When raw materials are extracted from mines, separating the desired product from unwanted waste materials can be a challenge. With magnetite, though, producers can use basic physics to separate the valuable from the worthless while reducing harmful and even toxic byproducts, through dense media separation (DMS).

Also known as Heavy Medium Separation, DMS is a technique first pioneered in the 1950s in coal refineries that relies on varying densities of a desired product. In coal industries, the run of mine coal contains impurities such as rock, shale, and clays that makes the product unmarketable. By infusing water with magnetite, operators can alter the specific density of the water to a degree so precise that the impurities sink and the good coal floats.

After separating the desirable product from waste, removing the magnetite can be accomplished with the simple application of magnetic forces, which in turn makes cleanup and maintenance a breeze.

Dense media separation processes find wide use

Prior to the development of complex DMS systems, separating valuable product from waste byproducts was challenging. Yet, DMS changed the refining process for any compound where the refined product varies in density from the unrefined product.

The Scrap recyclers also apply the same process. By using DMS they are able to separate the more valuable shredded metals from the seat cushions, rubber, and plastics used in automobiles.

From Potash Mining to sorting industrial grade diamonds from dirt substrate or isolating useful heavy metals, such as lead or gold, heavy medium separation is a vital tool in isolating important component materials and compounds.

Picture a gold prospector beside the river. The prospector swirls the pan, filled with dirt and clay and water, watching as the heavier particles sink to the bottom and then filter out, leaving behind a fine dust of tiny gold flakes.

Now, imagine that you could change the specific density of the water so that the heavy gold bits sank to the bottom while the clay, dirt and sand were on top while the heavier and more valuable gold particles sank to the bottom. Skim off the top, apply a magnetic field to the separation medium to remove the magnetite, and voila: gold.

That’s not wishful thinking. Let Quality Magnetite provide you with the magnetic materials you need to easily and quickly separate the valuable from the useless.

By adding Magnetite as a “Ballast” increased treatment capacity can be achieved through a faster settling rate during the clarification process. In most cases this addition can greatly expand the amount of water treated within the existing footprint.

Coprecipitation, microfiltration and oxidation

Using extremely refined nanoparticles of magnetite, industrial water consumers are able to reduce contaminates in effluent through three diverse methods.

First, in coprecipitation, magnetite is introduced in water to increase its specific density and change the composition until the offending compounds begin to dissipate. As the particles dissipate, they fall with the magnetite to the bottom of the water making for easy extraction of treated water.

A second method – microfiltration – relies on the filtering properties of magnetite to prevent certain offending chemicals to proceed through tiny barriers before these chemicals are removed. When combined with coprecipitation, microfiltration is one of the most effective methods of dealing with biological and organic contaminates in effluent.

Finally, when it comes to those harmful heavy metals, such as arsenic, uranium or lead, magnetite’s unique oxygen-bonding properties come into play. Magnetite is introduced, and the compound eagerly releases oxygen, which in turn bonds with other metals, altering their densities and specific gravities, which allow for separation through passive means or mechanically assisted means.

Whether it’s knocking out bad bacteria or extracting harmful radioactive substances, magnetite plays a vital role in the treatment and disposal of contaminated water.

Americans love innovative painting. Just ask the American paint and pigment industry – a whopping $9 billion juggernaut that feeds consumer demand for an ever-increasing palette of exciting new colors and products.

Dark, rich earth tones are all the rage, and these colors rely heavily on black dye to add depth and texture to colors and stains. Magnetite is a vital component in producing the dark, rich black dye upon which so many of these colors are based.

But it’s not all basic black. Magnetite-infused paints are also being sold to businesses, educators and more than a few parents who are hoping to put a little “wow” factor into that new paintjob. By infusing varying amounts of magnetite into primers and paints, the products transform virtually any wall surface into a magnetic surface after painting.

Little Johnny’s drawings aren’t relegated to the refrigerator any longer. With magnetite-infused primers and paints once applied to the walls and dry, magnets adhere to the surface just like it was the refrigerator door, meaning your child’s masterpiece can take up residence anywhere magnetite paints have been used.

Since ancient Rome, concrete has been a wonder product, enabling the construction of both extensive, durable roads and massive structures that soar above our heads. Concrete has also proven to be a valuable material in the manufacturing field, where engineers have designed everything from small refractories to massive chambers out of concrete.

