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By P. Oliveira, A. Peres, A. Silva

"The decrease in iron content and increase in contaminants grade, associated with greater participation of compact and semi-compact materials, has impacted the recovery of a mechanical cells flotation circuit in the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil. The recovery decrease in the flotation stage motivated the current conventional flotation circuit reevaluation seeking alternatives to restore the recovery, without affecting the final concentrate quality parameters, with low investment. Sampling, chemical characterization of samples, bench scale flotation experiments, and mass balances were conducted. Analysis of the results showed opportunities to improve the circuit performance. The stages prior to the flotation circuit changes were: rougher, cleaner, recleaner and scavenger. In the previous configuration, recleaner was operated as cleaner scavenger and the iron grade in the scavenger concentrate was 23%, representing 38% of the new feed. After the circuit change, the circulating load was reduced from 38% to 15% and the iron content was upgraded to 42%, resulting in increased residence time. The iron content in the global tailings of the concentrator was decreased from 10.9% (year of 2013 average) to 10.2%, representing gains in both mass and metallurgical recoveries.INTRODUCTIONRegarding plant practice, the year 1972 represents a landmark for the concentration of iron ores in Brazil. VALE started up 28 units of WHIMS (wet high intensity magnetic separators) at the Cauê plant in Itabira, each one producing 1x106 t/year of concentrate. Later 17 WHIMS machines were commissioned at Conceição. During the 80’s decade of last century, changes in the ROM required the addition of a cleaner flotation stage to decrease the silica content in the pellet feed.The first company to use reverse cationic flotation as the only concentration operation of iron ore was SAMARCO (start up in 1977). Since 2015 flotation has been utilized at VALE in Itabira as major concentration process, magnetic separation acting as scavenger stage.The Jones matrix type WHIMS were manufactured for decades under patent by KHD Humboldt Wedag. After the expiration of the Jones patent, Eriez Magnetics took the world leadership regarding WHIMS manufacturing. The Brazilian branch of Eriez is Inbras. Based on plant practice experience at the Fabrica concentrator, the Brazilian company Gaustec was established (RIBEIRO and RIBEIRO, 2010) and is now present in different countries. The mega sized WHIMS GHX-1400 (18.000 Gauss, gaps smaller than 1.5 mm) were developed to face the challenge of huge throughput required by iron ore processing (Ribeiro et al, 2017)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Przybycien Krzysztof, Tumidajski Tadeusz

"Materials being the feed to mineral dressing plants are the mixture of ore minerals having different physicochemical properties among others, especially susceptibility on crumbling. During exploitation of material and their preparation to communition the big number of narrow classes comes into being and they have different properties. The determination of common communition laws of multicomponent (on account of size and mineralogy) materials leads to the estimation of mutual influence of narrow classes and their rates, taking into account their endurance and mineral density, on general ratios and their simultaneous crumbling.If we try to accept the grain membership to the certain component as the differing feature, we can write the balance equation as: ( ) ( ) S= = k i i i g x p f x1where: fi – density functions of one type distribution and of different statistical moments (characterising the homogeneous materials grinding), pi – “stirring” proportions of each components, S== k i i p 1 1 . From the point of verification view of detailed versions of this equation the inverse operation should be done: in the base of the components’ mixture grinding results and the results of components grinding the legitimacy of equation should be checked.The using of finished distribution mixtures’ theories to the grinding process analysis allows, first of all, to verify the assumption of grinding independence of individual feed components. Talking more generally it would lead to the comparison of grain size distributions, obtained by individual components grinding from the defined in the mixture distributions theory calculations. One of experimental and calculation results for artificial mixtures of galena and dolomite is presented on figure below (df means distribution function)"

Jan 1, 2003

By Kremena Dedelyanova, Tsvetan Damyanov, Nikolay Hristov, Evgeni Kostadinov, Lubomir Kuzev

