Application of barium sulfate in 10 industries
Barium sulfate is an unfamiliar term to most people, and even those unfamiliar with chemistry might consider it a dangerous chemical. However, barium sulfate is ubiquitous in our daily lives, often appearing in the form of manufactured products. For example, most plastic products in our homes, air conditioners, plastic car parts, supermarket bags, paints, coatings, and glass may all contain barium sulfate.
Application of barium sulfate in ten major industries
1. Petroleum Industry: 200-mesh and 325-mesh barite powder for oil and gas field drilling mud additives.
2. Chemical Industry: Barite salt plants use barite as a raw material to produce lithopone, precipitated barium sulfate, and barium carbonate.
3. Paint and Coating Industry: Barite can be used as a filler in paints and coatings, replacing more expensive raw materials such as precipitated barium sulfate, lithopone, titanium dioxide, and activated silica. It is suitable for controlling paint viscosity and achieving a bright and stable color.
4. Plastics Industry: Barite can be used as a filler in ABS plastic raw materials, adding a bright gloss while also improving strength, stiffness, and wear resistance.
5. Rubber Industry: Barite powder with a mesh size below 500 can be widely used as a filler in rubber products, reducing costs while improving hardness, acid and alkali resistance, and water resistance. It also provides excellent reinforcement for natural and synthetic rubber.
6. Paper Industry: Highly fine barite powder can be used as a filler and coating filler in whiteboard and coated paper to enhance whiteness and surface coverage. Product specifications: 325 mesh, 400 mesh, 600 mesh, 800 mesh, 1250 mesh, 1500 mesh, 2000 mesh, 2500 mesh, 3000 mesh, 4000 mesh, 5000 mesh, 6000 mesh.
7. Cement Industry
Adding barite and fluorite composite mineralizers to cement production can increase the whiteness and strength of cement. It can be used to make barium cement, barite mortar, and barite concrete, which can be used in buildings requiring X-ray protection.
8. Glass Industry
It can be used as a deoxidizer, clarifier, and flux to increase the optical stability, gloss, and strength of glass.
9. Construction Industry
It can be used as a concrete aggregate, paving material, to reinforce buried pipes in swampy areas, and as a replacement for lead sheeting in shielding at nuclear facilities, atomic power plants, and X-ray laboratories, extending the life of road surfaces.
10. Ceramic Industry
Barite powder can also be used as a high-quality filler in ceramics and other industries. Currently, the use of barium sulfate in the ceramics industry is decreasing, while the use of wollastonite powder is increasing.
The applications in the ten industries mentioned above are all critical and essential to people’s livelihoods. This demonstrates the significant role and wide range of applications of barium sulfate, an inorganic non-metallic mineral powder.