Name | Silica sand |
Synonyms | Silica sand |
Use | Use for pet bedding. |
Silicon sand, also known as silica or quartz sand. It is a refractory particle with quartz as the main mineral component and a particle size of 0.020mm-3.350mm. According to different mining and processing methods, it is divided into artificial silica sand, water washed sand, scrubbed sand, selected (flotation) sand, and other natural silica sand. Silicon sand is a hard, wear-resistant, and chemically stable silicate mineral, with the main mineral component being SiO2. The color of silicon sand is milky white or colorless and translucent, with a hardness of 7. It is brittle and has no cleavage, a shell like fracture, a greasy luster, and a relative density of 2.65. Its chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties have obvious anisotropy, are insoluble in acid, slightly soluble in KOH solution, and have a melting point of 1750 ℃. The color is milky white, light yellow, brown, and gray, and silica sand has high fire resistance.
Overview of application fields
Silica sand is an important industrial mineral raw material, widely used in industries such as glass, casting, ceramics and refractory materials, metallurgy, construction, chemical engineering, plastics, rubber, abrasives, etc.
1、 Glass: The main raw materials for flat glass, float glass, glass products (glass cans, glass bottles, glass tubes, etc.), optical glass, glass fibers, glass instruments, conductive glass, glass cloth, and radiation resistant special glass
2、 Ceramic and refractory materials: raw materials for porcelain, including high silicon bricks, ordinary silicon bricks, and silicon carbide used in kilns.
3、 Metallurgy: Raw materials or additives, fluxes for silicon metal, silicon iron alloy, and silicon aluminum alloy, etc
4、 Building: Concrete, cementitious materials, road building materials, artificial marble, cement physical performance testing materials (i.e. cement standard sand), etc. 5. Chemical industry: raw materials such as silicon compounds and water glass, fillers for sulfuric acid towers, amorphous silica micropowder
6、 Machinery: The main raw materials for casting sand, grinding materials (sandblasting, hard grinding paper, sandpaper, sandcloth, etc.)
7、 Electronics: high-purity metal silicon, communication optical fibers, etc
8、 Rubber, plastic: filler (can improve wear resistance)
9、 Coating: Filler (can improve the acid resistance of the coating)
10、 Aerospace: Its inherent molecular chain structure, crystal shape, and lattice changes are characterized by high temperature resistance, low thermal expansion coefficient, corrosion resistance, high insulation, piezoelectric effect, resonance effect, and unique optical characteristics.
Industrial applications
1. Application in glass: Based on the content, purity, and chemical composition of silica sand, silica sand can be used to make different types of glass, such as ordinary sodium calcium silicate glass, colored glass with added colorants, optical glass that can change the direction of light propagation, special glass with special functions, thermal insulation glass, vacuum glass, conductive glass, as well as glass instruments and daily utensils made of glass, such as glass cups Glasses, microwave turntables, mobile phone screens, etc.
2. Application in ceramics: The whiteness of ceramics has a significant impact on the quality of ceramics. In order to improve its whiteness, some silica sand can be added to the ceramic raw materials, and the addition of silica sand can also reduce the drying time of the ceramic body, avoiding cracks caused by slow drying. At the same time, the addition of silica sand will eliminate the phenomenon of peeling on the ceramic surface, so the addition of silica sand greatly improves the quality of ceramics. In addition to its application in ceramics, silica sand can also be finely ground to form powder, which is used for the preparation of enamel. The preparation of enamel requires higher purity of silica sand.
3. Application in casting: Silicon sand has unique physical properties such as thermal shock resistance and high hardness, making it widely used in the casting of mold cores, molds, and other materials. When making ceramics, there are relatively high requirements for the chemical composition of silica sand, but casting requires higher physical properties of silica sand, such as the particle size and shape of silica sand particles.
4. Application in aerospace: Due to its excellent piezoelectric effect, high insulation, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, and other properties, silicon sand is not found in other materials, and therefore has very important applications in aviation and aerospace.
5. Application in Architecture: Silicon sand is the most common application in architecture. For example, when building houses and roads, adding a certain proportion of sand to cement and concrete can make the walls and roads more sturdy and prevent cracks. When silicon sand is applied to buildings, there are certain requirements for particle size. For example, when building houses, before mixing silicon sand with cement, it is necessary to use a sieve to evenly sieve the sand, Therefore, there are certain requirements for the physical properties of silica sand.
6. Other applications: In addition to its applications in glass, ceramics, casting, architecture, etc., silica sand also has some other special applications, such as being used as abrasive materials such as sandpaper and gauze; Adding silica sand to plastic can improve its wear resistance; The quartz optical fiber made of silica is the backbone of the information highway; Quartz colorimetric vessels, quartz crucibles, etc. used in the laboratory; Agate jewelry made from colored layered or banded agate in quartz.
Application in the field of environment
Another important use of silica sand is as a filter material and filter tank for water treatment. With the development of China's economy, various factories continue to emerge, and water pollution problems continue to emerge: industrial wastewater is discharged arbitrarily, urban garbage is piled up in rivers, and pesticides sprayed in rural areas flow into rivers with rainwater, resulting in many harmful substances in the water, making it impossible for humans to drink these severely polluted water. Some of China's industrial wastewater is directly discharged into rivers without treatment, and some of the treated wastewater does not meet national standards and is also directly discharged into rivers, resulting in low sewage treatment capacity. In response to this situation, China has conducted many studies, and various nanomaterials and porous carbon materials that can adsorb harmful metal ions and organic compounds in wastewater have been continuously studied. Removing harmful ions from wastewater using solid adsorbents is an important means of wastewater treatment, but the regeneration of used adsorbents has become a challenge. Moreover, effective adsorbents have a high cost and cannot be widely applied in daily life. Silicon sand is widely distributed and inexpensive, and research on adsorbents with silicon sand as the main component provides a basis for solving water pollution problems. Therefore, studying the surface condition, adsorption performance, and other properties of silica sand as a raw material is of great significance for treating water pollution and improving the environment.