"Spherical grinding media (balls) are the most widely used media for comminution of ores by grinding. One way to optimize the grinding process in a tumbling mill is associated with the development and testing of a new media shape. By modelling simulation study of the behaviour of two types of grinding media (balls and tetraballpebs) in the grinding process was conducted to determine the possible advantages of the new media shape. Tetraballpebs are in the shape of tetrahedrons with spherical convex walls. D305 mm and L305 mm Bond ball mill sizes were used in the experiment. They are modelled milling tetraballpebs bodies corresponding by weight to five ball sizes, namely ¾, 7/8, 1, 1¼ and 1½ inches which form the grinding media used in a Bond ball mill. They are cast steel grinding bodies. Studies carried out with both types of grinding media include equal number of milling bodies of the same weight and volume. Having thus ensured a uniform mass of the grinding media and the same number of milling bodies, all other conditions and process parameters being identical, conclusions can be drawn about the influence of the grinding media shape on the grinding process. Compared to steel balls, the tetraballpebs used in laboratory tests carried out in closed cycle by Bond ball mill and the study of the rate of grinding gave five to six per cent higher yield of a control size of minus 0.1 mm. Measurements of the Bond ball mill power consumption demonstrated that tetraballpebs grinding media achieved energy saving of 4.7 per cent for the production of one gram of the control size of minus 0.1 mm."

Jan 1, 2014

By R. X. Li

The overall flow-sheet of producing chromium (III) sulfate is described in this paper. The suitable conditions of each process such as sintering, leaching, aluminum removal, reduction, and de-composition conditions were experimentally studied. The results show it is reasonable to produce chromium (III) sulfate with the flow-sheet pointed out in this research work. The final product is Cr2(SO4)3 solution contained 150~250g/L Cr.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Paymardi, A. Foroutan, T. P. Oladele, M. Abbaszadeh

"Reducing the amount of zinc and iron in lead concentrate is one of the important aspects of processing in lead and zinc flotation plants which results in improvement of lead concentrate quality and prevents zinc loss. In mineral flotation industries, lignin sulfonates are known for their depressant properties for both non-metallic and sulfide minerals such as pyrite and pyrrhotite.This paper investigates the effect of lignin sulfonate on flotation of galena, sphalerite and pyrite in sulfidic lead and zinc bearing ores. Batch flotation tests were carried out on a high pre-activated zinc samples. The feed contains 0.9% lead, 2.3% zinc and 7.5% iron. The dosage of all reagents such as sodium cyanide, zinc sulfate, ethyl xanthate and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) were kept constant for lead flotation step except calcium lignin sulfonate (CLS) that was varied between 0 and 80 gr/ton.Results for lead rougher concentrate showed that the grade of lead increased by 2.7% while the recovery decreased around 4 % at the highest dosage of CLS. Furthermore, zinc recovery decreased by 6.3% with no significant change in grade. Iron recovery in lead rougher concentrate decreased by 2.3 % while the grade changed around 1%. In sphalerite flotation step, CLS dosage was changed in the range of 0 to 80 gr/ton while the dosage of other reagents such as copper sulfate, lime, amil xanthate and MIBC were kept constant. In this step, no decreasing in grade and recovery of zinc was observed, while iron recovery decreased. It was suggested that CLS has a depression effect on sphalerite in conjunction with other zinc depressants such as zinc sulfate and sodium cyanide. CLS was further used in plant with non-pre-activated zinc minerals. Similar trends were observed in plant.INTRODUCTIONlead-zinc sulfide minerals play an important role in the production of lead and zinc metals in the mineral processing industry (Luo, Feng et al. 2016). Due to complexity of the lead-zinc ores mineralogy, in some situations, their flotation properties vary significantly from one deposit to another one even in itself (Bulatovic 2007)."

Jan 1, 2018

By V. Panayotov

Slag and by-products of metallurgy bear valuable components and their processing raises an in-creasing interest. Coke and iron have to be separated and other components have to be depressed, in order to obtain sellable high quality copper concentrates. Use of classical mineral processing technologies, such as magnetic separation, sulphidization, hydrometallurgy, etc. yields copper concentrates with grade of 4%~6% Cu. Copper is lost in tailings and the whole technological cycle is low profitable. Technology proposed applies an electrochemical treatment of the industrial water entering the flotation cycle. Iron and iron compounds that do not bear Cu, coke and gangue materials are depressed during the copper flotation. Copper concentrate of grade of 9.8%~10% Cu is obtained at simultaneous increase of Ag recovery by 8%~10%. As a result company profitableness is increased. Technology proposed is easy to implement, it does not require changes in the existing technology flow-sheet, and additional investment is low. The flotation process can be aided by a specially developed system for real-time analysis of the obtained copper concentrate which allows in-time corrections in the flotation parameters and entire process control. Applied flotation schemes, technological parameters and results obtained are described.

