Kütahya focuses on large-size tiles

The Turkish group Kütahya, the world leading manufacturer of ceramic and porcelain tableware with a production capacity of 100 million pieces/year, and one of the biggest turkish ceramic tile producers with 5 plants and a capacity of 20 million sq.m/year which will increase to 28 million by the end of 2013, signed an agreement on 20 March this year with System Group for the construction of a facility built entirely around the innovative Gea 40000t press. This mould-less system for pressing standard spray-dried powder was developed from Lamina technology and will produce large ceramic panels in sizes up to 240x120 cm with thicknesses from 6 to 12 mm (the start-up is planned for spring of 2014).

The plant is designed for a production capacity of 8,000 sq.m/day, equivalent to around 2.5 million sq.m/year, and will produce unglazed tiles decorated in the body using a dry process, digitally decorated glazed tiles and tiles textured at the press.

Along with the Gea 40000t press, the heart of the plant, the line will also feature a multi-level horizontal dryer and a conventional gas kiln with energy recovery to minimise consumption. The tiles will be decorated using the Creadigit high-definition digital printer with a resolution of 400 dpi, equipped with 22 heads and 5 colour bars. A high level of automation will also be achieved at the end-of-line stage, where we will use a Nuova Era storage system, an Easy Gecko sorting line and a new 4Phases packaging line, which will allow for the production of packaging tailored to the product size without wasting cardboard.

But along with automation, the line also focuses on cutting energy and materials consumption. It requires very little human intervention and achieves electrical energy savings of 50% (the Gea press consumes 0.23 kWh/sq.m compared to the 0.47 kWh/sq.m of a conventional press). The system for recovering heat from the kiln also brings thermal energy savings. 4Phases allows for up to 80% savings on cardboard for packaging and, equally importantly, products will be manufactured without the use of additives. Another key characteristic of the Gea 40000t press is the perfect flatness of the produced surfaces, which allows for savings in the subsequent finishing and polishing processes. This has positive effects in terms of production costs, which together with high product quality leads to greater competitiveness.

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