Midstream quality control in drywall production using a quantitative phase analysis of stucco.

At the midstream of drywall production, gypsum raw material is calcinated to make stucco, which contains not only calcium sulfate hemihydrate (the desired constituent), but also gypsum (under-calcinated), soluble calcium sulfate (over-calcinated), and insoluble phases. Here, we propose a quantitative phase analysis that measures the amount of all calcium sulfate phases in the stucco mix. The phase content was calculated using calcination mass loss and hydration mass gain of original, semi-hydrated, and fully hydrated samples. The proposed uncomplicated sample preparation and conventional measurement routines make it an excellent on-site quality control measure in an industrial setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]