When underway and navigating on a ship, it is a common practice to take a “depth sounding” and then compare the reading with a chart.
In modern practice, a sounding is taken using sonar to bounce a ping off the bottom, and measure the time that it takes to get back to the ship.
From this time, you can tell how far the bottom is below your keel.
In the old days, a man would take a thin rope with some lead (the metal) on the end, and then drop the line down and take a reading from that.
Generally, it’s a good idea when navigating a ship to know how far the bottom is below you! And man has known how to do that for some time, but the method has changed with advances in technology.
Anyway, one key thing to do in modern navigation is to take a sounding (using echo sounding), then compare the reading that you get to the chart.
If the sounding correlates within a certain percentage to the chart depth reading, you can say “checks with chart” and be reasonably confident that you are where you think you are!
In sand testing, our lab has created a nice “chart” for you to check your sand with.
We have a “Sand Market Matrix” to compare your sand with. This matrix shows the requirements for several different sand markets, and the recommended qualities for each industry. These industries include:
– frac sand
– water well packing sand
– metallurgical sand
– electronics sand
– glass making sand
– refractory sand
We created a Sand Evaluation Testing package where we conduct several tests on your sand, and then use the Sand Market Matrix to show you where your sand fits in, and in what industries you might be able to market your sand.
So just like the sailor taking a sounding and checking with the chart to see where he is at, you can send your sand to us.
