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Concept
Perlite
Summary
Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial mineral, suitable "as ceramic flux to lower the sintering temperature", and a commercial product useful for its low density after processing.
Perlite softens when it reaches temperatures of . Water trapped in the structure of the material vaporises and escapes, and this causes the expansion of the material to 7–16 times its original volume. The expanded material is a brilliant white, due to the reflectivity of the trapped bubbles. Unexpanded ("raw") perlite has a bulk density around 1100 kg/m3 (1.1 g/cm3), while typical expanded perlite has a bulk density of about 30–150 kg/m3 (0.03–0.150 g/cm3).
70–75% silicon dioxide: SiO2
12–15% aluminium oxide: Al2O3
3–4% sodium oxide: Na2O
3–5% potassium oxide: K2O
0.5-2% iron oxide: Fe2O3
0.2–0.7% magnesium oxide: MgO
0.5–1.5% calcium oxide: CaO
3–5% loss on ignition (chemical / combined water)
Perlite is a non-renewable resource. The world reserves of perlite are estimated at 700 million tonnes.
The confirmed resources of perlite existing in Armenia amount to 150 million m3, whereas the total amount of projected resources reaches up to 3 billion m3. Considering specific density of 1.1 ton/m3 confirmed reserves in Armenia amount to 165 million tons.
Other reported reserves are: Greece - 120 million tonnes, Turkey, USA and Hungary - about 49-57 million tonnes.
Perlite world production, led by China, Turkey, Greece, USA, Armenia and Hungary, summed up to 4.6 million tonnes in 2018.
Because of its low density and relatively low price (about US$150 per tonne of unexpanded perlite), many commercial applications for perlite have been developed.
In the construction and manufacturing fields, it is used in lightweight plasters, concrete and mortar, insulation and ceiling tiles. It may also be used to build composite materials that are sandwich-structured or to create syntactic foam.
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