RohPerlit

Alfamines has a perlite mine located in a volcanic area in the south of Morocco. The ore is crushed and sifted into different sizes so that it can be transported and processed later.

The treated ore is charred at 850 degrees C (1500 degrees F), causing the evaporation, explosion and expansion of water molecules inside up to 20 times its original volume, producing the expanded perlite.

The expanded perlite is an extremely light white granular material, the new structure makes it as a very efficient natural insulator and gives it remarkable thermo-acoustic qualities thanks to the countless micropores of dry air in the new structure

The expanded perlite retains the original qualities of the natural mineral, it is chemically neutral, inert to atmospheric agents and the passage of time, non-combustible, non-toxic, insoluble and non-hygroscopic. This makes perlite an effective natural insulator for the construction industry and agriculture.

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Perlite is used in several application domains such as:

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Industrial :

- Cryogenics: expanded perlite is an excellent insulator for low or very low temperature cryogenic systems. It is widely used in LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) isolation tanks, noble gas tanks, oxygen, nitrogen, argon etc. in cryogenic state.

- Mortars and refractory elements: perlite is used as an ingredient in low to medium temperature refractory elements (up to 850oC) and it is used to build and/or coat ovens, furnaces, etc., and as a bonding material for joining refractory pieces.

- Isolation: passive fire protection. The manufacturing of mortars, plates and various accessories. Ceramic furnaces.

- Filtering: one of the most common uses of expanded perlite is as a filtering agent. The expanded and processed ore is chemically inert, and does not transfer taste, color or odor to the filtrate. There is a wide range of perlite filters for various products such as beer, wine, water, oils, chemicals etc.

- Fire protection system petrochemical industry.