Guar Gum Uses

Balling, pelletizing and briquetting of fine materials to produce large, dust-free agglomerates require addition of agents capable of binding fine materials to one another. Choice of binder entails balancing of glue strength, green strength, lubricity and effect on the final product. Often more than one agent is required to attain all desired characteristics.

Rantec specialty gums and additives perform binding functions in several industries including charcoal and coal briquettes, iron concentrate balling, fertilizer prills and wood based pellets. The choice of product type is a product development task. Products currently in use or testing include RX2000™ starch, Rantec UFF-HVS, DI, DIF, DHV guar gums and Rantec's patented Oriox™ 255 blend.

Froth flotation is a common means of making mineral concentrations following mining and milling of value containing ores. Float oils selectively attach to the minerals to be floated, making them air-avid. Frother forms bubbles under agitation and air injection in the bottom of the float cell. Depressant is added to condition or blind talc and clay from the float oil.

A solution of KP4000™ guar gum is added to the conditioning cell upstream of the float cells. During the conditioning process the molecules of guar gum coat the material to be depressed making it water-avid and allowing it to remain in the suspension and pumped out the bottom of the float cell.

Dewatering wells require clear, biodegradable drilling fluids. Rantec G150™ Biopolymer used at 1 to 2 lbs per barrel of water is an ideal fluid drilling medium. The pseudoplastic nature of the fluid provides many benefits to the driller. Lubricity under high shear reduces pump power required. High viscosity in the annulus easily suspends cuttings preventing accumulation around the bit and drill stem. Shear-thinning on the sand screen allows cuttings to easily separate from the fluid and keep the fluid clear.

G150™ biodegrades quickly, leaving no residue. Spilled drilling fluid quickly degrades under attack by soil and air-borne microorganisms. G150™™ left in the well or producing formation breaks down with addition of chlorine bleach or enzyme breaker.

LRMUD-7™ is a liquid synthetic polymer designed for quick and easy pour-in use.

Flocculation is a process of removal of fine particles from a slurry suspension. Flocculation reagents such as KP4000™ and G150™ guar gum provide bridges between individual particles, thus forming aggregates called flocs. The flocs grow in size until their density is great enough to settle out of the slurry by the force of gravity.

KP4000™ and G150™ are made down in dilute solutions and added to the slurry stream just prior to addition to the clarifier or thickener.

Guar gums find wide uses in many of the most common aspects of our lives. Many foods utilize guar as a special additive to improve handling, smoothness, shelf life and other characteristics. Pet food also is improved by the use of guar gum in its formulation.

For advice on the use of guar gum for these applications contact our parent company, Polypro International by e-mail or phone at (952)-835-7717.

Oil and gas wells produce additional petroleum product after proper stimulation. The process of stimulation increases the producing formation open surface area. Hydraulic fracturing uses water under very high pressure to form cracks through the producing zone. Specialized piston pumps deliver the water down the casing and into the formation. When water pressure exceeds formation pressure the fractures begin to form. Special fracturing sand delivered with the water into the formation keeps the fractures from collapsing on release of hydraulic pressure.

Delivery of sand mixed with water would not be possible without gelling action from Rantec UFF-HVS, GA-40W or C6SJ™. Water mixed with Rantec guar gum becomes viscous and capable of keeping sand in suspension during hydraulic fracturing. Additional components added to Rantec guar gum produce thick gels capable of carrying very large amounts of sand using the crosslinking process.

Breakdown of the gel viscosity after the fracturing process restores formation permeability and allows increased production flow of petroleum products. Enzyme breakers, such as Rantec LEB-H and LEB-4 reduce the viscosity of the gel in a controlled manner. Enzyme breakers slowly break the bonds in the long polymer chains of Rantec guar gums. The gel viscosity returns to that of water and formation permeability returns.

Rantec Specialty gums produce usable water gels for use in single and multiple use ice packs. Medical and food shippers as well as recreationalists use ice packs for clean, dry cooling of material. Guar gum is particularly valuable for use in freeze point depressed ice packs.

