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By Wu Tao, Lu Shijie, Xia Xiaoou, Zhang Ming

The impeller and stator are the most important components that can significantly influence the performance of flotation cells directly. The performance of the impeller and stator of KYF flotation cell is revealed by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) simulation in this paper. A method of obtaining the circulation volume is proposed. The circulation volume is proportional to third power of impeller diameter. And the circulation volume increases linearly with the increasing of the speed. CFD simulation can draw the conclusions that there is a proportional relationship between power consumption, third power of speed and fifth power of impeller diameter. CFD prediction results agree with the theoretical formula. The difference between the forward and backward impeller is analysed in the paper. The circulation volume of the backward impeller is obviously larger than that of the forward impeller under the same condition, but power consumption of the backward impeller is lower. It is demonstrated that the impeller and stator system of KYF flotation cell is an efficient and reasonable stirring mechanism. CFD simulation could be reliably used in flotation cell design and optimization.

Jan 1, 2014

By Javier Baladron, Mijail Villar, Brandt Henriksson

"In this presentation an overview will be given of what has been observed by the authors in the copper concentration industry, with a large diversity of tailing thickeners operating under different conditions, although many of them are located in the same neighborhood. A closer look will be taken at the reported performance from different sites and from different thickener designs, either conventional or high rate, including those that were retrofitted, regardless of the thickener brand. An analysis is also made of the generic correlation of the size of the thickener and the performance in terms of solids loading (or unit area) and % solids. The paper envisions a technology development route, makes a brief analysis of the economic impact of the suggested route and points out the need for development in technologies around tailings thickeners, such as automation, yield stress measurement, slurry pumping and construction methods."

Jan 1, 2014

By Tomás Vargas

Treatment of copper sulphides minerals via leaching-solvent extraction-electrowining (lix-sx-ew) have been for years the process scheme proposed from hydrometallurgy as an alternative to the conventional flotation-smelting route. Many different hydrometallurgical technologies of this type have been proposed, investigated and tested over the years, but until today none of them has come close to endanger the predominance of the flotation-smelting route in the copper industry. However, bioleaching introduced an important breakthrough in this context as this technology enabled the alternative hydrometallurgical treatment of secondary copper sulfide ores and low grade ores by applying heap bioleaching processes. Extension of its application to primary copper ores have been limited until now by the nature of chalcopyrite which is very refractory to leaching. However, important improvements are expected by using of improved designs that enable to operate at high temperature ranges where copper is leached faster under the catalytic action of thermophile microorganisms. The present work analyzes future scenarios for the application of this technology either in heaps or in-situ, which can become very attractive as copper can be produced reducing drastically the energy consumption associated to the mining, crushing and grinding stages.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. H. Moys, M. M. Bwalya

"INTRODUCTIONThe grinding rate prediction scheme makes use of the energy spectra output from the DEM simulations and the statistical quantification of material strength, which can be done using the drop-weight tester or some other similar equipment. The prediction scheme is evaluated using milling experiments performed under well-defined conditions.MATERIAL STRENGTH QUANTIFICATIONUsing the drop weight test machine, particles of a wide size range were broken singly using different energy inputs. A characteristic equation key to milling rate prediction that relates the probability of fracture with energy input and number of impact attempts was obtained and is stated as follows:"

Jan 1, 2003

By Susanna A. C. Stadler, Chris Aldrich, Jacques J. Eksteen

"Slag foaming occurs in several pyrometallurgical processes. These processes include steelmaking in basic oxygen steelmaking furnaces and electric arc furnaces as well as various non-ferrous operations like sulphide smelting/converting and base metal slag cleaning. Although slag foaming in steelmaking processes has been extensively researched, little attention has been given to slag foaming in non-ferrous operations. Slag foaming phenomena are complex because often the system consists of three or more phases. With this in mind, factors previously identified as influencing slag foaming were investigated. These include the slag basicity, physical properties of the slag, namely viscosity, surface tension and density, the formation of particles due to undercooling of the slag and the FexO concentration in the slag.Slag foaming was investigated in a vertical tube furnace. The different slags were contained in alumina crucibles and bubbling argon gas through the molten slag induced foaming. The foam height was measured by using stainless steel probes and a voltmeter. The conductivity of the slags made it possible to measure the foam height from the position of the probes when the electrical circuit was completed. Slags were foamed at different temperatures to investigate the effect of solid precipitates.The effect of increasing FexO concentration was found to decrease the foam index due to lower viscosities, but higher surface tension depression appears to have led to increased foam index values at high FexO concentrations."