Jan 1, 2014

Cyanide is reactive to copper minerals and is not suitable to extract the gold from the copper bearing ores. Ammoniacal thiosulfate is considered an excellent alternative lixiviant for leaching copper bearing gold ores. Unfortunately the results of high reagent consumption and poor gold ex-traction were found by thiosulfate leaching of synthetic gold ores containing chalcopyrite, chalcocite or bornite and a mild refractory copper-bearing sulfidic gold ore. In this investigation, several processes have been applied to reduce the impacts of these minerals on gold leaching. The process included: the pre-oxidation of copper sulphide minerals in water or ammonia solution, the reduction of dissolved oxygen in the lixiviant (0.3 ppm DO or 0.7% oxygen), adding phosphate anion in the leach or pre-leach stage, and the addition of a strong copper ligand (e.g., EDA and DETA). The results indicated that the gold extraction could be improved to 93% with the thiosulfate consumption being reduced to less than 8 kg/t. The dissolution of copper minerals was found to be the major reason for increased consumption of thiosulfate and the highly reductive leached surfaces are responsible for the reduced gold extractions.

Jan 1, 2014

By F. v. d. Meer, G. Kretschmar, T. Mütze, T. Leißner

"Dynamic air classifiers separate particles in a gas flow due to different particle trajectories utilizing differences in the settling velocity of particles as characteristic property for separation. The present contribution takes a close look at the separation of heterogeneous mixtures, in which valuables and gangue minerals show significant differences in density. The focus was on a moist iron ore sample, which was characterized in terms of mineralogy, grain size distribution, and particle size distribution. The material was classified at a cut size of 45 µm and at feed moistures between 0 and 6 wt.-%. Additionally to standard characterization techniques, the moisture of both products was measured as well as the yield of fines as product fraction in a corresponding processing plant. In addition, an automated mineral liberation analysis (MLA) provided information of the enrichment and segregation of individual mineral phases in the products. The MLA of the classification products reveals a selective comminution of the mineral phases and especially on overmilling of the valuables. For the first time, the separation of individual mineral phases has been assessed and compared to the classic assessment of classification processes by means of particle size analyses. KEYWORDS Dynamic classifier, segregation, MLA, selective comminution INTRODUCTION Dynamic air classifiers separate particles in a gas flow due to the different trajectories of the particles. The result of such a separation process depends on the gas throughput of the classifier, the dimensions, design and rotational speed of the deflector wheel, as well as the state of dispersion and thus the geometry of as well as the turbulence and interparticle interactions in the separation zone. Air classification of moist feed materials can be divided into several sub-process (Leschonski, 1977; Mütze et al., 2016): - dosage of the feed material, - dispersing the solid feed material into a gas stream, - feeding the dispersed material into the classification zone by pneumatic conveying, - drying of moist particles during pneumatic conveying, - separation of coarse and fine particles, and - separation of fine particles from gas."

