Barite- Applications And Uses

Barite is a mineral which is composed of barium sulfate. It can be found in the form of barite lumps as well as powder. Barite has derived its name from a Greek word “barys” meaning “heavy”. As it has a pretty high specific gravity, it has got the name Barite which means heavy. Being a non-metallic mineral this gravity level is pretty exceptional. Because of barite's high specific gravity, it is eligible for a pretty wide range of medical, industrial and also manufacturing uses.

Production of Barite-
• It is the gas and oil industry which are the primary worldwide user of Barite lumps. In drilling mud, there are works as a weighting agent. Oil and gas industry has been in demand for a very long time now, so it a growing industry.
• Due to this there has been an increase in the price of barite lumps. There are also substitutes available for barite, in drilling mud, these substitutes are ilmenite, Celestine, synthetic hematite and iron ore.
• Barite has substitutes bug none of the substitutes has been able to replace barite in any of the major areas of business. Barite lumps are much more affordable and also perform better than the other substitutes.
• Barite lumps are highly produced in India and China. These are the two countries which have the vastest stocks. Whereas, the United States does not have enough production of barite for supplying its domestic needs.

Uses Of Barite Fillers-
• The barite lumps are used in paints as a pigment and a weighted filled for cloth, rubber and paper. The paper which is used for making playing cards has the barite packed in between paper fibres.
• Due to the barite filling the cards get a high density which allows them to be dealt with easily. Barite lumps are also used in rubber for weight filling. It is used for making mudflaps for trucks.

Uses Of Barite In Hospitals-
• As barite is a primary ore of barium, hence it is also used for making various barium compounds. Barite lumps can block gamma rays and X-ray emissions. Therefore, barite is used for making some high-density concrete for blocking these emissions of rays in power plants, hospitals and laboratories.
• In some of the diagnostic medical tests, barite compounds are used too. If there is a patient who needs to get an x-ray of his oesophagus, he/she is given a liquid to drink, which has barium powder in a milkshake-like consistency. This drink will coat the patient's oesophagus.
• After the barium swallow, immediately the x-ray of throat needs to be taken, as then the soft tissues of the oesophagus which is normally transparent to X-rays, because of the opaque nature of barium, the x-ray can be taken. As it’s opaque nature will block the light making the oesophagus visible to the x-ray.

These are the common factors about Barite lumps and its uses, which you need to know before you buy any barite.
The barite lumps exporter who you choose should sell you good quality, and pure barite for your industrial uses. Make sure you check the background of the exporter before buying from them.