Beneficiation of locally available sand for the manufacture of colourless glass

Abstract

The investigation of Noapara glass sand deposit of Sylhcl di"J_rict is performed to beneficiEltc the sand for Ihc manufaclure of colourless glass. First of all the physical and mineralugical identlficatlOn of heavy' minerals present in the sand were carried out, The study includes sieve analysis, heavy mineral separation and magnetic separation. SemI-quantitative analyses of the glass sand were performed wIth the help of XRD and Petrography and the results arc reported in sequence. The classified sand is then subjected to water wash and attrition to remove clay and ferruginous coating followed by magnetic separation to eliminate magnetic minerals. The waler-washed and magnetically treated sands arc then subjected [0 vanous chemical treatments in order to reduce the iron level. Finally. a number reagent batch combinations are prepared using water-washed and magnetic treated sand for the forth flotation le<.:hmque. One of such reagent combinations reduce Fe203 and Cr203 levels in the sand to 0.032 and 0.0012 % respectively after froth flotation. This is close to the required chemical composition for Ihe manufacture of colourless glass.