Jan 1, 2018

By V. Sheikhzadeh, M. Saghaeian, R. Hejazi, A. Abazarpoor

The research aimed to compare the chemical analysis (K, Na, Cl) of Iranian concentrate plants, which are the main source of materials corrosion in the pelletizing plants. Cl alongside alkaline elements (especially K) may cause corrosion and plug in the grate plates and other involved equipment. Therefore, it is tried in the processing plants to remove impurities from the concentrate to prevent potential problems in pelletizing and iron/steel making processes. Part of these impurities are existed in the nature of ores and others are sourced in the processing water. Various samples from the largest Iranian concentrate plants including Chadormalu, Gol-e-Gohar, Jalal-Abad and Sechahun were prepared to investigate the possibility of alkaline problems for each samples. The amount of Cl, K and Na of Chadormalu sample was obviously low and therefore no alkaline problem is expected. The Cl content of Gol-e-Gohar sample was high (980 ppm) while amount of K was less (0.008 Wt. %). Due to low content of K, most of Cl will release as Cl2 or HCl and so problems caused by KCl plugging would not be a problem. The amount of Cl in Sechahun case was nearly same as Jalal-Abad (400-600 ppm), higher than Chadormalu and less than Gol-e-Gohar samples. However, the K content was higher than all samples (0.04 Wt. %). Therefore, the amount of evaporated K would be 2-4 times more than other samples. Since the amount of Cl and K is simultaneously higher than usual iron ores, therefore alkaline problems may be a serious prevention factor for the continuous operation of this plant. In order to solve this problem some counter-measures is suggested and discussed including cleaning system, partial dust enriched with KCl removal and variation in the materials type of involved equipment.

Jan 1, 2018

By L. A. Vaisberg

"Mining processing plants are the most high-performing industrial enterprises in the world economy system. Even at an average-scale mining enterprise, the grain-size separation equipment continuously processes 105 to 106 dissimilar mineral particles per hour. In separation by physical properties, their number increases by at least 10 to 50 times. Mathematical modeling of such a high flow of discrete particles is carried out using two different approaches: the discrete-particle and the phenomenological methods. The calculations demonstrate the possibility of handling big data when describing the processes of separation of granular material. INTRODUCTION The interest to the screening process and the process of formation of new screen designs in Mekhanobr is traditional since the moment of its foundation. It is symbolical that the first publication of the Mekhanobr proceedings in 1924 was the monograph dedicated to screens and screening products as such, which was the first one in the world at that moment. It was a book of Prof. L. B. Levenson, one of the founders of Mekhanobr, who headed the Technical Bureau of the Institute. Vibratory screening is the most mass process in the technologies of solid minerals processing, which determines significantly the energy demands of crushing and grinding cycles, and at some enterprises determines the quality of the final product, for example in case of crushed stone, coal or abrasive materials production. The general understanding and simulation of the process of poly-dispersed granular materials vibratory screening was developed at several conceptual levels taking into account the features of classification of materials with different size and density.Considering the real industrial processes of vibration screening, it shall be noted that at the sieve surface of the screen in the initial part of the deck the classification in a thick material layer (in natural conditions) occurs, which further transfers to a thin layer (free movement). In the process of screening of light minerals, for example coal or metallurgic feedstock, screening is mainly performed in the thick layer."

Jan 1, 2018

By N. Karapinar

Ferrihydrite, a member of iron oxides family, has been used as an adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater. The success of the operation depends mainly on the efficient removal of ferrihydrite from the aqueous phase. Hence, the emphasis of this study was given on the separation of ferrihydrite by high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) method to overcome solid-liquid separation difficulties of ferrihydrite. Magnetic seeding technique in which the magnetite mineral was chosen as a seeding reagent was used to make magnetic separation available. The method clearly involves the attachment of ferrihydrite to a magnetic seed material and subsequent magnetic separation of ferrihydrite ? magnetite coagulates. Seeding of ferrihydrite with magnetic particles was achieved by exceeding the solubility limit of the ions in the presence of dispersed magnetite. Magnetic separation results of seeded ferrihydrite showed that maximum seeding performance is obtained in the pH range of 7.0~10.0. Iron/magnetite ratio had a marked effect on the separation of seeded iron oxide precipitate by HGMS. This ratio determines the operation parameters such as magnetic field strength and flow rate. It was concluded that when used with magnetic seeding technique, HGMS can be used to surpass separation difficulties of ferrihydrite used in adsorption-based treatment techniques.

