Industrial Uses
- Garnet has very low free silica and hence does not cause dust and silicosis in its industrial applications unlike silica sand or quartzite.
- Garnet is non-toxic, inert and hence environment (eco) friendly.
- Almandine garnet is one of the best natural abrasive and is preferred over other natural abrasives like Silica sand, mineral sands and flint.
- Garnet's unique grain hardness / toughness guarantees efficiency in blasting and reduces the break-down percentage on impact. About 65% of garnet can be recovered and recycled twice or thrice.
- Almandine garnet (sp.gr. 4.0-4.2) makes 3 or 4 times higher impact than quartz grains (sp.gr. 2.5-2.6) of the same size.
- Garnet is well suited for abrasive blasting / surface cleaning in fields like shipyards, petrochemical industry, building industry, non-ferrous surfaces etc.
- Water (Abrasive) jet cutting is more prevalent in North America and Europe where fine grade garnet is injected in a stream of high velocity of water to cut marbles, granites, high strength steel, aero space & automotive glass.