Wollastonite is a chain shaped metasilicate mineral. Its main component is CaSi3O9, which is fibrous and needle shaped. It is non-toxic, resistant to chemical corrosion, has good thermal stability and dimensional stability, has glass and pearl luster, low water absorption and oil absorption value, and has excellent mechanical and electrical properties. It is widely used in ceramics, rubber, plastics, metallurgy, coatings, paint, building materials and other industries, with high market value, It has become an important basic nonmetallic ore with huge application market demand and broad development prospects. HCMilling(Guilin Hongcheng) is a manufacturer of wollastonite grinding mill equipment for the production of wollastonite powder. The following is an introduction to the application trend of wollastonite.

Application of different wollastonite products:

Wollastonite market products are mainly divided into: wollastonite powder, wollastonite superfine powder, wollastonite needle powder, modified wollastonite powder.

Wollastonite powder: ＜43μm. The market products mainly include ordinary wollastonite powder and fine wollastonite powder after processed by wollastonite grinding mill. It is mainly used in ceramic raw materials and glazes, welding electrodes, metallurgical protection slag, paint fillers and other fields.

Wollastonite superfine powder (also called wollastonite superfine powder): ＜10μm. It is mainly used as paint, plastic rubber and cable filler.

The needle like wollastonite powder can be divided into needle like powder and ultra-fine needle like powder, with the length diameter ratio generally greater than 10:1. It is mainly used for rubber and plastic reinforcement, fibrous filler of friction materials for clutch brakes such as automobiles, etc.

Modified wollastonite powder is divided into modified wollastonite superfine powder and modified wollastonite superfine needle powder. It is a product obtained by coating wollastonite powder with silane and other surface active agents. It is mainly used for composite materials such as cables, rubber and plastics, with strong reinforcement function.

Application status of wollastonite:

The apparent consumption structure of wollastonite is closely related to the market structure of wollastonite products. The apparent consumption structure of wollastonite in China is: it is used in ceramics, accounting for about 47%; Used for metallurgical protective slag and welding electrode, accounting for about 30%; Used for coatings, plastics, etc., accounting for about 20%; New composite materials, electronic components, packaging materials and other emerging fields account for a relatively small proportion, accounting for about 3%. In recent years, domestic backbone wollastonite enterprises have expanded their application fields, accelerated the extension of the industrial chain, and gradually entered the downstream finished wollastonite industry while improving their production level. Wollastonite is increasingly closely linked with high-tech industries focusing on energy conservation and environmental protection, electronic information, biology, aerospace, military industry and new materials and new energy.

Application analysis of wollastonite powder ground by wollastonite grinding mill:

1. Concrete

Fiber reinforced concrete has the main advantages in improving the poor tensile properties and ductility of concrete, and the research in this direction has developed rapidly in recent years. Among them, the glass fiber reinforced concrete market is developing most rapidly. It is estimated that the total market value will reach 3.3 billion dollars in 2023.

Silicon fiber has a similar structure to glass fiber short fiber, which has certain advantages in the application of glass fiber reinforced concrete. In addition, silicon fiber reinforced concrete has been widely used in dam repair and other application fields abroad. For example, the Korean market is used for dam repair, and NYCO provides concrete admixture NyadG products worldwide.

The addition of wollastonite in the concrete industry is about 5%. In 2021, China’s cement output will reach 2.533 billion tons, of which Gezhouba Group Cement Co., Ltd., ranking 10-20, will produce 30 million tons of cement annually. In 2025, 4.8 million tons will be used for underground space, structural engineering construction, glass fiber replacement and other structural and special concrete materials. It is estimated that the annual demand for wollastonite is about 240000 tons.

2. Paint

Wollastonite can be used as a substitute for body pigment and some white pigments in coatings. In addition, according to the characteristics of wollastonite itself, it can also be used as a coating modification additive to expand the functionality of materials. If wollastonite has good corrosion resistance, it can be used in the field of anti-corrosion coatings. Therefore, relying on wollastonite products to develop functional coatings is one of the important development directions for future applications.

The addition amount of wollastonite for coating is about 20%. At present, anti-corrosion coatings for offshore engineering are mainly used in anti-corrosion coating of fan blades, fan supports, photovoltaic supports, cable surfaces and other industries. The annual demand for anti-corrosion coatings for the construction of marine energy projects is 4 million square meters, with a total demand of 100000 tons of coatings, and the annual demand for wollastonite is predicted to be 20000 tons.

3. Engineering plastics

Wollastonite modified plastics can not only reduce the cost of plastics, but also give plastics more useful service properties, such as high stability, flame retardancy, electrical insulation, dimensional stability, etc. Especially with the upgrading and progress of market demand, the market for high-end modified plastics has grown rapidly, and the demand for high-end powder modified plastics dominated by wollastonite has also steadily increased.

The downstream application fields of modified engineering plastics include household appliances, automobiles, electronic and electrical appliances, office equipment and electric tools, among which household appliances and automobiles account for 37% and 15% respectively. It is predicted that by 2025, China’s demand for modified plastics in the automotive field will reach 11.8024 million tons, including 2.3621 million tons for new energy vehicles. In addition, in recent years, emerging energy fields, including wind turbine blades, cables, photovoltaic brackets and other engineering plastics for offshore wind power, are in huge demand.

The addition amount of engineering plastic wollastonite for offshore engineering is 5%. From 2021 to 2025, China will increase the installed capacity of offshore wind power to 34.7 million kilowatts, averaging about 7 million kilowatts per year. Each wind turbine will use about 80 tons of engineering plastics, with a power of 1500 kilowatts. The annual demand for engineering plastics will be about 400000 tons. The annual added market capacity of wollastonite will be 20000 tons.

4. Degradable plastics

The filled and modified biodegradable plastics refer to the plastics mixed and modified with inorganic mineral powder (including but not limited to calcium carbonate, talcum powder, sand, wollastonite, etc.) as the filler and biodegradable resins such as polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS), aliphatic aromatic copolymer (PBAT), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), etc. Wollastonite modification can significantly improve the mechanical properties of biodegradable plastics while reducing the production cost of biodegradable plastics. Therefore, it has obvious advantages in the packaging market (shopping bags, garbage bags, etc.) with certain strength requirements.

The addition of wollastonite in degradable plastics is 5%. Degradable plastics are mainly used in express delivery, catering delivery, shopping bags and mulching. Among them, biodegradable plastics for shopping bags are the main application direction of wollastonite. In 2025, the degradable plastic bags in China will reach 1.06 million tons, which will be enhanced by adding wollastonite at a rate of 30%. The annual added market capacity of wollastonite is about 15000 tons.

In addition, special cement, calcium silicate board, ceramic slate, etc. have certain demand for wollastonite. In the next few years, with the rapid development of marine energy engineering, engineering construction and other industries, and the improvement of domestic wollastonite product quality, some industries in the downstream application of wollastonite will appear or pioneering application, or rapid growth, or import to domestic, and domestic wollastonite products will have a sharp increase in demand.

Wollastonite grinding mill equipment is the main equipment for the production and processing of wollastonite powder. As a manufacturer of wollastonite grinding mill equipment, the wollastonite powder grinding mill equipment produced by HCMilling(Guilin Hongcheng), such as wollastonite Raymond mill, wollastonite ultra-fine vertical roller mill, wollastonite ultrafine ring roller mill, has been widely used and well received in the production and processing enterprises of wollastonite. If you need wollastonite grinding mill equipment, please contact us for details.