Jan 1, 2014

This paper discusses current workforce demand projections for mineral processing engineers and emerging trends in mineral processing education. Attempts are made to identify gaps that often result in a mismatch between skills taught and skills needed by the practicing engineer. Clear examples of this include a less than uniform training in chemical aspects of mineral processing, and an understanding of the statistical and experimental design tools necessary to tame the often-large variation in operational parameters and plant data. The end goal is an educational system modernized to prepare mineral processing specialists for productive careers in the sustainable development of natural resources. A framework for revamping education based on an integrated modular approach is also presented. Keywords: mineral education trends, mineral processing programs

Sep 1, 2012

By M. I. Panayotova

Some of effluents released by copper smelting plants are highly acidic (pH = 0~1) and contain arsenic and copper in relatively high concentrations (10~20 g/L). Usually arsenic is removed by precipitation with different reagents, such as lime, iron salts, calcium salts, aluminium salts, etc. Precipitates (often voluminous) that require further handling are formed and copper and other valuable components are lost. A method is presented for copper and arsenic extraction from acidic effluents. Effluents are treated in specially designed closed electrochemical cell without chemicals? addition. Gases formed are collected and treated for decomposing the eventual traces of As-bearing compounds and ensuring the environment protection. Initially copper of grade of 85 % is electro-won. Further about half of the initially available arsenic is separated as low-soluble, low volume mixture of intermetallic compounds, oxides and some elemental arsenic. At the next stage the main part of the left arsenic is immobilized as low soluble stable compound. Arsenic content in the treated acid is in the range 0.20~0.25 g/L. Acidity of treated effluent after first two stages remains practically unchanged and the solution can be re-used. Physicochemical and electrochemical processes, governing copper and arsenic removal, are discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Máximo Pérez, Julio C. Videla, Rosa Dzioba

"This paper reports the hydrometallurgical treatment of gravity concentrates of gold samples and outcrops associated with graphite ores obtained from:- flotation tailings of crystalline graphite minerals- outcrop samples of graphitic rock associated with auriferous minerals and free gold located in the Villa Union district and surrounding areas - La Rioja Province - Argentina.Previous studies of the flotation potential of crystalline graphite minerals failed to consider the presence of noble metals.The samples represent a mineralized zone of crystalline graphite which is distributed in different formations with a NE - SW trend in Maz, Punta Colorada and Las Ramaditas hills, covering an area of about 300 square kilometers.The most important variables affecting the leaching process, such as grain size, mineralogical species, reagent consumption, and so on, were previously studied. (Weiss, L.1985)On the basis of the present study results, the possible definition of an economically viable mineralization will be analyzed to define an auriferous district."

Jan 1, 2003

By E. Guerrini, M. Maccagni, J. Nielsen

"Lead is the most important material able to meet the current demand for energy storage. The lead acid battery is reliable, efficient and inexpensive. Continuous developments in battery construction are providing improvements in all aspects of the batteries’ performance. The lead acid battery is both the main lead product and the main raw material for lead production. More than half of the lead produced is from secondary smelters where batteries are the most important feed material. The environmental pressure on lead production has been increasing for many years, and continues to become stronger and stronger. The lead production processes and technologies themselves will require updating to meet the new regulations. Although they are very strict now, they will become even more so and current technologies may not be sufficient. Because recyclability is a strong point for the lead acid battery, the secondary smelters need to reduce the environmental impact as much as possible. In recent years, the secondary smelters underwent impressive changes in this direction, but some more improvements are possible. Electrochemistry can offer a step change improvement in making secondary lead production more environmentally friendly. Engitec has developed an electrochemical process base on a very high current density (high productivity) cell using an inexpensive electrolyte and at a relatively low cost. In this paper, the latest update on the technology is provided. INTRODUCTION The lead acid battery is considered the “walking dead” by some new technologies trying to replace it. It has played and will continue to play a very important role in our lives because it is inexpensive, fully recyclable and the existing lead and the mine reserves guaranty enough material for the extended future. According to the life cycle, the lead acid battery is the cheapest and the most effective system to store energy. Lead is practically a close loop where lead battery production consumes more than 80 % of the produced lead but contemporarily it is the most important raw material for the production of metallic lead. In fact, nowadays, the secondary production has overcome primary production and this trend is expected to continue. Primary lead is the make-up material for the existing battery production and the source of lead for the construction of the new ones."

