Dewatering

Introduction
• Most mineral-separation processes involve the use of substantial
quantities of water and the final concentrate has to be separated from a
pulp in which the water-solids ratio may be high.
• Dewatering, or solid-liquid separation, produces a relatively dry
concentrate for shipment.
• Partial dewatering is also performed at various stages in the treatment, so
as to prepare the feed for subsequent processes.
• Dewatering methods can be broadly classified into three groups:
(1) sedimentation; (2) filtration and (3) thermal drying.
• Sedimentation is most efficient when there is a large density difference
between liquid and solid (the case of all mineral processing in water).
• Dewatering in mineral processing is normally a combination of the above
methods.
• The bulk of the water (~ 80 % ) is first removed by sedimentation which
produces a thickened pulp of 55-65% solids by weight.
• Filtration of the thick pulp then produces a moist filter cake of between
80 and 90% solids, which may require thermal drying to produce a final
product of about 95% solids by weight.
 Sedimentation
• Rapid settling of solid particles in a liquid produces a clarified liquid which can be
decanted, leaving a thickened slurry.
• Very fine particles settle extremely slowly by gravity alone, and centrifugal
sedimentation may have to be performed.
• Alternatively, the particles may be agglomerated, or flocculated, into relatively large
lumps, called flocs, that settle out more rapidly.

Coagulation

• Coagulation causes extremely fine colloidal particles to adhere directly to each other.
• Particles exert mutual attraction forces (London-Van der Waals' forces) which are
effective only at very close range.
• Adhesion due to these forces is prevented by the presence, around each particle, of
an electrically charged atmosphere, which generates repulsion forces between
particles approaching each other.
• There is therefore a balance between the attractive forces and the electrical
repulsion forces present at the solid-liquid interface.
Potential energy curves for two particles approaching each other
• Strong acid solutions produces positively charged surfaces while pH  4
produces negatively particles.
• Electrolytes that have an opposite charge to the particles (coagulants) are
dispersed into the system, causing charge neutralisation, allowing the
particles to come into contact and adhere as a result of molecular forces.
• Typical electrolytes include organic salts of highly charged cations, such as
AI+ + +, Fe+ + +, and Ca++, and lime, or sulphuric acid, depending on the
surface charge of the particles.
• Pronounced coagulation occurs when the particles have zero charge in
relation to the suspending medium, this occurring when the zeta potential
is zero.
• Zeta potential is a measure of the magnitude of the electrostatic or charge
repulsion/attraction between particles.
• A model of the electrical double layer at the surface of a particle is shown
below:
Electric double layer
• The surface has a negative charge, such that positive ions from solution
will be attracted to it, forming a bound layer of positive ions, known as the
Stern layer and a diffuse layer of counter ions decaying in concentration
with increasing distance until the solution equilibrium concentration is
attained.
• When a particle moves in the liquid, shear takes place between the bound
layer (which moves with the particle) and the diffuse layer, the potential at
the plane of shear being known as the zeta potential.
• The magnitude of the zeta potential depends on the surface potential and
the concentration and charge of the counter-ions.
• In general, the greater the counter-ion charge and counter-ion
concentration, the lower is the zeta potential.
• However ions of high charge may cause complete charge reversal and
therefore optimum doses of electrolyte are critical.
 Flocculation

• Flocculation involves the formation of much more open agglomerates

than those resulting from coagulation and relies upon molecules of a
reagent acting as bridges between separate suspended particles.
• The reagents used to form the "bridges" are long-chain organic polymers,
which were formerly natural minerals, such as starch, glue, dextrin, and
guar gum, but which are now increasingly synthetic materials, loosely
termed polyelectrolytes.
• The mode of action of the polyelectrolyte depends on a segment of the
very long molecule being adsorbed on the surface of a particle, leaving a
large proportion of the molecule free to be adsorbed on another particle,
so forming an actual molecular linkage, or bridge, between particles:
Action of an anionic polyelectrolyte
• Large flocs promote settling and are desirable for clarification and
thickening with floc density being of secondary importance in these
processes.
• Dense flocs are most appropriate for consolidation of the sediment, and
size is of lesser importance in this stage
 Gravity sedimentation
• Gravity sedimentation or thickening is the most widely applied dewatering
technique in mineral processing.
• It is a relatively cheap, high capacity process, which involves very low
shear forces, thus providing good conditions for flocculation of fine
particles.
• The thickener is used to increase the concentration of the suspension by
sedimentation, accompanied by the formation of a clear liquid.
• In most cases the concentration of the suspension is high and hindered
settling takes place.
• The thickener consist of relatively shallow tanks from which the clear
liquid is taken off at the top, and the thickened suspension at the bottom.
• The clarifier is similar in design, but is less robust, handling suspensions of
much lower solid content than the thickener.
• A continuous thickener consists of a cylindrical tank, the diameter ranging
from about 2 to 200 m in diameter, and of depth 1-7 m:
• Pulp is fed into the centre via a feed-well placed up to 1 m below the
surface, in order to cause as little disturbance as possible
• The clarified liquid overflows a peripheral launder, while the solids which
settle over the entire bottom of the tank are withdrawn as a thickened
pulp from an outlet at the centre by the action of the rake.
 Filtration
• Filtration is the process of separating solids from liquid by means of a
porous medium which retains the solid but allows the liquid to pass.
• Filtration in mineral processing applications normally follows thickening.
• Factors affecting the rate of filtration include:
 The pressure drop from the feed to the far side of the filter medium.
 The area of the filtering surface.
 The viscosity of the filtrate.
 The resistance of the filter cake.
 The resistance of the filter medium and initial layers of cake.
 Filter medium

• The filter medium acts as a support for the filter cake, while the initial
layers of cake provide the true filter.
• The filter medium should be selected primarily for its ability to retain
solids without blinding.
• It should be mechanically strong, corrosion resistant, and offer as little
resistance to flow of filtrate as possible.
• Filter media are manufactured from cotton, wool, linen, jute, nylon, silk,
glass fibre, porous carbon, metals, rayon and porous rubber.
 Drying
• The drying of concentrates prior to shipping is the last operation
performed in the mineral-processing plant.
• It reduces the cost of transport and is usually aimed at reducing the
moisture content to about 5% by weight.
• Dust losses are often a problem if the moisture content is lower.
• Drying is often accomplished in Rotary thermal dryers.
• These consist of a long slightly-tilted cylindrical shell driven at a speed of
up to 25 rpm.
• Hot gases, or air, are fed in either at the feed end to give parallel flow or at
the discharge to give counter-current flow.
• The method of heating may be either direct, in which case the hot gases
pass through the material in the dryer, or indirect, where the material is in
an inner shell, heated externally by hot gases.
Direct fired, parallel flow rotary dryer
• The direct-fired dryer is most commonly used in the minerals industry
whereas the indirect-fired type is used when the material must not
contact the hot combustion gases.
• Parallel flow dryers are widely used because they are more fuel efficient
and have greater capacity than counterflow types.
• Since counter-flow dryers apply heat at the discharge end, a completely
dry product can be achieved, but its use with heat-sensitive materials is
limited because the dried material comes into direct contact with the
heating medium at its highest temperature.