Jan 1, 2003

By G. M. Wolfaardt, B. C. Qi

"From a lifecycle point of view, biologically digested sludge is a valuable product that should be reused if possible. In contrast to landfill and incineration, application of digested sludge comprises the recycling nutrients and organic matter and reflects the policy of resource conservation and sustainability in waste management. Sludge may be applied to agricultural land for further sludge treatment and improvement of the characteristics of the soil. The characteristics of sludge that affect its applicability for soil conditioning include moisture content, pathogens, nutrients and metals. In this paper, the use of solid anaerobic digestion sludge of the lignocellulosic residues to condition soil was investigated in regards to nutrient composition, water content/retention capacity, hygienic quality (contamination of pathogenic bacteria) and heavy metal adsorbing/releasing characteristics of the sludge.The digested sludge had approximately 44.5% free and immobilized water and 46.9% bound water. The water-holding capacity of the sludge was high. This was the first merit to apply the sludge to agriculture in dry areas. Secondly, the sludge was rich in macro-nutrients (N, P, K) and a series of micro-nutrients (Ca, Mg, Mn, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn, B). The water-soluble fractions of macro-nutrients in the sludge were found considerably low. This implied that the loss or leaching of the macro-nutrients from the anaerobic sludge to the aqueous environment be slow. The nutrients loss owing to leaching could be reduced. However, because of a lower macro-nutrient content of the anaerobic sludge, comparable to the chemical fertilizer, it is advisable that the anaerobic sludge be applied together with commercial fertilizer to the agriculture land. Thirdly, the anaerobic sludge had strong selective adsorption affinity for heavy metal ions; non-heavy metal ions such as K(I) and Ca(II) could be released easily from the sludge in a wide pH range, such as pH from 1.0 to 8.0. Since the metal toxicity to the environment mainly comes from the mobile heavy metal ions, the selectivity to adsorb heavy metal ions of the anaerobic sludge can be utilized to reduce the availability of heavy metal ions to plants and humans in aquatic environment. Fourthly, the anaerobic digestion under thermophilic conditions showed a promising disinfecting effect to the sludge, in contrast to the landfill digestion."

Jan 1, 2003

By Ronel du Plessis, John C. Davidtz, Jan D. Miller

Xanthates (dithiocarbonates) have been the collector of choice for the flotation of sulfide minerals ever since the flotation process was developed and have been studied quite extensively. Recently, trithiocarbonates have been shown to be very effective in bulk sulfide bench-scale flotation. Fundamental analysis using electrochemical techniques have supported these bench-scale results, illustrating that the trithiocarbonate (TTC) collectors are more readily oxidized to their corresponding dithiolates, than the dithiocarbonate (DTC) collectors, as is shown in Figure 1.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Van Hille, S. Lacour, A. E. Lewis, K. Peterson

"This paper compares thermodynamic modelling results with those obtained for copper sulphide removal from aqueous solution in both continuous and batch experiments at laboratory scale. Sulphide precipitation has been demonstrated to be an effective method for heavy metal removal. The advantages are the high degree of metal removal at low pH, low quantities of sludge formation, the ease of de-watering and low reactor retention time due to high reactivity of sulphides. However, the low solubility of sulphide species can lead to spontaneous nucleation of fines, which are difficult to remove.Theoretical modelling was carried out using ASPEN Plus™ and OLI systems Inc ESP process. Both simulators were used to calculate copper sulphide recovery and residual aqueous copper concentrations as a function of pH. The predictions were then compared with experimental results. Both simulations predicted that all of the inlet copper would precipitate as sulphide CuS(s) over the entire range of pH and sulphide: copper molar ratios investigated. The simulation results were strongly influenced by the number of chemical species and the nature of the thermodynamic data taken into account in the model.The continuous experimental studies were carried out in a fluidised bed reactor (FBR). Copper sulphate was reacted with sodium sulphide and the solid precipitated directly onto the pellets in the FBR. The use of sulphide was motivated by high sulphate levels in local acid mine drainage and the ultimate integration of the metal removal process with a biological sulphate reducing process that produces an aqueous sulphide stream.A maximum dissolved copper removal of 99.6% (AAS analysis) and a total removal efficiency of 95.8% (dissolved copper minus fines) were achieved. Stoichiometry of the precipitate was determined from SEM/EDAX analysis (atomic percentages) and was close to 1/1, irrespective of the operating conditions."

