Uses
Glass Making, Abrasive, Foundry Sand, Hydraulic Fracturing Proppant, Gemstones, Artificial Quartz Stone Making
- Uses In Artificial Quartz Stone Manufacturing
Made of approximately 93% quartz by weight. The other 7% is epoxy resin which is required to hold the quartz
together scratch resistant, stain resistant, amd heat resistant end products.
- Uses of Quartz in Glass Making
Geological processes have occasionally deposited sands that are composed of almost 100% quartz grains. These deposits have been identified and produced as sources of high purity silica sand. These sands are used in the glassmaking industry. Quartz sand is
used in the production of container glass, flat plate glass, specialty glass and fiberglass.
- Uses of Quartz as an Abrasive
The high hardness of quartz, seven on the Mohs Scale, makes it harder than most other
natural substances. As such it is an excellent abrasive material. Quartz sands and
finely ground silica sand are used for sand blasting, scouring cleansers, grinding
media, and grit for sanding and sawing.
- Uses of Quartz as a Foundry Sand
Quartz is very resistant to both chemicals and heat. It is therefore often used as a
foundry sand. With a melting temperature higher than most metals it can be used for
the molds and cores of common foundry work. Refractory brick are often made of quartz
sand because of its high heat resistance.
Quartz sand is also used as a flux in the smelting of metals.
- Uses in the Petroleum Industry
Quartz sand has a high resistance to being crushed. In the petroleum industry sand slurries
are forced down oil and gas wells under very high pressures in a process known as hydraulic fracturing. This high pressure fractures the reservoir rocks and the sandy slurry injects into the fractures. The durable sand grains hold the fractures open after the pressure is released.
These open fractures facilitate the flow of natural gas into the well bore.
- Many Other Quartz Sand Uses
Quartz sand is used as a filler in the manufacture of rubber, paint and putty.
Screened and washed, carefully sized quartz grains are used as filter media and roofing granules. Quartz sands are used for traction in the railroad and mining industries. These sands are also used in recreation on golf courses,
volleyball courts, baseball fields, children's sand boxes and beaches.
