A MERICAN M ARAZZI T ILE

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P ROCESS D ESCRIPTION

NONMETALLIC MINERAL PROCESSING

, This includes the receipt of the raw materials by truck (shale, clay, ne pheline syenite, feldspar, talc, and sand) and their storage in one of two raw material storage areas. These materials are moved by a front-end loader and lo aded into a feed hopper. With the exception of the shale and clay, these materials are metered directly out onto a conveyor system that transports the material to storage silos. The shale and clay material is processed th rough a crusher prior to being conveyed to a storage silo. From the storage silos, raw materials are transported by conveyors to surge hoppers that feed the individual continuous mills. These materials are then metered into a continuous ball mill where water is added and then milled to the desired consistency and viscosity creating a mud like slurry call ed "slip." Upon completion of th e milling process, the slip is pumped in to a concrete slip tank where it is stored before spray drying. This process does not have any potential to emit HAPS.

S PRAY D RYING

, The slip is then pumped, at high pressure, into one of three spray dryers (atomizer) through a series of nozzles that cause the slip to be sprayed as a fine mist into an encl osed hot air stream that dries the slip to a fine powder, with a low moisture content, that is known by two synonymous terms "Body Material" or "Prill". This prill material is transpor ted via conveyor systems to the prill silos. The spray dryers are fueled by natu ral gas. The emission of HAPs is not anticipated to occur from this process.

T ILE B ODY S TORAGE AND C ONVEYING

, The tile body material "prill" is stored in silos until needed in production. When needed the prill is fed from the bottom of the storage silos onto to a series of conveyor systems that transports the prill to the presses. A diverter is used to cha nnel the body material to the appropriate press surge hopper. This process does not ha ve any potential to emit HAPS.

T ILE P RESSING

, The prill is gravity fed from the press surge hoppers into the press di es and pressed into individual tiles (final shape) of various sizes by means of an automatic hydraulic press. This process does not have any potential to emit HAPS.

September 10,2008American Marazzi Tile, Inc Process Description September 10, 2008

T ILE D RYING ,
The individual pressed tiles are transported by roller conveyor to either a vertical dryer or a horizontal five channel roller dryers to further reduce the moisture content of individual pressed
tiles. These dried tiles are referre d to as "green tile" and this drying process provides the green tiles with sufficient strength to undergo glazing and tr ansfer to the kilns. Press dryers are fueled by natural gas. The emission of HAPs is not anticipated to occur from this process.



### G LAZE 

### P REPARATION



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Glazes and glaze pastes, which are two distinct t ypes of glazing material, are prepared in this step. Frits, small amounts of clays, stains a nd other material are batched and milled until the desired consistency and color is achieved. Glaze pa stes involve taking sets amount of material and mixing them together until the desired paste like consistency and color are achieved. Minor amounts of HAP metals may be emitted from this process.

G LAZING

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This manufacturing step consists of the applica tion of thin uniform coats of two distinct types of glazing material; glaze and glaze paste to the green tile. Glazes may be applied by means of an air spray, bell (waterfall), or rotating disc in a totally enclosed environment. Glaze pastes are applied by means of either a static or ro tating silkscreen technique. Normally, several layers of glazes and glaze pastes are applied to each tile to prov ide the final decorative surface. Minor amounts of HAP metals may be emitted from this process.

F IRING ,
This step involves heating of the tiles to v itrify (make glass-like) and fuse (bond) the glaze material permanently to the surf ace of the tile body. The green tiles are fed into a fast fire roller kiln and fired according to a predetermined temperature curve that exposes the tiles to a maximum temperature of approxima tely 2,000°F and then cooled rapidly by an indirect cooling system. This process results in the formation of an attractive produc t in which the glazing materials and tile body is fused permanently together . Natural gas is used as fuel to heat the kilns. Emissions of HAPs (Hydrogen Chloride and Hydrogen Fluoride are emitted during this process. The emission of HAP metals are not anticipated to occu r from this process.

S ELECTION AND P ACKAGING , In this process tile is inspected and graded for conformity to established product quality standards. After grading, the tile is boxed and pall etized. Pallets of tile are then stored prior to sale and shipment to customers. No air emissi ons are associated with this operating scenario. This process does not have any potential to emit HAPS.

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