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 Post subject: Energy used and the process of making Cubic Zirconia
PostPosted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:42 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:05 pm
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As a new member, I'm delighted to participate and to try to link to other professioinals in our industry.

I work for a jewellery manufacturer, we often source CZ from various suppliers to fulfill our orders from wholesalers and retailers.

There's been a growing trend of enquiries over especially the last 18 months from our customers wanting to know more about the environmental impact of them trading in jewellery, and so we have dug deep and looked into all aspects of our business processes so that we can give as accurate and open responses as possible to such enquiries.

It's involved and takes time but certainly possible for us to assess and measure our own processes and to come up with statements concerning, for example, the consumption of electricity and other energy sources within our business.

However, things really slow down when we approach our suppliers for pertinent details of what's involved, or consumed or wasted from their own processes - understandably they are mostly very adverse to letting out much detail at all.

Of particular interest to us at this time is the energy consumption associated with the manufacture of CZ and to date we have not been able to ascertain anything specific enough from merely talking with our suppliers. They are keeping their cards very close to their chests.

This post is thus to request any information at all from other forum members who may have some first hand knowledge of this topic. And so I welcome all feedback. I've looked into the Skull Melting process which I understand to be the common production technique for CZ, but getting specific details has not so far been possible.

Specifically I'm trying to find out:

1) what is the typical energy consumption (of electricity, gas, any other type or source) from the manufacture of a single large CZ crystal?

2) what is the typical timeframe of the crystal-making process and what is the typical weight of the produced crystal?

3) relevant to the cutting of that produced crystal, how much crystal can typically be cut into usable and saleable CZ V's how much of that crystal goes to waste upon cutting?

4) I personally dont know if the produced crystal is cut into CZ stones by hand or totally by an automated process (I would have thought that cutting say a large 1 or 2kg crystal output from the Skull Melting process would produce thousands of cut CZ stones and that therefore the whole process might be automated), but I'm also seeking a guide to the energy consumption of the cutting process?

Armed with this information (energy consumption of manufacture of the large crystal, and the cutting of that crystal) I could then calculate the average energy consumption (and cost) of producing say a 10-point CZ stone. This is overall what I'm trying to find out.

I apologise in advance if the question displays any ignorance of the topic, but that's precisely why I have posted here - I dont now and I want and I need to learn about this from anyone with the time and energy and experience to explain or to share some of their knowledge (or suggestions).

Ask me anything relevant also.

Thanks in advance for all replies and feedback.


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 Post subject: Re: Energy used and the process of making Cubic Zirconia
PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:06 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm
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Location: San Francisco
I found this article on energy used in the skull melt process:
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5201257


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 Post subject: Re: Energy used and the process of making Cubic Zirconia
PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:55 am 
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Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:23 am
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The Cubic Zirconia patent has expired, so the production process can vary from crystal grower to crystal grower.

There were different crystal growers in the in the 1970s:
The name Fianit comes from FIAN, the Russian institute and thus Russian breeding.
Ceres Corporation USA called their cultivation Cubic Zirconia.
Djevalith was the calcium-stabilized zirconia from Djeva production.
Europe took the trade name KSZ (kubisch stabilisiertes Zirconiumoxid = cubic stabilized zirconium oxide)

An overview will be given by GIA: https://www.gia.edu/doc/Cubic-Zirconia.pdf

The melted substance is placed in a closed vessel having the same chemical composition as the melt. The cubic zirconia crystals grow as the melt gradually cools. One process takes eight to ten hours and makes it possible to obtain several kilograms of crystals. The diameter of the crystals is heavily influenced by the concentration of Y2O3 stabilizer. The weight is different from clear white to for example topazblue. So you can get only a small 200gr piece in emeraldgreen or on the other hand a 1kg piece in orange or red or a bigger piece in CZ white.

5-20 mostly is rejection and can be added to the new process. If more than 20% are added, this changes the quality into a negative one.

Sorry, Ceres used to have information on their website, but unfortunately it is no longer publicly available. The calcium-stabilized Zirconia from Djeva (Hrand Djevahirdjian SA Montey Switzerland) production is another way to produce Cubic Zirconia.

You must contact your specialist supplier and their industrial crystal grower about energy consumption. In terms of energy consumption, the Ceres Corporation Niagara Falls / Dalloz Group France will produce differently than a crystal grower based in Asia or or anywhere else.

On my opinion, it would not be good for you to pass on information to your customers that is not related to your product but to a potential competitor's product.


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