1. Product name: Albite.
2. Albite composition: Albite is an aluminosilicate mineral containing potassium and sodium with a frame-like crystal structure composed of silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons. The main components are SiO2, Al2O3, Na2O, CaO, etc. The chemical composition of albite (Na2O·Al2O3·6SiO2): Na2O11.8%, Al2O319.5%, SiO268.8%. It is difficult for the albite mineral in nature to reach its theoretical value. The closer the chemical composition of albite is to its theoretical value, the purer and better the quality of the feldspar.
3. Properties of albite: Albite is generally gray-white, or colorless, or white, yellow, red, green or black; it is generally a glassy crystal with a specific gravity of 2.605g/cm3, Mohs The hardness is 6, and the theoretical melting point of albite feldspar is 1100°C, but the melting point of natural albite ore varies with the chemical composition, and it is brittle and has a rough fracture.
4. Use of albite: Albite is mainly used in the manufacture of ceramic body ingredients and glazes; albite is one of the main components of glass mixtures, feldspar contains high alumina and low iron content, which can reduce The amount of alkali; albite can also be used as enamel raw materials, mainly feldspar and other mineral raw materials are blended into enamel. In addition, albite is also used in soap, tiles, floor tiles, abrasives and other industries.
4.1 Glass solvent
Sodium feldspar is one of the main components of glass mixture. Feldspar contains high alumina and low iron content, which can reduce the amount of alkali. In addition, the process of albite melting into glass is relatively slow, and the crystallization ability is small, which can prevent crystals from being precipitated during the glass formation process and damage the product. Albite can also be used to adjust the viscosity of the glass.
The general quality requirements of feldspar for glass are: Al2O3>15%, Na2O+K2O 10%, Fe2O3<0.6%.
4.2 Ceramics
The albite feldspar can act as a barren raw material before the ceramic body is fired, reduce the drying shrinkage and deformation of the body, improve the drying performance, and shorten the drying time. It can be used as a flux filling in the body during firing to make the body Dense and reduce voids, but also improve the light transmittance of green body. The use of albite rock in ceramic production can save electricity, coal and raw materials, and reduce production costs to a certain extent.
At present, my country has not formulated a unified quality standard for feldspar mineral products, and its general quality requirements are: Fe2O3<0.3%~1%; albite can be used to produce polished bricks, exterior wall tiles, floor tiles, etc.
4.3 Ceramic fiber
Ceramic fibers are industrially used as filter materials for severely corrosive gases or liquids, and can also be used as thermal insulation, electrical insulation and sound insulation materials. When manufacturing ceramic fibers, adding albite feldspar can reduce production energy consumption by 2.5%.
4.4 Enamel glaze
As enamel glaze, albite is mainly used to blend other mineral raw materials into enamel. The dosage of feldspar is generally 20%~30%. The quality requirement for feldspar is similar to glass grade, but it needs to be ground finer, Na20>4%.
4.5 Chemical raw materials and fillers
As a filler, albite is widely used in coatings, papermaking, rubber, refractory materials, plastics and other industries. Filler grade albite (such as used in foam rubber products) is similar to “ceramic grade” in fineness and chemical composition, but a higher free quartz content is allowed. In chemical engineering, albite powder is added to polyolefin film-forming components to increase film-forming uniformity and transparency.
4.6 Albite jade (water foam jade)
Sodium feldspar jade, commonly known as “Shuimozi (Shuimo jade)” in business and trade. It is a type of jade that is associated (symbiotic) with jadeite. Sodium feldspar is called “water foam” because white “cotton” or “white brain” is often distributed on its white or gray transparent base, which looks like foam in water. Most of the water foam jade is fully transparent and translucent, and less transparent. Common textures are glass, ice, and waxy.
4.7 Other applications
Sodium feldspar is also used in soap, abrasives, abrasive tools, welding rods and other industries. The albite in the electrode coating can act as an arc stabilizer and a weld pool protectant.
Albite reserves and distribution: China’s feldspar reserves are extremely rich, mainly distributed in 23 provinces including Anhui, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Sichuan, and Shanxi. The distribution is very wide, but albite mines are mainly concentrated in Hunan Province, the single ore reserves ranks first in Asia, reaching 80 million tons. The annual mining volume is more than 500,000 tons, supplying hundreds of ceramic factories across the country.