The glass industry is the largest end-use sector of silica sand
production at more than a third of the total market globally.
Followed by foundry, hydraulic fracturing, filtration, and
abrasives.
The construction market, rising automotive production, and tech
advancements such as increasing usage of hybrid guide plate for use
in computer monitors, smart phones, and televisions, solar control
glazing for automotive and building glasses, lightweight glazing
glass, and advanced nanotechnology in flat glass are all increasing
demand for high-grade silica.
HIGH-GRADE SILICA IN GLASS MAKING
To produce glass sands, a more refined sand is required than the
common construction sand used for concrete.
There is not one specification for glass sand as a result of the
many different types of glass that can be produced. Each glass has
differing chemical and physical properties which require the use of
different glass sands. However, the ideal sand has high silica
content and is largely free of certain impurities and is relatively
uniform in size, as size has a significant bearing on melting
behaviour and quality, while refractory materials in the sand must
be limited as these don’t melt during the glass making operation.
Likewise low-dust silica is important for furnace maintenance and
moisture content must be maintained below 5%.
Most of the commercial glass in everyday (bottles, jars, windows,
mirrors, glazing) use a soda-lime-silica glass. These contain
between 70% and 74% silicon dioxide – the ultimate source of which
is silica sand.
OUR PROVEN SILICA SAND WASHING SOLUTIONS ENSURES:
Guaranteed precision and maximum process efficiency – the precision
of the cut points and careful attention to all material transfer
points maximises retention of in spec material and water within the
circuit and ensures maximum product yield.
Removal of iron oxide and other deleterious materials – iron oxide
adheres to silica particles and must be scrubbed from the surface
of particles. Hengyang’s spiral classifiers use higher specific
gravity to remove refractory heavy minerals and iron oxide
particles from the silica sand and the removes any remaining fines.
Minimal footprint and rapid deployment – the clever integration of
several processing phases throughout our modular equipment range
minimises the space required to accommodate a silica sand washing
plant and reduces overall project costs through the reduction in
associated works to prepare for the plant installaion. While our
modular design require less time to install than the traditional
stick build / static plans. This ensures operations are up and
running in the shortest possible time.
Minimal environmental impact – by choosing our water recycling and
tailings management system you will achieve up to 95% water
recycling from your wet processing plant and also significantly
reduce the space required to accommodate your silica sand plant.
Hengyang undertakes a full and detailed analysis of feed material
including particle size distribution (PSD) and the chemical
properties of your silica sand to understand and deliver a solution
that meets your requirements.
