What is Calcination?
This term means different things to different people. In general, it means heating a material without fusing it. For diatomite, depending on its end use, the raw material can be heated to temperatures above 1000 degrees Celcius especially if it is to be used for filtration purposes. At such temperatures, a proportion of the amorphous silica of diatomite is converted to crystalline forms of silica such as cristoballite which are potentially harmful to human health if they are inhaled. At Mount Sylvia Diatomite we do heat treat diatomite to make some of our products but we are careful that the temeprature of our kiln does not exceed 700 degrees so that there is no chance the undesirable forms of silica are generated.
Further to this, we test product regularly using x-ray diffraction to determine that the unwanted crystalline forms of silca are present below the levels stipulated in our MSDS.
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