Silica Sand Processing Plant
1. Overview of Silica Sand & Processing Plant
Silica sand or quartz sand has SiO₂ as its main component.
- Silica sand refers to those with SiO₂ content below 98.5%.
- Quartz sand refers to those with SiO₂ content above 98.5%.
High-purity silica sand that meets requirements is usually obtained through mineral processing and purification. Sortek Group’s silica sand processing plant (silica sand washing plant) helps increase silica purity from 90% to 99.9%, mainly using combined processes such as washing & desliming, magnetic separation, gravity separation, and flotation.
2. Silica Sand Beneficiation Process
Silica sand beneficiation mainly includes crushing, washing, classifying, magnetic separation, flotation, etc., to remove small or trace impurities. Customized silica sand washing plant solutions are provided based on mineral composition and customer needs.
Key Steps of Beneficiation:
Crushing & Grinding: Raw silica sand ore is crushed and ground into finer particles for subsequent processing.
Washing: Impurities such as soil, clay, and organic matter are removed by trommel screens, trommel scrubbers, or ore washers.
Classification: Washed silica sand is classified by particle size (using vibrating screens or classifiers) to separate particles in different size ranges.
Magnetic Separation: Magnetic impurities (e.g., iron minerals) in silica sand are removed via magnetic separation.
Flotation: Used for silica sand ore containing floatable impurities (e.g., diatomaceous earth).
Concentrate Treatment: Further fine treatment (magnetic separation, gravity separation, electrical separation, etc.) to improve silica sand purity and quality.
Drying: A rotary dryer is used to remove moisture from silica sand for subsequent processing and application.
In practice, the beneficiation process is determined by mineral composition and characteristics, often combining crushing, grinding, washing, gravity separation, magnetic or electrostatic separation.
3. 100tph Silica Sand Impurity Removal & Purification Project
3.1 Raw Ore Information
Raw sand contains 5% clay; maximum feeding size is 20mm.
Fe₂O₃ content is 1%; required Fe₂O₃ content after processing: below 0.02%.
Proportion of particles over 2mm in raw sand: 20%.
Feeding capacity: 100 tons per hour (tph).
Required finished silica sand size: below 2mm.
3.2 Plant Flow & Equipment Configuration
The plant includes screening, grinding, washing, gravity & magnetic separation, and dewatering. Detailed flow:
Feeding & Screening: Raw sand is sent to the raw material hopper by excavator/loader. An electromagnetic vibrating feeder evenly feeds it to a belt conveyor, which transports it to a trommel screen (screen opening: 2mm).
Grinding: Material over 2mm is sent to a transfer bucket via belt conveyor, then evenly fed to a ball mill (by electromagnetic vibrating feeder) to be ground to below 2mm. A sand pump delivers the ball mill output to the trommel hopper.
Washing: Material below 2mm (from trommel screen) flows to a spiral sand washing machine by gravity (removes clay and muddy water). Washed sand is pumped to the first-stage spiral chute via sand pump.
Gravity Separation: The spiral chute separates heavy minerals (e.g., sandy iron). It produces three outputs: concentrate, medium ore, and tailings. Medium ore (containing residual silica sand) is sent to the second-stage spiral chute via sand pump for reprocessing; first-stage concentrate is sent to the concentrate chute.
Magnetic Separation: Concentrates from both stages of spiral chutes are sent to a plate magnetic separator (via sand pump) to further remove Fe₂O₃ (final Fe₂O₃ content: below 0.02%).
Fine Sand Recovery System: Output from the plate magnetic separator is sent to the recovery system (including cyclone, dewatering screen, belt conveyor, slurry pump) for fine sand recovery and dehydration. Tailings water is recycled to sedimentation tanks; dry fine sand is transported to the stockpile (finished product).
4. Key Advantages of Silica Sand Washing Plant
Advanced scrubbing systems for iron removal.
AI-driven grading and quality control.
Eco-friendly water recycling systems.
99.9% purity guaranteed.
30% lower operational costs (via energy-efficient methods).
High efficiency, large processing capacity, low energy consumption, and reasonable economy.