Dewatering: Thickening, Filtering, CCD, Water Treatment & Tailings Disposal

Dewatering: Thickening, Filtering, CCD, Water Treatment & Tailings Disposal

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thickening at lower densities and finer grind (2 replies and 1 comment)

j
jerry andoh
7 years ago
jerry andoh 7 years ago

i am currently thickening at 212 microns with feed density of 15% solids however, i want to regrind from 212 microns to 45 microns and thicken to about 55% solids. my major worry is the capacity of my thickener which per design is at 24t/hr but  i am current doing 17t/hr because obviously i need more time to thicken 45 microns product size as compared to the 212microns i am already doing. what calculation will help me realise the capacity i will need for this change? my design solids settling flux is 0.062m²/t/d 

j
jerry andoh
7 years ago
jerry andoh 7 years ago

what will be the likely effects of milling a concentrate feed at a density of 15% solids (75% psaaing 212microns)

A
MineralFrothFlotation
7 years ago

Dear Jerry ,
just trying to analyze this thickening issue from different angle . If your process is capable to settle the fines very fast , in that way you can pump the slurry very fast and obviously your input to the thickener will also increase from present level of 17 TPH .

Pls. let me know
1) At which process stage you are adding flocculent ? concentrate lounder or feed point to thickener or feed well ?

2) Concentration of Flocculent solution ?

3) How you are adding the flocculent i.e at a single point or multiple point by a single pipe ?

C
Colette
7 years ago
Colette 7 years ago

Jerry - is the settling rate you have provided for the lower grind size? If it is for the higher grind size then you are going to have to do settling work at the finer grind size, as there is no way to confidently extrapolate the settling rates - they really should be measured.

Calculating the size of thickener is simple - you are treating 24 t/h, or 576 t/day. Using your settling rate you will need 576 t/day * 0.062 m2/t/day = 35.7 m2 of settling area. Use the area of a circle to calculate the thickener diameter - and you get a 6.75 m diameter thickener. Usually you would add 20% to the area calculation to deal with tonnage fluctuations and error in the settling rate, so if you were designing from scratch you would buy a thickener of around 7.5 m diameter.

If your second query is related to milling a concentrate fed into a regrind mill at 15% solids, then my advise would be that this is a rather low feed density, you are in all likelihood going to struggle to mill it efficiently - you should consider sending the material through a classification circuit up front which will, with proper design, give you an underflow density closer to 50% solids which most regrind mills should be OK with.

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