Recent research shows that magnetite aggregate in concrete allows the material to perform well at much higher temperatures than non-magnetite infused concrete. This discovery marks an important milestone for concrete, which previously was susceptible to cracking and degrading when subjected to extreme temperatures.

Magnetite aggregate is also a key component to protecting personnel and equipment from the harmful effects of gamma radiation. Long the go-to choice for reactor shielding, magnetite aggregate is added to concrete to increase density, which improves the performance of concrete shielding, blocking harmful radiation and preventing heat buildup, which can degrade concrete’s performance over time.

With magnetite aggregate heavy concretes, structures are stronger and safer longer than their non-magnetite counterparts.

From critical electronics to beautiful art, magnetic fluids play an important role in hundreds of processes, devices and products. Known as ferrofluids, these amazing liquids contain millions of of nano- or even microscale particles of magnetite or other iron-containing compound.

The typical ferrofluid contains magnetic solids suspended in a surfactant. The magnetic particles are dispersed evenly throughout the liquid, and this unique distribution makes these fluids something special. They’re called a colloidal suspension, which means that ferrofluids have properties of more than one state of matter – in this case, a solid metal and a liquid carrier fluid.

If you’ve seen The Big Bang Theory, you may have seen a colloidal suspension dancing on a speaker as a solid, only to transform into a liquid when the speaker is turned off. Possessing two states of matter as ferrofluids does makes these unique compounds useful as seals and lubricants, and current research trends suggest ferrofluids might be used in nanotechnology.

While all ferrofluids are powerful tools for the development of technology, one of the most interesting subsets of ferrofluid are magnetorheological fluids, or MRFs. These fluids solidity in the presence of a magnetic field, opening up the possibility of using these amazing suspensions in any situation where one might need to transform frequently between a liquid and a solid. Here are just a few of the hundreds of applications for ferrofluids and MRFs:

Electronic devices

From the moment you power on your computer until you shut it down, the computer’s hard disk drive is spinning anywhere from 4,200 RPM to a staggering 7,500 RPM. Keeping that drive spinning requires precision design and durability made possible only through the use of remarkable lubricants. When placed into the microns-wide gap between the magnet and the shaft of a hard drive, ferrofluid forms a barrier which prevents debris from entering the hard drive while also providing a viscous membrane in which the drive can spin.

Heat Transfer

Few factors cause more damage to complex machines than excess heat, which can weaken metal, degrade electronic components and break down vital lubricants and seals. When an external magnetic field is imposed on ferrofluids, the fluids become a conduit for thermomagnetic convection – moving heat away through the flow of magnetized particles.

Because these particles are so tiny – again on the nano- or even microscale – ferrofluids make ideal heat transfer systems in miniature and microscale devices or even in reduced gravity conditions.

Where other cooling methods require the presence of fans to move air or pumps to circulate fluid, ferrofluids move on passive magnetic forces, which means the system cools without the need for additional power.

Materials Science

In addition to saving the British Navy from a new type of anti-ship mine during World War II, physics pioneer Francis Bitter developed a technique by which magnetic domain structures on the surface of ferromagnetic materials might be imaged using ferrofluids.

Analytical instrumentation

Each grain of ferrous material in a ferrofluid reflects light, giving ferrofluids special refractive properties. Each grain is a micromagnet, and when used in conjunction with a helium-neon laser, a polarizer and an analyzer, ferrofluids are critical components of measuring specific viscosity of liquids.

Optics

One of the challenges with earth-based telescopes are the requirements for the mirrors. Once the mirror is ground to shape and polished, certain of the mirror’s properties – focal length, depth of field, and others – are set, thus limiting the telescope’s utility in certain areas of study. However, researchers are currently adapting ferrofluids in an effort to create shape-shifting magnetic mirrors to create earth-based telescopes with fully adaptive optics.

Art

Wherever there is science, art is never far behind. That’s true of ferrofluids, where artists and museums are finding new and exciting uses for these compounds and their remarkable properties. From fountain shows to music videos, ferrofluids are making their way into art. Here are just a few examples:

• Sachiko Kodama – ferrofluid artist
• Pendulum – Australian electronic rock band incorporating ferrofluids into their music video for “Watercolour”
• Martin Frey – SnOil (2005), a pixel-based ferrofluid display that used electromagnets to display text and run games
• CZFerro – An American art studio that uses ferrofluids in unique suspension solutions.

A nubile material for diverse applications

From the farthest reaches of the solar system to the tiniest spaces inside your computer, ferrofluids are there, empowering innovation from the largest helicopters to the smallest micro machines.

