+31 314 373 333The Drymeister (DMR) Flash Dryer is ideal for processing kaolin, as it combines drying, de-agglomeration/milling and classifying in one piece of equipment. For wet products like suspensions and slurries, Hosokawa offers a wide range of batch and continuous Mixers that can be adapted to suit even the most abrasive of materials, such as kaolin.
What is kaolin?
Kaolin or china clay is a kind of rock that is rich in kaolinite. It’s one of the most common minerals on the planet and is mined and processed in many countries. It is a soft, earthy, usually white mineral, produced by the chemical weathering of aluminium silicate minerals like feldspar. In many parts of the world, it is coloured pink-orange-red by iron oxide, giving it a distinct rust hue. Lighter concentrations yield white, yellow or light orange colours.
Kaolin applications
Kaolin is most commonly used in the paper-coating industry. It is also used as a filler (added to plastics, for example, and rubber compounds), as a pigment in paints, in ceramics (tile, chinaware, and bathroom toilets and sinks), and in pharmaceuticals. When added to a concrete mix, metakaolin accelerates the hydration of Portland cement.
Commercial grades of kaolin are supplied and transported as dry powder, semi-dry paste or as liquid slurry. After mining, the kaolin contains moisture which requires drying to turn it into a dry powder and mixing to turn it into a slurry or suspension.
