Analysis of silica fume produced by zircon desilication

Novel chemical methods have been developed to allow for the determination of the components of silica fume produced by zircon desilication. Hitherto, no methods have been described for the analysis of this material. The amorphous silica is first removed by treatment with sodium hydroxide. The residue from the hydroxide treatment may then be subjected to a suite of reagents to determine the zircon, the total zirconia, the monoclinic zirconia and the tetragonal zirconia content of the fume. The zircon content of the fume is determined by treatment of the hydroxide residue with concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF). The total zirconia content of the fume is determined by digestion of the hydroxide residue with fuming sulphuric acid (oleum), while the relative amounts of monoclinic and tetragonal zirconia may be found by treatment of the hydroxide residue with 10%w/v HF, which attacks the less stable tetragonal phase. Both X-ray diffraction and particle size analysis were used to validate the steps in the analytical procedure. An explanation of the presence of tetragonal zirconia in the fume is proposed. A greater understanding of the composition of the fume led to the installation of a separator in the company's production line to remove the zircon. Australian Fused Materials (AFM) now produces a vastly superior grade of fume marketed under the code SF-98.