Silica Sand Beneficiation Process

Silica sand, also known as quartz sand or industrial sand, is primarily composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). It is processed in a beneficiation plant to remove small or trace impurities, ensuring its purity and quality. The beneficiation process involves several stages:

1. Crushing & Grinding: The raw silica sand ore is crushed and ground into finer particles to enhance subsequent processing.
2. Washing: Impurities such as soil, clay, and organic matter are effectively removed from the silica sand through a washing process, which may employ trommel screens or scrubbers.
3. Classification: The washed silica sand is classified according to particle size, separating different size ranges of silica sand particles using vibrating screens or classifiers.
4. Magnetic Separation: If there are magnetic impurities, such as iron minerals, present in the silica sand, they can be eliminated through magnetic separation.
5. Flotation: Flotation is utilized for silica sand ores that contain impurities, like diatomaceous earth, which can be removed through this process.
6. Concentrate Treatment: Further refinement may be required to improve the purity and quality of the silica sand during the beneficiation process. This can involve additional methods such as magnetic separation, gravity separation, or electrical separation.
7. Drying: The silica sand is dried using a rotary dryer to remove moisture, making it suitable for subsequent processing and applications.

Silica sand washing plants can be customized according to specific customer requirements, providing an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) basis service if needed.

Silica Sand Processing Plant

The setup is a 100tph silica sand washing plant consisting of the following equipment:

1. Electromagnetic vibrating feeder
2. Trommel screen
3. Ball mill
4. Spiral washer
5. Spiral chute
6. Plate magnetic separator
7. Fine sand recycling machine

These components are used for screening, grinding, washing, gravity separation, magnetic separation, and dewatering processes. They work together to efficiently wash and purify silica sand, ensuring its quality for various applications.

In this silica sand project, the raw ore information is as follows:

1. Raw sand contains 5% clay.
2. Maximum feeding size of raw sand is 20mm.
3. Customer requires finished silica sand size to be less than 2mm.
4. Raw sand contains 1% Fe2O3. Customer wants Fe2O3 to be reduced to less than 0.02%.
5. Feeding capacity is 100 tons per hour.
6. Over 2mm size proportion in raw sand is 20%.

Based on the raw sand information provided, the flowchart solution for the silica sand washing plant includes the following steps:

1. Feeding & screening: Raw sand is fed into the hopper and then conveyed to the trommel screen for screening.
2. Grinding: Material above 2mm is transferred to the ball mill for grinding.
3. Washing: Sand smaller than 2mm is washed using a spiral sand washing machine.
4. Gravity separation: Spiral chute separates heavy minerals from the sand.
5. Magnetic separation: Plate magnetic separator removes iron content from the concentrate.
6. Fine sand recovery system: Plate magnetic separator output is sent to the fine sand recovery system for dehydration.

The process ensures the finished silica sand meets the customer’s requirements and includes water washing, gravity separation, and magnetic separation. The silica sand washing plant is efficient, energy-saving, and has a high processing capacity.