Grains Of Ceramic Sand: Size, Color, And Function

Industrial & Manufacturing Blog

Ceramic sand hardly seems plausible, considering that ceramic-anything breaks rather easily. Yet, when you understand the purpose and uses of this unique material, you know that it will not break like the vase on your grandma's mantel. Here are some ceramic sand grains ordered by size, color, and function to give you a more informed view of this unique material:

Less Than .25mm Size, Black, and Oil Company Use

These much smaller grains of ceramic proppants do not need to be black, but it avoids the need to "wash" the grains after use and/or extraction when an oil well has run dry. This "sand" is used to hold fissures in rock open so that the oil company can more easily extract natural gas and crude oil. If the gas and crude oil were to come up through a fissure as the company drills downward, the fissure might collapse and the company could lose an easy access point for collecting these resources. The "sand" holds these fissures open so that gas and oil can filter through and escape to the surface. 

Grains of 1-3mm Size, Clear to Gray Color, and Manufacturing Use

These larger grains of ceramic sand are often used in giant milling machines for manufacturing purposes. Really, the color of the grains is generally irrelevant, but most manufacturers try to avoid using any color that could get stuck in products and cause it to look dirty. The "sand" in this case is used to sand and/or polish products, as well as absorb excess liquids or paint. 

Grains Bigger than 4mm or 5mm, Cream Color, and Pulverization for Industrial Purposes

Imagine needing to pulverize rock, pulverize food, etc.. You would want the easiest and fastest means to do so without worrying that what you are using to pulverize something is going to end up in the final product. That is where these larger grain sizes of ceramic sand come into play. You can use them to pulverize just about anything, and then because the pulverized material is substantially smaller or more liquefied than the "sand," you can sift the grains of ceramic sand out of the pulverized material and move the pulverized material on to the next step of production. Cream color is preferable in this case so that it can still be seen and not remain in the pulverized material. Usually, the grains of "sand" are rinsed off completely before returned to the pulverizing machines. 

3 November 2019