I.C.F. & Welko returns to Pakistan with Master Tile

A contract between I.C.F. & Welko and Master Tile Pakistan was signed in early January for the supply of a complete plant with a capacity of 24,000 sq.m/day, which will be used to produce various kinds of tiles (porcelain, glazed stoneware and monoporosa) in sizes up to 800x800 cm.

Master Tile, owned by Dr. Sheikh Mahmood Iqbal, is today Pakistan’s largest ceramic tile manufacturer. The facility in Gujranwala, Punjab, has a production capacity of 50,000 sq.m/day. The new line is due to begin production towards the end of 2017 and will strengthen the company’s leadership position in terms of both quality and output and will make it more competitive in international markets.

The main characteristic of the plant designed and built by I.C.F. & Welko is its versatility. It will be able to produce porcelain tiles, glazed stoneware floor tiles and monoporosa tiles depending on market demand. It will also be fully automated – from raw materials weighing through to palletisation of packaged boxes – in keeping with the standards of the most advanced Italian technology.

Depending on the required ceramic body, the raw materials are sent to a pair of continuous mills after weighing. Two 6,000,000 kcal/h spray dryers (running on natural gas or coal) will supply the basic spray-dried body, while a third 2,000,000 kcal/h spray dryer will produce the coloured spray-dried body for double filling. The pressing department will be equipped with three WK2 6300 presses with a pressing force of more than 6,000 tons, while drying will be performed in two five-channel horizontal dryers. The glazing lines will be equipped with 8-colour-bar digital screen printing machines. From the unfired product storage area, the material will be sent to the WFR2 “Special Edition” twin-channel kiln equipped with highly sophisticated combustion and cooling control devices already adopted by I.C.F. & Welko for firing porcelain panels more than 4 metres in length.

The order will also include the fired product storage line, the finishing department with a polishing line and a series of squaring machines, and the end-of-line plant consisting of sorting lines with electronic surface control and palletisers.