Technical mineralogy

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The Technical Mineralogy is the field of mineralogy , of the changes that minerals studied subject in technical processes, and the use of minerals and their synthetic analogues in the art.

research object

The technical mineralogy accompanies the processing of mineral raw materials from the evaluation of the raw materials over the quality control of the product up to the recycling or the safe final storage . It examines mineral raw materials such as ores , clays , sands , gravel , salts , industrial minerals and rocks with regard to their suitability for the production of products such as ceramics , glass , cement , semiconductors , synthetic single crystals , paper , pigments , fillers , catalysts , fibers , Hard materials , fertilizers or jewelry . In further process steps, she examines the transformations that occur e.g. This can occur, for example, during ceramic firing, cement setting and the crystallization of glasses in order to improve product properties, make energy use more efficient, minimize machine wear and tear and prevent the formation of harmful by-products. Later, the mineralogists deal with the characterization of the products with regard to their interactions with the environment , the human body (e.g. in the case of implants ) or extreme stresses due to high pressure , high temperatures , mechanical loads or aggressive chemical conditions. Finally, they research the possibilities of recycling and safe final storage. To do this, they try to fix toxic or radioactive elements on storage minerals and thus remove them from the material cycle of the environment.

Investigation methods

Technical mineralogy uses methods such as polarization microscopy to obtain information about the structure, X-ray diffractometry to determine the mineral content, and X-ray fluorescence analysis to chemically characterize raw materials for raw material evaluation. The process control is carried out by methods of thermal analysis such. B. the DTA , the DSC or the TG to observe the reactions in the production process. The products are z. B. examined with the transmission electron microscopy to identify defects in their crystal lattice and evaluate.

literature

  • Helmut Kirsch: Technical Mineralogy. Applied mineralogy for engineers and technicians. Vogel, Würzburg 1965.
  • Dieter Rammlmair, J. Mederer, Thomas Oberthür, Robert B. Heimann, Horst Pentinghaus (eds.): Applied Mineralogy in Research, Economy, Technology, Ecology and Culture. Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress on Applied Mineralogy ICAM 2000, Göttingen, Germany, 17-19 July 2000. Balkema, Rotterdam et al. 2000, ISBN 90-5809-163-5 .

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