For more information about the potential applications for magnetite, including ferrofluids, continue browsing our research pages.

The utility industry has been searching for an affordable and effective way to reduce mercury and other toxic emissions for years. Emerging technologies exist that substantially reduce emissions at Coal fired power plants. By adding a combination of products – one being Iron Oxide – Mercury, NOX, and SOX emissions are reduced through chemical bonding. The bonding occurs during the cooling process and that captures the Mercury, etc. and it becomes part of the ash rather than released into the air.

Magnetite is also revolutionizing the coal-powered electrical industry through an exciting process that produces vast amount of heat and pure, extractable carbon dioxide which is easy to capture and sequester away. Through a process called chemical looping, energy is produced cleaner than traditional, open burn techniques, and this just may be the future of cheap, carbon-reducing energy production.

Chemical looping reduces emissions and byproducts

Where traditional coal plants burn coal in the open air, chemical looping is a process that takes the coal and introduces it to oxygen-bearing materials, like iron oxide, in a closed system.

Iron reacts with the coal, and energy bound in the coal breaks the bonds between the iron and oxygen. Later in the reaction, iron interacts with air, and the chemical reaction produces heat, which is used to produce steam. This reaction takes place at much lower temperatures than traditional coal burning, and it produces almost no nitrogen oxide and a nearly pure stream of carbon dioxide, which can be siphoned off for underground storage.

Though currently in stages of research, construction is underway in Alabama on a 250-kilowatt coal-powered plant using the new technique. Researchers believe that chemical loop plants may be one of the cheapest ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Most people are aware of emery – the natural mixture of magnetite and corundum (aluminum oxide) – from tiny emery boards, those scratchy bits of drug store cardboard we use to file down hangnails and keep our fingernails kempt.

When it comes to abrasives, emery is one of the most versatile substances, finding its way into numerous applications where controlled abrasives are required. However, the supply of natural emery is limited and inconsistent. Manufacturing and scientific applications of the substance require much more precise compositions for a uniform grit, the level of abrasiveness in a substance.

By mixing high-quality magnetite with varying quantities of aluminum oxide, or corundum, manufacturers can create synthetic emery, opening up new applications across a wide spectrum of industries.

Sandblasting with synthetic emery

Sandblasting is the use of a fine-grit abrasive blasted with air through a nozzle to remove paints and coatings with minimal damage to the substrate. Extensively used in the automotive repair industry, sandblasting requires a uniform abrasive agent, the kind of abrasive provided by synthetic emery.

Using synthetic emery, manufacturers can control precisely the mix of magnetite and aluminum oxide, the size of the particles of each, and even the consistency of the agent by the introduction of other materials, such as silica. This precise level of control creates new products and new applications for existing products, including multi-layer coating removal and high-precision etching.

Cutting metal with emery

When it comes to the precision machining of metal, few if any techniques approach the precise cuts and high-quality edges of waterjet cutting. If you’ve ever seen an Apple iPhone, you’re familiar with the beauty and the detail made possible through the use of waterjet cutting.

In many waterjet cutting techniques, synthetic emery is added to the water to improve cutting power, allowing for this emerging metalworking technique to be used on an ever-increasing range of materials, including aluminum, glass, and even stainless steel.

Obstetricians on the maternity ward recommend expecting mothers take iron supplements to ensure a healthy infant after a strong pregnancy. Across the hospital, a radiologist examines a young baseball player’s MRI for signs of a concussion.

In both of these situations, magnetite plays a vital role. In fact, the medical industry relies on magnetite for thousands of vital treatments and procedures. And the role magnetite plays in healthcare continues to evolve as exciting new drug therapies arrive on the scene.

Targeted chemotherapy made possible by magnetite

Imagine a world in which highly customized, high-potency chemotherapy is directly applied to a tumor for a prescribed period of time. The ability to control a drug while in the body would allow for more powerful drugs to be applied in smaller doses, improving the efficacy of treatment and minimizing side effects.

Researchers believe this is possible by combining ferrofluids with chemotherapy drugs. Hypothetically, a thin layer of ferrofluid encloses the drug, which is directed to the site of the cancer by way of magnetic fields. Once the drug is administered for a specific time, the magnetic field is turned off and the drug dissipates into the body.

While minimizing the required dosage, this treatment protocol would also dramatically increase the efficacy of such treatments, and researchers are confident that drug targeting will soon be a reality.

