Silica Flour Applications
Ground silica flour — produced by milling high-purity quartz sand — is used across a remarkably broad range of industrial applications, where the common requirement is high silica content (SiO₂ > 98%) combined with controlled particle size.
Heliopolis produces four silica flour grades differentiated primarily by median particle size, from coarse construction grades to fine-ground grades for ceramics and oil well cementing.
Construction applications
Coarse silica flour (D50 50–100 µm) is used as a functional filler in floor screeds, tile adhesives and grouts, where it contributes hardness, wear resistance and dimensional stability. The angular particle shape of ground silica improves mechanical interlock in mortar matrices.
Ceramics and refractories
Medium-fine grades (D50 15–40 µm) are used in ceramic bodies as a flux modifier and in refractory castables where silica contributes to thermal shock resistance. Fine grades are used in investment casting shells and glazes.
Oil well cementing
Fine silica flour (D50 5–15 µm) is a standard addition to oil well cement slurries for high-temperature wells (above 110 °C). Silica reacts with calcium hydroxide during curing to form calcium silicate hydrates that prevent strength retrogression at elevated temperatures and pressures.