Ariostea high-tech. (Ceramic Tiles at Cersaie).

Several new marble and stone flooring materials were on display at the Ariostea high-tech stand at Cersaie 2002. New marbles included Travertino Navona, which reproduces the classic light-coloured marble found in many Roman monuments, complete with its soft shaded tones and light veining; Verdi Alpi, a classical green veined material, and reproductions of two well-known Spanish marbles, Dark Emperador and Crema Valencia. They are available in sizes of 600mm square, 400mm square and 300mm square. The company manufactures flooring materials which re-create the appearance of natural marble and stone; they are extremely durable with high resistance to abrasion, flexion, frost and chemicals and practically impervious (average coefficient of absorption 0.04%). Slabs are homogeneous -- the rich and varied colours and veining of the marbles and the granular textures of granites run through the body of the material. The process of manufacture begins with the wet-grinding of raw materials -- quartz, clay, kaolin and fe ldspar -- into micron-sized particles. Most of the water is then removed by evaporation, and the mixture is then coloured using chromophone minerals such as cobalt and iron; the process is controlled with extreme precision to produce variegated hues and subtle variations from one tile to another. The slabs are shaped and the surface textured by a hydraulic press which operates to a pressure of 200 to 500Kg/[m.sup.2]. They are then dried and fired in a kiln to a temperature which gradually increases to a maximum of 1300[degrees]C. After cooling the products are finished and checked for dimensional accuracy and quality. The process involves available natural materials and local methane gas. Life cycle analysis details can be found in a technical handbook available from Ariostea.

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