Perlite Ore Sand

About This Product

Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass of rhyolitic composition containing two to five percent chemically bound water. Ore sand is the crushed and graded unexpanded material, supplied by particle size for expansion by the user. The expansion process is the reason the material exists commercially. Heated rapidly to between 850 and 1,100 degrees Celsius, the glass softens at the same moment the bound water vaporises, and the trapped steam blows the particle into a froth of tiny sealed cells, increasing volume by a factor of seven to twenty and dropping bulk density to as little as 30 kilograms per cubic metre. The result is a sterile, chemically inert, non-combustible white granule that is mostly air. Because expansion multiplies volume so dramatically, the unexpanded ore is what is shipped, with expansion carried out close to the point of use; freighting expanded perlite is largely freighting air. Grade selection is by ore particle size, which determines the size and density of the expanded product and therefore whether it suits filtration, insulation, horticulture or lightweight construction. It is used in filter aids, lightweight concrete and plaster, cryogenic and building insulation, horticultural growing media and as a filler and carrier. Bio Green Chem supplies perlite ore sand to specification on particle size distribution, expansion ratio, moisture, bulk density and chemical composition.