Jan 1, 2018

By Fu Ping-Hao, Sergio Mauricio Vianna, Ewen Silvester, Emmy V. Manlapig

"Over the last 5 years, an ambitious project has been undertaken at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) aiming to isolate, study and, if possible, model the effect of particle size, liberation and collector adsorption density on the floatability of mineral particles. As part of this project, we have conducted highly controlled flotation test-work, combined with state-of-the-art solution and surface analytical techniques such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and detailed mineralogical analysis to fully characterize the flotation behavior of a natural ore.The flotation tests were undertaken using a high-grade lead-zinc ore from BHP-Billiton’s Cannington mine (Australia) in a specially designed continuously operated laboratory scale flotation rig. Solution and adsorbed collector concentrations were measured independently during the course of the flotation tests using HPLC based ex-situ techniques. Liberation studies were performed using the JKMRC Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA) on selected size intervals of different streams to estimate the specific surface area of galena. These results were used to calculate the collector adsorption density (collector coverage) on galena particles, with the eventual aim of developing a mathematical model describing the relationship between pulp chemistry, feed mineralogy, and floatability of galena particles."

Jan 1, 2003

By V. Z. Kozin, E. A. Bekchurina, P. S. Volkov, Yu. P. Morozov, A. S. Komlev

"The current sampling systems of ore flows or concentrates are based on the method of cross sections in point sampling and the method of scooping in reducing. The limited number of point samples in sampling and microsamples in reducing lead to big random and probable systematic errors. The paper defines the principles of sampling, which assure the absence of systematic errors and also provides calculation formulas of probable errors in sampling methods of cross and longitudinal sections as well as in samples preparation. The article sets the fundamental laws of sampling: the dependency of minimal mass of gross sample and number of point samples from mass of point sample in sampling from heterogeneous body; the dependency of a sample minimal mass from lumps’ size in preparation of carefully mixed samples; the dependency of point samples’ dispersion from duration of control period. The paper introduces the fundamental notions: lump variance; probable systematic error; methodical error. It also provides a solution of outstanding sample correct application in analysis results calculations. In application of automatic analyzers, mounted in material flows, the probable error connected with sampling, is calculated by the formulas for carefully mixed sampling bodies. The paper describes the developed and introduced sampling systems on the base of combined application of cross and longitudinal sections methods in sampling and preparation of samples. The advantages of this equipment are compactness, reliability, simplicity in service and operation, and for pulps it is adaptability in pipelines. Application of the developed equipment entirely excludes probable systematic error. The new systems of sampling and preparation of samples are introduced at 25 concentrating plants. Introduction of the developed systems at sampling balance points of concentrating plants allowed double reducing balance deficiency."

Jan 1, 2018

By U. A. Peuker

"Steam Pressure Filtration (SPF) is a modified cake filtration process and is characterized by both washing and excellent de-watering of the filter cake. Compared to conventional gas differential pressure filtration, the filter cake is treated with saturated or superheated steam replacing pressurized air. Invented in the early last century, Steam Pressure Filtration has reached technical maturity in the 1990ies for inorganic particle systems, fine chemicals and coal. Especially the de-watering performance for fine particles systems below 50 µm make Steam Pressure Filtration an excellent option for the processing of fine tailings streams, to produce a stable material, which can be described by the methods of solids mechanics instead of paste rheology. The washing, which is due to the condensing steam, is able to reduce the ion load of the solid. This additional effect is able to generate a dry tailings material, which shows a reduced leaching potential of mobile ions, which originally derive from the process water. INTRODUCTION Steam Pressure Filtration is a process concept especially of hyperbaric filtration, which started its market entry in the 1990ies (Bott 1996, Bott 2002). Even though there have been many attempts to apply steam on filters before, the success story began with the combination of hyperbaric filtration and steam application and the technical solution to limit the steam treatment to a defined zone on the filter. This resulted from the scientific findings that steam mainly enhances the de-watering during the mechanical filtration (Gerl 1999). There are no or minor positive effects of steam application to a filtration process during cake filtration and after the steam breakthrough has occurred. Furthermore that time a sufficient control technology to regulate the steam consumption as well as suitable filter cloths became available. There is a growing need for de-watering technology in the mining industry, not only for the concentrate but also for the tailings streams. Several reasons argue against the established solution of damping the tails as suspension or paste into tailings ponds. There are ecological, political, societal and economic reasons, which question the tailings ponds more and more. Due to the increasing costs in the building and monitoring of tailings dams, which contain the tailing ponds, the concept of dry stocking using filtration technology comes into the game (Jansson 2016). Dry stocking converts the tailings stream form the suspension or paste state, into a material, which can be stockpiled. The latter typically is a moist flowable disperse particle system. The conversion involves a de-watering step, in which different types of filter equipment can be used, e.g. filter presses, membrane filter presses, automatic press filters or hyperbaric filters. For coarse products also vacuum filter can be applied. Due to its excellent de-watering performance and the easy scale-up properties Steam Pressure Filtration is further option for dry tailings stacking."

