Patent ID: 6047568
Filing Date: 2000-04-11
Classification: C03B,C03C

Abstract:
A method of manufacturing a silica powder by a sol-gel technique, wherein said method comprises:forming a suspension consisting of synthetic silica soot and water, said suspension having a concentration of 50% to 75% by weight of silica, and said synthetic silica soot having a specific surface area of less than 80 m.sup.2 /g;gelling said suspension;drying and breaking up the resulting gel into grains of silica having a size lying in the range 10 .mu.m to 1 mm and having an apparent density of about 0.5 g/cm.sup.3 to 0.6 g/cm.sup.3, wherein the drying is with microwaves and is in bulk, without any crust forming; andscreening the grains of silica to provide grains having a desired size.