A large percentage of grass seeding for lawns, mining and highway reclamation is done by hydromulching. The process of hydromulching uses a slurry of water, fiber mulch, tackifier, seed and fertilizer mixed in a truck or trailer mounted tank. The slurry is thoroughly mixed and then applied to the prepared seed bed by spraying. Rantec recommends Supertack®, Guardian®, J3000™, R-Tack™ or X-Tack™ for the tackifier portion of the slurry in many applications. The tackifier may be added to the slurry in the mixer or is available pre-blended with fiber. The tackifier acts as a “glue” to hold the fiber mulch in place over the seed bed until the seed has sprouted and become established.

Many areas of the earth require substantial de-watering. Examples include dams and roadways (for stabilization); landfills and areas containing contaminated ground water. De-watering wells sufficiently de-water in some instances. Other geological situations require greater permeability and volume of influence. These situations call for extraction trenches. Extraction trenches typically extend vertically from the surface to the first impermeable layer. The trench is backfilled with permeable, granular material such as sand or gravel. Well casings or vertical man-ways installed at regular intervals contain submersible pumps used to pull water from the trench. Silt liners, impermeable liners and pipe complete more complex designs.

Injection trenches similarly constructed are for the purpose of returning groundwater to the water table.

Construction of extraction or injection trenches utilizes a liquid shoring fluid as support during the construction and backfilling phase. After construction completion permeability of the backfill and producing formation returns by breaking down the biopolymer. The biopolymer used for liquid shoring is biodegradable and capable of producing adequate support.

Reactive barriers, providing for in-situ remediation, have recently become practical. A number of installations of zero valent iron have been installed. Biopolymer liquid shoring is often the only practical means to install deep barriers. Zero valent iron technology is licensed by Envirometal Technologies.

Rantec G150™ Biopolymer finds extensive use for production of liquid shoring fluid. G150™ mixes with fresh water and stabilizers producing a viscous, pseudoplastic fluid. G150™ Fluid viscosity reduces readily and is biodegradable. G150™ Liquid shoring fluid when properly designed by geotechnical engineers provides adequate support to protect excavations from collapse or sloughing during construction.

Nearly 4 million square feet of trench constructed since 1987 utilized Rantec G150™ as liquid shoring medium.

Rantec specialty gums have functionality as adhesive in the manufacture of paperboard. Guar gums in proper aqueous solution will adsorb directly on fibers during the paper making process. On reaching the screen and consolidating into the paper sheet the guar gum acts as an inter-fiber adhesive and strength building agent.

Bonding strength increases by 10 to 20% are achieved through the addition of guar gum. Sheet uniformity is increased and printability is improved.

Modified guar gums have utility in treatment of waste water from paper plants. Fine, colloidal fibers may be flocculated by the use of properly charged modified gum.

Rantec Corporation assists customers in development of specialty uses of guar gum. Rantec maintains a product development facility for this purpose. Our experience in a wide range of gum and polymer uses aids in the growth of new ideas. Rantec has assisted many customers in the choice, application, handling and mixing, custom packaging and new product development of guar gum.

Specialty guar gums of proprietary nature have been produced in cooperation with a number of customers.

Rantec UFF-HV, PPN4000 and DI-F guar gums find several uses for improving the wet performance of explosives. The addition of guar gum to stick dynamite imparts water-blocking ability to the stick. In the event the stick wrapping is punctured and comes into contact with water, guar gum will form a water-proof block in combination with incoming water, thus preventing further loss of the explosive ability. Guar gum added to ANFO prills provides protection against water invasion into blast holes loaded with the treated ANFO.

Guar gum has also been used as a gellant for super saturated nitrate solutions. These solutions are nearly plastic in their consistency, yet pumpable and are water-resistant. They may be used for packaging in tubes or direct loading of blast holes.

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