Jan 1, 2018

By Hiroshi Sasaki, Herman D. Mendoza

"The surface-chemical property of nickel slag fiber was modified in aqueous media in order to act as an active and efficient collector of colloidal amorphous silica from geothermal effluent. Colloidal amorphous silica (0.05 µm) from geothermal wastewater causes operational and ecological problems. It clogs geothermal pipes and waterways, and when disposed to the environment poses hazardous effects on both the flora and fauna ecology. Because colloidal amorphous silica is extremely fine and remains in suspension in aqueous media, conventional solid/liquid processes to remove colloidal silica from its bulk liquid are rendered ineffective.A rapid separation technique is then developed to remove effectively amorphous colloidal silica from its bulk liquid by attaching the extremely fine particles of silica onto a nickel slag fiber coated with magnesium hydroxide, Mg(OH)2. The nickel slag fiber has the following characteristics: a high surface area and predominantly possesses negative charge in aqueous media with an iso-electric point at pH ~2.5. When soaked and saturated with Mg(OH)2 solution, the surface of the nickel slag fiber becomes coated with fine and compacted Mg(OH)2 precipitates. This modifies the surface- chemical property of nickel slag fiber transforming the negatively charged surface into a positively charged surface in aqueous media with an iso-electric point of around pH 11.8, which corresponds to the iso-electric point of Mg(OH)2. When geothermal effluent containing negatively charged colloidal amorphous silica particles (i.e.p. of silica is pH 2) is passed through a column-bed packed with surface-chemically modified nickel slag fibers under natural pH conditions, the colloidal amorphous silica particles are recovered by attachment onto the surface of the surface- modified nickel slag fiber. The recovery of colloidal amorphous silica by attachment is 97-99%, resulting in the production of a relatively clean and silica free output. Aluminum hydroxide, Al(OH)3, was also used to modify the surface –chemical property of the nickel slag fiber. In the same way, it also exhibited a positive response with the collection of colloidal amorphous silica from its bulk liquid, but yielding a lower recovery of 90%. This may be attributed to the lower surface potential and iso-electric point of pH 9.3 for Al(OH)3. The separation process was evaluated and analysed using existing potential energy theories. Figure 1 shows a micrograph of the surface of an unmodified and the Al(OH)3 –modified surface of nickel slag fiber."

Jan 1, 2003

By T. Fujita

The incinerated bottom ash includes titanium oxides and a small amount of chromium oxides. Initially, 89 % of chromium was removed from ash at magnetic flux density at several stages of wet magnetic separation from 0.05 T to 6 T. The bottom ash from an industrial waste incineration process includes about 10 % of TiO2. The minerals that contain titanium are rutile and perovskite. These minerals are paramagnetic and show low magnetic susceptibility, therefore, the high magnetic field strength, created by a superconducting magnet, is necessary to capture these minerals. At the first stage of separation, a magnetic field strength of 6T was applied in order to attract the particles that contain iron oxides to the higher magnetic field region. At the second stage of separation, the magnetic capture rate of weekly magnetic particles decreased with increasing the magnetic susceptibility of the aqueous solution (i.e. the medium for dispersing the particles) in order to separate the highly magnetic materials. The para-magnetic salt such as ferric chloride was dissolved in the water to increase the magnetic susceptibility of the medium. After a two-step wet HGMS with superconducting magnet, the grade of TiO2was increased from 10 % to 28 % with a recovery of 64 %.

Jan 1, 2014