Cryolite is rare in nature and is usually manufactured artificially. It is mainly used as flux for aluminum electrolysis; It is also used as a wear-resistant additive for grinding products, which can effectively improve the wear-resistant, cutting and cutting force of the grinding wheel, and prolong the service life and storage time of the grinding wheel; Ferroalloy and boiling steel flux, nonferrous metal flux, casting deoxidizer, alkene polymerization catalyst, as well as anti reflective coating for glass, emulsifier for enamel, opacifier for glass, flux for welding materials, filler for ceramic industry, pesticide, pesticide and other industrial enterprises.

The supply of cryolite in the market is relatively tight, which has a great relationship with the immature production technology of the manufacturer. The products can not meet the requirements of users. In addition, some raw materials used are also tight, and the cost of raw materials is too high, such as fluorite. In August 2008, the quotation of cryolite in China's domestic market was about 5000 yuan / T.

Cryolite is widely used in the aluminum industry. The annual consumption in the world is about 700000 tons. In 1999, the market sales volume of cryolite in China was about 130000 tons. As a flux for electrolytic aluminum smelting, cryolite must meet certain requirements in terms of sodium aluminum molecular ratio, impurity content and water content. The production and application of high molecular weight cryolite have been studied and discussed in the United States and Japan. The production of high molecular weight cryolite with sodium fluosilicate as raw material has realized industrial production. China's cryolite products comply with the standard of GB / t4291-2007, but each production enterprise will formulate corresponding enterprise technical indicators according to the purpose and user's requirements.

Industrial quality requirements for cryolite:

First of all, the higher the ratio of sodium to aluminum in cryolite, the better, the higher the molecular ratio, the higher the current efficiency of electrolytic aluminum smelting, the less fluorine loss and the less environmental pollution. Moreover, polymers are more suitable for other industries except aluminum industry than cryolite.

Secondly, the content of impurities such as silicon oxide, iron oxide and phosphorus pentoxide in cryolite is low. The existence of these impurities directly affects the quality of aluminum ingot and the current efficiency of aluminum smelting.

Third, the lower the water content of cryolite, the better. The existence of water will increase the consumption of cryolite.