Washington Mills: How is an Alumina Bubble Made?

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• Laura Hamberg

Hollow insulating spheres made from high purity alumina are often referred to as bubble alumina or alumina bubbles. Fused bubble alumina is made when the raw materials (high purity Bayer process alumina) are heated to an extremely high heat (2000°C) in an electric arc furnace. The molten material is then poured out of the furnace and fed through a high pressure air stream. The stream of molten particles cools rapidly as it hits the air. The surface tension causes the molten particles to form perfect firm spheres in the process. The hollow sphere or alumina bubble consists of an open core, making the bubble lightweight and giving it superior insulating properties for refractory applications.

For more information on our lightweight refractories and Washington Mills’ bubble alumina, DURALUM AB, please contact Washington Mills today at info@washingtonmills.com or 800-828-1666.

 

About Washington Mills

Washington Mills started manufacturing abrasives in the U.S in 1868 and over 140 years later, we continue to manufacture high quality refractory raw materials and serve thousands of customers around the world. We carefully select the raw materials we use to make our products and our in house laboratory tests all of our products during and after production to ensure our products meet the highest quality standards.

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