Particle Size Distribution
The use of sieves to separate particulate material into fractions of various sizes has occurred throughout the period of recorded history. Sieving is one of the simplest methods of determining particle size distributions, and is probably used in industrial laboratories more than any other method. It is generally overlooked when carrying out fundamental research, which […]
Sizing and Metallurgical Testing
Size is crucial to virtually all mineral processing A size range in a standard series is generally identified by the bottom size in the range A single size parameter is not enough to define a size distribution Narrow size ranges are generally best for following separation processes Sizes are usually arranged in a ratio series […]
Particle Segregation in Hydrocyclones
In mineral processing, segregation means a non-uniform distribution of particles with different size, shape and density among the various streams exiting a process plant or a generic operation unit. This term is generally applied with reference to the physical characteristics of particles that are of little or no interest in the separation, or may even […]
Flow Behavior Change Determination in Mineral Suspensions
Mineral suspensions show Newtonian flow properties at lower solid concentration, but change into non-Newtonian regime as the solids content is increased. For Newtonian fluids viscosity is independent of shear rate, but for non-Newtonian fluids it varies with rate of shear. Therefore, measurement of viscosity at a shear rate, different from the process will be futile […]
Laboratory Testing in a Tri-Flo Heavy Media Separator
Heavy media separation is one of a number of pre-concentration techniques for coarse feed which, when the ore is amenable, offers economic advantages in the mining stage and/or the processing stage. In mining, simpler and cheaper methods may be used if a greater proportion of waste material can be included in the mining blocks that […]
Hydrocyclone Modelling Method
Mineral and chemical industries use the hydrocyclone for size classification as well as solid-liquid separation. The geometry of the device being very simple, a tangential involute section attached to a cylindrical section and a conical section attached to the other end of the cylinder, the device has found widespread use. Majority of the research papers […]
Classification System Efficiency
Desliming Cyclones
Analysis of the feed to several plants revealed that the material finer than 44 µm (325 mesh) and even 70 µm (200 mesh) was usually very high in ash content (>30 %) with a considerable amount of superfine size clays. Due to the high ash content and the poor dewatering ability of the minus 44 […]
Density Separator
Ag-Pb-Zn and Ag-Au Peruvian sulfide ores were used for the pilot plant tests. For these tests, a stream of mineral slurry was directly obtained from the industrial grinding circuit to assure similar particle size distribution in the feed to both the Density Separator and the hydrocyclones. Table 1 presents the chemical analyses and specific gravity […]
Water Only Cyclone
A hydrocyclone utilizes centrifugal and drag forces to separate materials based on differences in physical properties such as size, density, and shape. For a particle system that contains a mixture of two different-density materials, the separation between two components can be achieved by concentrating the mixture into dense and light fractions. In classifying hydrocyclone separations, […]