Manufactured sand – a solution to the global sand shortage?

In the manufactured sand process, customers can obtain much better grain proportions with the new HRC technology, as well as control in the manufactured sand gradation with a very good particle shape and less ultra-fines generation. With the Barmac VSI technology, an excellent particle shape can be achieved; with the NPXX HSI and the new cone crushers fine or EF configuration, high reduction ratios can be achieved. Finally, the ultra-fines generated under any process configuration can be treated with an air classifier via a dry process, or with MWS technology if a wet process is required.

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The use of manufactured sand makes sense from various perspectives. First, manufactured sand is more uniform in structure compared with natural sand. It also has an advantage when it comes to concrete production, because manufactured sand is less needed in the concrete mix by a margin of 5 to 20% compared with natural sand to fill the voids volume between the particles. Even though the mechanical manufacturing of sand consumes energy, production can be done on-site, which reduces transportation costs and environmental impact.

Additionally, to produce their core products in accordance with market demand, many quarry operations may also generate other rock products that become waste materials for several reasons. Such products generate a high cost problem for the producer, because they occupy large storage spaces and require double handling equipment and fuel consumption but are very suitable as a raw material for manufactured sand production.

By combining the different crushing and screening technologies that we have available, one can reprocess these materials and transform them into high-quality, high-value products that meet the construction industry requirements of particle shape and grading proportions, with the advantage of being able to thread the fines below 0.074 mm (200 mesh), utilizing a dry or wet process.

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New ways to make concrete are constantly being explored

It’s a fact that the need for manufactured sand will increase in the future. For example, an international administration has been proposed by scientists to control the distribution and use of sand. Sand use is already regulated in Europe and the United States, as well as in developing countries, but control is still weak in many other areas. In India, the possibility of replacing some of the sand in the concrete mix with waste plastic is being investigated. Alternative ideas for “green concrete” have also been tested like recycling waste concrete from waste pavements, reusing waste aggregates, or substituting sand and aggregates with other materials.

Yet high-quality concrete demands high-quality raw materials. Sand may constitute between 30 and 40% of the main components of concrete – or even higher, depending on the mix design – but is has a great influence on the amount of cement required to achieve the concrete properties demanded. Here, cement will represent an average 50% of the cost of the total mix. High-quality manufactured sand will therefore not only offer benefits by improving concrete quality; it will also offer high cost cutouts in prepare high-quality concrete.

*UNEP 2019. Sand and sustainability: Finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources. GRID-Geneva, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, Switzerland. 
The report has been used as one source for this blog post. 

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit sand making machine.