Bentonite 

  Bentonite is color ranges from white to light olive green, cream, yellow, earthy red, brown and sometimes sky blue when fresh but yellowing rapidly with exposure to air. When wet it is highly plastic and slippery. Bentonite feels and appears greasy or waxy.
There are two basic types of Bentonite, depending on whether they contain sodium or calcium in the crystal lattice.

1. Swelling bentonite - sodium bentonite contains sodium in the platy molecular structure; has strong swelling properties (ability to swell to many times its dry volume when wet)
2. non-swelling bentonites - calcium bentonite contains calcium in its structure; has a far lower capacity to swell when wet and usually exhibits greater adsorptive characteristics.

Uses of  Bentonite

•   swelling bentonite has many uses, due to its high plasticity and gelling property, its ability to take on large quantities of water and its capacity to swell to many times its dry volume. The applications for swelling bentonite include:well-drilling mud, where several pounds of bentonite are added per cubic foot of water to form a gel which lubricates the drill bit, helps to keep the walls of the borehole intact, reduces loss of drilling fluid and, when circulated during drilling, helps to bring the cuttings to the surface.

    pelletizing and binding agent for iron ore prior to smelting

• ·         binder and digestive aid in animal feed
• ·         sealing agent for reservoirs, lagoons and other engineering projects
• ·         plasticizer in ceramic clay bodies
• ·         binder of foundry sand
• ·         carrier of insecticide and pesticide
• ·         agent in water and effluent purification

The use as a binder in foundry molds is still considered a major application for which the swelling variety is preferred, although non-swelling bentonite is used for some foundry purposes.
Some non-swelling bentonites, depending on their chemistry and molecular structure, can be altered by acid leaching to render them useful as catalysts for petroleum cracking.

• Bentonite Synonyms: 

Sodium montmorillonite, calcium montmorillonite, saponite, montmorillonite (Na), montmorillonite (Ca),  bentonite, taylorite, fuller's earth, wyoming sodium bentonite,  hectorite, hormite claybentonite magma, southern bentonite, tixoton, volclay, volclay bentonite BC, wilkinite

• Bentonite Designations:

Chemical Formula: Al₂O₃4SiO₂H₂O
Chemical Name: Naturally occurring hydrated aluminum silicate

•  Physical Properties   Bentonite Available:

Numerous particle size options are available in the  lower micron area from a mean particle size of 2.5 to 4.0 microns. 

• Packaging    Bentonite:

Jars, pails, drums, multiply paper bags, bulk bags and fiberboard containers