Jan 1, 2003

By Remmerswaal, U. Boin, M. B. G. Castro

"To design sustainable products that can be recycled with high resource efficiency, low environmental impact and economic feasibility, the choice of materials and materials combinations, made in the design stage, is fundamental. The products we design, manufacture and use now will be the resources of the future. Designers are able to select materials for a product according to the many functional requirements they must fulfil. But they have a limited knowledge of the recycling processes and its requirements regarding quality of the secondary material streams. Resource Engineers have to manage the processing of these streams, that are becoming more complex with the increasing variety of materials and decreasing size of components. After mechanical separation of the materials streams resulting from shredding of EOL (endof- life) products, there is always a degree of contamination, from two possible causes:Incomplete liberation: the bonds between different materials combined in a component are not completely destroyed by shredding, resulting in some particles containing two or more materials attached;Separation efficiency: the mechanical separation processes are not able to separate perfectly the many material particles; there are always a number of foreign particles in the recovered streams.Sometimes, those contaminants cannot be removed by the industrial metallurgic recycling processes, and a more serious problem occurs when the contamination levels compromise the recycling of the material stream by lowering its quality (i.e. the properties of the recycled material will be lower due to the contamination). As a consequence, the material must be diluted in virgin raw material and/or used in a less demanding application (downgrading), causing resource depletion and increased energy use, waste production and recycling costs. In order to make the best choice of materials combinations for a product, a systematic approach is necessary, that can close the gap between the knowledge areas of Product Design and Recycling Technology."

Jan 1, 2003

By Markus A. Reuter, Antoinette van Schaik

"INTRODUCTIONGoods and products, such as passenger vehicles, are manufactured by using a wide spectrum of different raw materials to meet highest consumer requirements during use. Due to the time-varying composition and complexity of multi-component products such as cars, recycling is complicated. It involves a network of interconnected processes and material and energy flows. Improving the efficiency of the material cycle of the car to comply with the recycling targets as imposed by EU legislation, requires insight into all aspects influencing the closing of the material cycle (dynamics, technology, economy, legislation, etc.) and their mutual relation. In order to define the link between recycling end-of-life products, their changing composition and design a dynamic model was developed for the resource cycle of cars. The model integrates the optimisation of the material cycle with the dynamic behaviour of recycling systems."

Jan 1, 2003

By Masakazu Niinae, Kenji Aoki

"Electrokinetic soil remediation by electroosmosis and ionic migration is restricted to soluble substances. At a higher pH, the soil particles sorb more heavy metals than at a lower pH and the precipitation of heavy metals are promoted. Both mechanisms make heavy metals immobile, rendering cleanup more difficult and electrokinetic extraction inefficient.In this study, the effectiveness of introducing a complexing agent to enhance the removal of cadmium from kaolinite in the region of neutral pH by ionic migration is examined. The complexing agent selected was ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The investigation was carried out in a laboratory-scale column containing kaolinite contaminated with cadmium. As the results of the study, cadmium migrates toward the anode without accumulation of cadmium and is successfully removed at the anode reservoir."

