I may have complained about working out before. I really don’t like it. It’s not much fun, and at the time, it usually feels like a waste of time.
But, I know that in the long run, I have to at least maintain a basic level of fitness and do some exercise, for all the longevity and health benefits that are hammered into our skulls by everyone. Daily. Ha.
So, I usually get to a good gym 2 to 3 times a week, and the trainer there runs our small group through a series of workouts. Sometimes it’s really hard to do the push and get there, but once I am there it’s not too bad.
And, it’s really necessary to have the energy for business.
Sand attrition scrubbing is kinda like working out. It feels like it’s not really necessary, and it tends to delay results by a couple days, and it’s a bit messy and a lot of work. And then, sometimes, you find it’s necessary to scrub multiple times.
But, attrition scrubbing for many sands is absolutely necessary.
You see, it’s common for any sand that is mined to have spent a good portion of time under pressure and in the presence of various liquids and minerals. What tends to happen is some cementing, and also some “sticking.” Tiny and small grains tend to attach in groups to a large grain.
Hence the term “clusters.”
Now, if you were to just wash and dry and test WITHOUT scrubbing, there would be a number of bad things that happen:
1 – your sieve analysis would be inaccurate, because you are not sieving single particle sand … the small grains would still be adhered to the large grain, and it could significantly skew your results
2 – when you go to build frac sand crush test prep material, using the sieves, your crush prep would not be accurately built, for many of the reasons in #1
3 – when you do crush testing, the clusters “blow up” and come apart under pressure, and when you go to measure the crush test results, many of those small particles will pass through the lower sieve, and your crush tests will results in much worse results than your sand is actually capable of
So, attrition scrubbing IS necessary for many sands, prior to doing frac sand testing. It takes a great deal of equipment investment and working knowledge in order to do attrition scrubbing correctly in the laboratory.
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