they contain and the amount of iron stone concretion particulates, so smoother and more speckle-free than this as a matter of normal variation. Plainsman has made sandy and speckled clays like this for so long that they seem normal. Yes, rustic bodies do have their appeal. However, the limits of the particle size reduction equipment and current quarry materials have resulted in importing American materials to satisfy customers who want smoother, whiter, more plastic and more vitreous bodies. Plainsman is now producing tens of thousands of boxes a year made from these imported materials! Transporting expensive clays at great distances begs the question of why not better leverage the clay resources that are right here. That, and associated independence, quality and lower production costs, are hopefully coming soon.

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