Jan 1, 2003

By N. Kgabi, F. B. Waanders, E. Vinken, A. Mans

"Mössbauer and SEM identification of the iron mineral phases present in South African coal fractions from the Free State, Gauteng, Mmpumalanga, Natal and Waterberg coal fields, as well as from ash samples from coal used in the Lethabo power plant, containing a large amount of inorganic matter, was conducted. The iron is mainly associated with sulphur in the mineral but the amounts of these and other minerals vary considerably in coals from diverse origins. By means of Mössbauer analyses the iron bearing minerals were identified as pyrite, jarosite, illite and ankerite. In the SEM analyses quartz, associated with various clay minerals was identified with differences in abundance found between the coals from the different locations.The fly ash, produced at the high combustion temperatures in the power plant, gave rise to a spectrum, typical of a glass. SEM analyses showed that agglo- meration of the fly ash was due to the presence of Ca in the coal. The lab. produced fly ash was combusted at temperatures ranging from 200-1 200°C and the pyrite changed partially to hematite and partly into the glass due to the presence of the quarts and the clay minerals. A similar spectrum as the power plant fly ash spectrum was obtained.In the weathering experiments the pyrite changed to a sulphate component in a very short time during air drying."

Jan 1, 2003

By Jean-Paul Franzidis, Robert G. Coleman, Emmy V. Manlapig

"The Floatability Characterisation Test Rig (FCTR) is a self-contained, highly instrumented mobile pilot flotation plant developed by the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, the Mineral Processing Research Unit of the University of Cape Town and EIMCO, as part of the Australian Minerals Industries Research Association (AMIRA) P9 Project. Apart from being a fully operational pilot plant, the FCTR was designed to determine flotation model parameters and to develop and validate flotation plant modelling, scale-up and simulation methodologies.The FCTR was installed at WMC’s Kambalda Nickel Operation where circuit modelling, simulation and scale-up test work was performed using the AMIRA P9 flotation model as the basis of the analysis. The model parameters were obtained through metallurgical sampling, batch flotation tests and gas dispersion characterisation around the FCTR. Model parameters were determined for four FCTR circuits, each of increasing complexity. The circuits ranged from a simple rougher-cleaner configuration with no recycle streams, to a more complex rougher-cleaner-recleaner configuration with two recycle streams.Using the P9 modelling methodology, the system was analysed using four mineral species: nickel sulphide, iron sulphide, copper sulphide and non-sulphide gangue. The floatability of each mineral was analysed as two floating species (fast and slow) and a non-floating species. Mass balanced data from all four FCTR circuits were regressed simultaneously together with data from 47 batch flotation tests. Nonlinear regression was used to determine the solution. The model fit was found to be accurate with most data points predicted within experimental standard deviations. A Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis was also performed to establish the stability of the regressed parameters.Using the P9 simulation methodology, simulations of five FCTR circuits (different from the previous four) were performed. The FCTR was also operated in these five circuit configurations to obtain experimental data to validate the simulated predictions. The simulations were found to predict the recovery and grade of nickel sulphide and copper sulphide within experimental standard deviations. The prediction of recovery and grade of iron sulphide and non-sulphide gangue was less accurate. Overall the FCTR simulations predicted the changes in circuit configuration well."

Jan 1, 2003

By Camilo Uribe, Williams Calderón, Gonzalo Montes-Atenas

In industrial hydrometallurgical operations, the leaching process is often implemented via heap or dump leaching operations. During the pile up of these massive amounts particles a porous material is then formed. The manner it is constructed is crucial since it will define the permeability and other parameters determining the flowrate of leaching solution across the material. This study aims to estimate how the unsaturated permeability of the staked porous structure confined in a column-like geometry varies with and without particle size segregation. The piling up will be modeled using the Rocky® software. Different disposals of particle size distributions across the column will be simulated and their effect onto the overall column unsaturated permeability will be estimated. It was found that when the belt speed increased, the particle segregation in the column also increased. This condition is expected to improve the permeability of the porous structure in the column, probably due to the smaller compaction of larger particles when they are located at the base of the column and maintain a suitable porosity to permit leaching flowrates relatively high, suggesting better extraction results. The opposite was observed when small particles were preferentially located at the bottom of the column. These results are expected to provide an insight towards what is the best way to construct heaps and dumps.

Jan 1, 2014