Ball clay is a variety of kaolinite that differs from china clay in having higher plasticity and lower refractoriness. It derives its name from being removed from clay pits in ball-like lumps. Ball clay is mixed with less plastic clays to increase plasticity for use in ceramics like sanitaryware, hotel china, and tiles. Common ceramics uses include vitreous sanitaryware, hotel china, floor and wall tiles, spark plug porcelain, and glass melting pot bodies.

2.  Ball Clay
 The wide use of ball clay is mainly due to its
contribution of workability, plasticity and strength to
the bodies in drying.

3. BALL CLAY is a variety of Kaolinite, like china-clay. It
differs from china-clay in having high plasticity and
less refractoriness. In chemical composition, ball and
china clays do not differ greatly except that the former
contains a larger proportion of silica. It has derived its
name from the practice of removing it in the form of
ball-like lumps from the clay pits in the UK.

4. The main utility of ball clay is its plasticity and it is
mixed with non-plastic or less plastic clays to make
them ecquire the requisite plasticity. The high
plasticity of ball clay is attributed to the fact that it is
fine-grained and contains a small amount of
montmorillonite.

5. invarious types of ceramics
composition:
 Vitreous sanitary-ware 10 to 40 %
 Hotel china-ware 6 to 15 %
 Floor and wall tiles 12 to 35 %
 Spark plug porcelain 10 to 35 %
 Semi-vitreous white ware 20 to 45 %
 Saggar bodies 10 to 25 %
 Glass melting-pot bodies 15 to 20 %

6. China Clay
 China clay occurs in the deposits in the form of china
clay rock, a mixture of up to 15 per cent china clay and
up to 10 per cent mica, and the remainder being quartz.

7. China clay
One of the purest of the clays, composed chiefly of the
mineral kaolinite usually formed when granite is
changed by hydrothermal metamorphism. Usage of
the terms china clay and kaolin is not well defined;
sometimes they are used synonymously for a group of
similar clays, and sometimes kaolin refers to those
obtained in the United States and china clay to those
that are imported.

8. China clays have long been used in the ceramic industry,
especially in fine porcelains, because they can be easily
molded, have a fine texture, and are white when fired.
Early 20th Century
China clay in ceramic manufacture, porcelain; bone
china; earthenware; white tile body; graniteware; white
stoneware; glazes.

9. Mid 20th century
Ceramics (excluding refractories), bone china; hard
porcelain (including tiles, tableware, sanitary and
electrical porcelain); fine earthenware; earthenware
(lower grade); earthenware (sanitary); porous wall
tiles; electrical porcelain (England); semi-vitreous
china (American); semi-vitreous porcelain
(American); hotel china (American); household china
(American); belleek (American); glazes (mill additions
and frit additions); porcelain enamels

10. Fire Clay
 A good fireclay should have 24-26% plasticity and
shrinkage after firing should be within 6-8% maximum.
It should also not contain more than 25% Fe2O3.
The Present Scenario
Because of the abundant supply of fireclay and its
comparative cheapness, the refractory bricks made out
of it are the most common and extensively used in all
places of heat generation

11. A group of refractory clays which can stand
temperatures above Pyrometric Cone Equivalent
(PCE) 19 are called fireclay. The clay which fuses below
PCE 19 is not included under refractory. Fireclay is
essentially of kaolinite group and has a composition
similar to that of china-clay.

12. In nature it is usually found to contain 24-32 per cent
Al2O3, 50-60% SiO2 and LOI between 9 to 12%.
Impurities like oxides of calcium, iron, titanium and
magnesium and alkalies are invariably present,
making it white, grey and black in colour.

13. Kaolinite
 Aluminum Silicate Hydroxide
Al2Si2O5(OH)4
Kaolinite shares the same chemistry as the minerals
halloysite, dickite and nacrite.

14. The History Says
Kaolinite is also known as china clay and kaolin,
named after Gaoling ("High Hill") in Jingde Town,
Jiangxi, China. It was Discovered in the year 1867 in
Kao-Ling, China.
The Present Scenario
Kaolinite is important to the production of ceramics
and porcelain, and to produce glossy paper for
magazines.

15. Kaolinite is a common phyllosilicate mineral. It is named
for its type locality, Kao-Ling, Jianxi, China. It forms
Kaolinite Group, members of which even belong to
larger general group, Clays. Kaolinite's structure is
composed of silicate sheets (Si2O5) bonded to gibbsite
layers, aluminum oxide/hydroxide layers, Al2(OH)4.

16. Feldspar
 KAlSi3O8 - Orthoclase
KAlSi3O8 - Microcline
NaAlSi3O8 - CaAl2Si2O8 - Plagioclase
In the manufacture of high-class, colourless glass,
feldspar should have a maximum of 0.1% Fe2O3 though
upto 0.3% is permissible.

17. Feldspar is generally used for three purposes
 In making the body composition of several types of
procelain, china and earthenware and also in the
preparation of glazes and enamel.
 As an important ingredient in the glass sand batch.
 As a bonding agent in the manufacture of bonded abrasives
like wheels and discs of garnet, corundum, emery etc.
The glass and ceramic industries are the major consumers of
feldspar and account for 95% of the total consumption.

18. In ceramic bodies, the main vitrifying (fluxing) agent is
feldspar. The majority of white ware bodies contain
good proportions of feldspar. It acts as a flux. In the
ceramic industry, the flux is defined as that portion of
the body which develops glass phase. This is provided
mostly by feldspar. The amount of flux in a ceramic
body should be only in such a proportion as to develop
the desired amount of vitrification. If excess of flux is
added, the fired body becomes very glassy and
consequently, brittle.