What is smectite used for?
Significant volumes of Na smectites are used for various purposes in the manufacturing of many industrial, chemical and consumer products. Large quantities of Ca-M g smectites are used directly in iron foundries, in agricultural industries and for filtering and decolorizing various types of oils.
What is the difference between smectite and montmorillonite?
Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite group, is a 2:1 clay, meaning that it has two tetrahedral sheets of silica sandwiching a central octahedral sheet of alumina. In contrast, beidellite is smectite with greater than 50% tetrahedral charge originating from isomorphous substitution of Al for Si in the silica sheet.
Is smectite a swelling clay?
Smectite clays are swelling clays that contain an interlayer space which can expand by the absorption of a suitable solvent.
Where is smectite clay found?
Sodium smectite is also used as commercial clay absorbent to soak up spills of liquids. High-grade deposits of sodium smectite are found in South Dakota.
Which clay mineral has the largest swelling potential and why?
Soils with smectite clay minerals, including montmorillonite and bentonite, have the most dramatic shrink-swell capacity. The mineral make-up of this type of soil is responsible for the moisture retaining capabilities.
How do you fix clay swelling?
The most common swelling clays are smectite and smectite mixtures that create an almost impermeable barrier for fluid flow when they are located in the larger pores of a reservoir rock. In some cases, brines such as potassium chloride [KCl] are used in completion or workover operations to avoid clay swelling.
What chemicals are in clay?
Clay minerals are composed essentially of silica, alumina or magnesia or both, and water, but iron substitutes for aluminum and magnesium in varying degrees, and appreciable quantities of potassium, sodium, and calcium are frequently present as well.
How do I know what kind of clay I have?
Clays that are tan, brown or brick in color contain iron oxide (terra cotta and stoneware) as the coloring agent. Clays that lack iron oxide are gray to white in color (porcelain). Note that another difference in clays is texture. Clays vary in particle size, and some are much coarser than others.
What makes smectite different from other clay minerals?
A highly plastic clay mineral related to montmorillonite (bentonite), more correctly, the name of the group on minerals that includes montmorillonite and other similar minerals. Smectite is a platy clay mineral. Three properties make smectite unique: Shape – Smectite is a very lamellar material.
Which is the most important mineral in smectite?
The physicochemical properties of smectite clay minerals that determine their industrial utilization are reviewed. Smectite is the name used for a group of phyllosilicate mineral species, the most important of which are montmorillonite, beidellite, nontronite, saponite and hectorite.
What are the properties of the mineral apatite?
Calculated Properties of Apatite. Bulk Density (Electron Density)=3.17 gm/cc note: Specific Gravity of Apatite =3.19 gm/cc.
How did montmorillonite smectite get its name?
Link to MinDat.org Location Data. Named after the locality. Comments: Authigenic smectite (montmorillonite) overgrown on pore spaces and authigenicly-overgrown quartz grains in a sandstone. SEM image of a core sample.