Burning away tumors without harmful radiation

Another major field of cancer treatment may vanish, thanks to the use of ferrofluids. Long a staple of the cancer treatment field, radiological therapy – the application of targeted radiation to essentially burn away tumors – could become a thing of the past.

Researchers are studying the potential therapeutic applications of injecting tumor sites with ferrofluid and then using magnetic oscillation to heat the tumors. The vibration would create friction, releasing thermal energy that destroys the desired cells without damaging surrounding tissues. This process is called targeted magnetic hyperthermia.

Successful application of targeted magnetic hyperthermia could dramatically reduce and even potentially eliminate the need for radioactive therapies, which are frequently harmful or painful to endure.

Improving medical imaging and other new treatments

One of the greatest limitations of medical treatment today is the ability to see inside of a patient. While MRIs have incrementally improved over the decades, the technology is far from precise. With the selective application of ferrofluid-rich contrasting agents, though, radiologists may be able to improve both the quality and the contrast of MRI images, greatly increasing the image’s use for diagnostic and treatment protocols.

Along those same lines, researchers now believe magnetite may play a key role in the successful separation of cancer cells from healthy cells. They’re attempting to produce compounds that affix to cancerous cells, which could then be separated at the cellular level by means of magnetic fields. One of the first uses for this technology, if successful, will be in the field of bone marrow transplants, where a patient’s own, healthy cels can be separated and then transplanted back into the patient.

While magnetite has been an important raw material for iron and steel for centuries, scientists and engineers continue to discover innovative new uses for the mineral. Whether it’s creating newer, more effective sound-dampening for automobiles or developing traceable polymers, magnetite’s utility continues to grow into these new and exciting fields.

Improving sound and vibration dampening

Engineers introduce magnetite to plastics and polymers to add mass or improve density. In the automotive industry, designers have long turned to ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) for use as sound dampeners. By adding magnetite to EVA, the auto industry is producing quieter rides without harsh ecological side effects.

Increasing functional density is another important use, and on oil platforms, magnetite finds use both as ballast and counterweights to improve stability. This is just one of potentially thousands of uses for magnetite-rich compounds to be used as ballast or counterweights in industrial systems.

Increasing quality and function through density

Sometimes it’s important to increase the density of a material in order to improve an aesthetic feel of quality. This is often the case with injection-molded plastics and polymers, where a light material is high-strength but nevertheless feels “weak” due to its weight.

By adding magnetite to compounds where mass and density is important for both aesthetic and functional reasons, makers increase the heft of the product, resulting in a sense of quality or weightiness.

Consider polypropylene, nylons (polyamides) and polyethylene – three compounds from which myriad consumer and industrial products are fashioned. While sturdy, these materials are light. The addition of magnetite offers a boost in density and weight, adding heft and a sense of quality to these creations.

Keeping track of materials with the magic of magnets

A new, emerging field where magnetite is finding wide adoption is as a filler to objects where the addition of magnetic properties to an otherwise inert compound is useful. By adding magnetite to plastics and rubbers, these materials can be infused with magnetic properties.

The application of these new compounds is vast, from using electronics or other sensors to track the movement of a material through a complex system to facilitating the removal of a compound at a particular point in a system. By adding magnetite to rubbers, plastics and other polymers, these materials become magnetically reactive while the host medium remains inert to magnets. That means it becomes easy to remove the magnetite compound from a system using simply magnetics, which is useful in such diverse applications as quality control in chemical factories to leak detection in plumbed systems.

Improving Thermal Shielding Values

By adding Magnetite to thermal shielding components heat retention can be increased, and when needed, these components can also improve heat resistance.

Since ancient Rome, concrete has been a wonder product, enabling the construction of both extensive, durable roads and massive structures that soar above our heads. Concrete has also proven to be a valuable material in the manufacturing field, where engineers have designed everything from small refractories to massive chambers out of concrete.

Recent research shows that magnetite aggregate in concrete allows the material to perform well at much higher temperatures than non-magnetite infused concrete. This discovery marks an important milestone for concrete, which previously was susceptible to cracking and degrading when subjected to extreme temperatures.

Magnetite aggregate is also a key component to protecting personnel and equipment from the harmful effects of gamma radiation. Long the go-to choice for reactor shielding, magnetite aggregate is added to concrete to increase density, which improves the performance of concrete shielding, blocking harmful radiation and preventing heat buildup, which can degrade concrete’s performance over time.

With magnetite aggregate heavy concretes, structures are stronger and safer longer than their non-magnetite counterparts.