Manufacturing
Raw silica from Wadi Natrun is washed, dried, screened, verified, packed and dispatched — with a measurement between every pair of machines.
Process
Each stage carries its own control point. The controls are the reason the specification holds.
Raw silica won from the Wadi Natrun formation
Working faces are selected on assay rather than convenience. The formation is naturally high-silica with low iron, but purity varies across it, and material destined for glass grade is won from different faces than material destined for filter sand.
Control point
Face assay for SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ before a face enters the production plan.
Clay, silt and organics removed in a closed-loop circuit
Attrition scrubbing breaks the clay film that coats raw grains, then hydrocyclones and dewatering screens carry the fines away. This stage decides acid solubility and turbidity performance more than any later one — clay left on the grain will wash out slowly for the whole service life of the bed.
Control point
Wash-water turbidity monitored continuously; recovered water recirculated through settling ponds.
Moisture reduced below 0.5%
Below roughly 0.5% moisture, fine gradations screen cleanly instead of blinding the decks and agglomerating on the cut point. Decorative and resin-bound grades are taken further, to below 0.2%, because resin systems will not bond to a damp grain surface.
Control point
Continuous moisture measurement at the dryer discharge; product held if it drifts above the grade limit.
Cut to the effective size and uniformity coefficient specified
Multi-deck screens separate each gradation. The commercial size range on the bag is the easy part; the number that governs filter behaviour is the uniformity coefficient, and holding it at or below 1.5 is what stops head loss developing unpredictably across a run.
Control point
Sieve analysis on every lot; effective size and uniformity coefficient recorded on the certificate.
Chemical and physical properties confirmed before release
Sieve analysis, acid solubility, specific gravity, hardness, roundness and turbidity are run on a representative sample from each lot. Quality holds release authority independent of the production schedule — a failed lot does not ship.
Control point
Signed certificate of analysis issued per lot and matched to the bag markings.
25 kg bags, one-tonne jumbo bags or bulk
Bags carry the product, gradation, lot number and production date, so the material in front of an installer can be traced back to the certificate on file. Multimedia packages are labelled by bed layer and loaded in installation order.
Control point
Lot number printed on every bag; weight checked on a calibrated scale.
Covered storage, palletised loading, export documentation
Dried grades are held under cover — moisture regained in an open yard undoes the drying stage entirely. Export consignments leave through Alexandria or Damietta with certificate of analysis, safety data sheet and certificate of origin issued together.
Control point
Moisture re-checked on dried grades before loading; documentation issued as one pack.
Capability
Factory Film
A four-minute film covering extraction, washing, drying, screening, the laboratory and dispatch — shot on site at Wadi Natrun.
Watch in the Media CentreFactory film — in production
Not every specification is producible from every deposit. We would rather say so at enquiry stage than at delivery.