Application of iron oxide magnetite powder

Application of magnetic powder

Natural magnetite Fe3O4 used for oil drilling fluides and oil-base muds

The type of magnetite can be widely used for drilling fluids, including freshwater, seawater and oil-base muds. It can be used to increase

the density of all drilling and completion fluids to 25 lb/gal (3.0 s.g.). it is most frequently used in high-density, oil-base muds.

Fluids weighted with this magnetite contain fewer solids by volume than those weighted with barite, making higher mud weights

possible. It is especially useful in high-density kill fluids.

iron-oxide magnetite used for oil drilling removal of sulfides and weighting agent

In the drilling for crude oil, water based mud is often used as a drilling fluid. Typically made using compounds like barite and bentonite clays to afford good lubricity, research has looked into other materials which may be beneficial and/or cheaper - but crucially are more tolerant to the high pressure, high temperature drilling processes of today. Typically for such applications, a denser material is used; a mud with higher specific gravity. Barite can be replaced with magnetite in a 1:1 fashion and is effective. Research showed that density could be increased from 14.5 to 14.9 ppg  (i.e. greater density with a lower amount of solids, reducing costs). A flat rheology was observed and a superior viscosity-elasticity profile was noted, meaning better cleaning of holes in the drilling equipment. Filtration properties were also enhanced compared to barite, with a near 30% less filtrate volume and a 16% less weight. Magnetite can also be used in the nanoparticle form for bespoke drilling fluids, with yield stress and temperature having a linear relationship. Furthermore, in oil and gas drilling, magnetite can aid in the removal of sulfides. In a similar vein to the density enhancing properties in water based mud, magnetite can be used analogously as a weighting agent in the cementing of the extraction wells.

iron-oxide Fe3O4 magnetite used for catalysis of ammonia and hydrocarbons

the best-known application of magnetite black sand is in the industrial scale synthesis of ammonia through the Haber-Bosch (H-B) process . The H-B process produces ammonia by converting atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen under elevated temperatures and pressures, employing a heterogeneous iron catalyst. Magnetite is the primary source material for this. Ground magnetite is partially reduced, relieving it of some of its oxygen, leaving a catalyst bearing a magnetite core with an outer shell of ferrous oxide (FeO, würstite). The advantage of this catalyst comes in its porosity, and thus it is a highly active, high surface area material. Ammonia is a major chemical feedstock and is a key component in the manufacture of fertiliser, and the use of magnetite in H-B provides an inexpensive and reliable catalyst for this globally important process.

Fe3O4 magnetite used for water purification and water treatment

Magnetite is a naturally occurring iron-oxide mineral with applications in several industries，One use is in water purification: in high gradient magnetic separation, magnetite nanoparticles introduced into contaminated water will bind to the suspended particles (solids, bacteria, or plankton, for example) and settle to the bottom of the fluid, allowing the contaminants to be removed and the magnetite particles to be recycled and reused.

Magnetite has been employed extensively in water purification and has been formed into polymeric microspheres alongside styrene and divinylbenzene to produce magnetic ion-exchange resins, showing good efficiency at removing toxic cobalt and nitrate contaminants from water. In a plant in Australia, micron-scale magnetite has been used as a reagent in purification and clarification of water, producing a potable supply from low quality ground and surface water. The issues relating to a ‘loaded’ reagent being hard to remove were resolved by the magnetic magnetite nature . Chlorinated hydrocarbons can be removed from water via bacteria that have been adsorbed onto magnetite, which can then be removed using a magnetic field.

In terms of the most highly advanced filtration processes for the most highly contaminated water, magnetite is often used alongside other compounds. Total organic carbon residues can be reduced by almost two thirds in acidic waste water in just two hours by the presence of  magnetite as a co-catalyst alongside conventional iron oxide, at ambient temperature. Additionally, when combined with related compound hematite, magnetite can effect the removal of 75% of organic carbon residues in cosmetic plant wastewater, with the added benefit of almost completely removing dissolved nitrogen species too.

Further uses of magnetite in filtration applications include the removal of hexavalent uranium from soil when accompanied by metal reducing bacteria Ochrobactrum, where the presence of magnetite has been shown to aid the immobilisation of the uranium - with significantly less removability reported without the magnetite present. Magnetite has been shown to aid the anaerobic digestion of dairy wastewater.

iron-oxide Fe3O4 magnetite used for Medicinal Uses

Magnetite has found wide use in the medicinal field. DNA has been shown to be extracted from kernels of maize vie the use of magnete and magnetite-silica composites, both performing better than commercially available DNA extraction kits. The extraction using magnetite black oxide was high yielding and resulted in extracts that were suitable for use in enzyme digestion and the polymerase chain reaction process. 5 micron scale magnetite powder has been used as a dye in stained gelatine for the assay of proteolytic activity - the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides and/or amino acid

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents are often reported as high efficacy applications for magnetite due to their superparamagnetic properties - they become magnetic inside the strong magnetic field of the MRI instrument, but loose this magnetism when the field is no longer applied, and are highly detectable.

iron-oxide Fe3O4 magnetite used for energy uses

Whilst magnetite has shown its ability in fossil fuel extraction, there are some examples of it finding use in the production of usable energy in a more sustainable manner. In a microbial fuel cell, usable fuel is produced when electricity is passed through a specific bacteria rich electrolyte, in a similar way to hydrogen is produced by electrolysis. It has been found that magnetite addition to such a system offers excellent performance for the oxygen transport steps, leading to overall greater system efficiency. Additionally, the magnetite present is also effective at removing sewage sludge - should the system be using contaminated water. Magnetite immobilized lipases have been shown as effective producers of biodiesel fuel, just like other lipases. Critically however, fungal and non-probiotic sources of lipases are associated with harmful byproducts, whilst probiotic lipases are not known for their stability and thus efficiency compared to their fungal counterparts. The immobilization of these probiotic lipases on magnetite renders a superior performing system.