Ceramic granite is divided into the following types: Technical, Decorated, Glazed.
Glazed porcelain granite
Glazed is the most famous and widespread type of porcelain stoneware on the market. The most beautiful and the “weakest” in terms of technical properties. In the production of this product, a mass is used for the production of technical porcelain stoneware; after preliminary drying, it is covered with engobe (a primer, a base for applying dyes), then with dyes to create a pattern and glazes to protect the design. Glazes are left matte or polished. The easiest type of ceramic granite to produce. The product turns out beautiful, it can be medium format, rectified, polished.
Areas of application: indoor spaces with low traffic.
Has PEI 2-3 on dark and 3-4 on light types of designs. Why does PEI (Pattern Fastness Index) vary depending on color? The fact is that when erasing (destroying the design), the engobe is usually visible in white color; the darker the design, the faster we will see the white base when erasing the glaze and design. The main consumer is private individuals.
Decorated ceramic granite
Decorated is a new type of porcelain stoneware that has appeared recently, thanks to the development of decorating technology with digital printers. It has design limitations but “decent” technical properties. No engobe (primer) is used in the production of this product, which allows you to decorate technical granite. That is, the product is closer in its properties to the technical one. The design is applied with digital printers directly onto the body of the porcelain stoneware and is protected with a special protection. This type of application makes the design more resistant to destruction. This allows a PEI of 3-4 to be assigned regardless of the saturation of the design.
Light types of designs can be used indoors and outdoors without restrictions.
It ranks second after technical ceramic granite. The main consumers are market professionals and individuals.
Technical ceramic granite
Technical - the most advanced type of porcelain stoneware, ceramics of the future. Has design limitations, but "excellent" technical properties. In the production of this product, the design is created by pressing powders, pre-colored with natural dyes, into a single monolith using powerful hydraulic presses. Moreover, these powders are obtained by coloring the mass for the production of porcelain stoneware itself. We only obtain stone that is of higher quality in terms of water absorption and strength. The PEI indicator is not used for this type of porcelain tile since the pattern does not wear off or collapse.
Has no restrictions in areas of application.
The most difficult and expensive to produce when creating a design. Inexpensive for the production of purely technical salt-pepper products and light monocolors. The main consumers are market professionals.
Source: Zhelezovsky Valery Nikolaevich, performances 2016-2018.