Search Documents

By A. Abdollahi

Modification of the silicon in Al-Si alloys can be performed by adding a very small amount of some elements like Na, Sr and Ca to alter the form of silicon from an acicular shape to a fine fibrous one. This modification results in a considerable improvement in mechanical properties especially elongation, Metallographic observations in A356 alloy indicated the degree of the modification with Na, Sr and Ca, They showed that the effect of Ca as a modifier is not as strong as is Na or Sr while Na is the most effective modifier, Although modifiers improve mechanical properties, they also increase porosity in castings, The reduced pressure test (RPT) and Tatur test showed that the increasing porosity with Na is the most and with Sr is the least.

Jan 1, 2004

By M. Krasowska, K. Malysa, M. Krzan

The paper presents fascinating, in our opinion, observations on mechanism and course of processes occurring during bubble collision with hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid surface. Hydrophobicity of particle surface is a necessary condition for the particle attachment to bubble. We have observed that even in the case of such hydrophobic solid surface as Teflon, the bubble attachment didn't occur at first collision. In distilled water the bubble bounced a few times without attachment. Influence of a-terpineol and n¬pentanol on bubble local and terminal velocity and the phenomena occurring during bubble collisions with hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid surfaces was studied. Bubble collisions with the solid surfaces were monitored and recorded using the high-speed (1182 frames per second) camera. It was found that in distilled water the velocity variations of the "approach-bounce" cycles were identical for Teflon and glass. Four distinct "approach-bounce" cycles were detected both at Teflon and glass surfaces. Moreover, the amplitude and frequency of the velocity variations were identical on collisions with the hydrophobic (polished) and hydrophilic surface. There was no immediate three phase contact formation, with the hydrophobic Teflon surface, what we found really astonishing. Roughness of Teflon surface seems to be important parameter, which affects probability of the bubble attachment as a result of a presence of micro-and/or nano-bubbles at the surface. It was detected that the presence of the micro-bubble affected attachment of the colliding bubble even in distilled water. Presence of a small amount of a-terpineol or n-pentanol affects dramatically the bubble velocity, but their role in mechanism of the bubble attachment needs further study.

Jan 1, 2004

By B. E. Jones

"The area of uranium deposition is situated within the Churchill Province on the western edge of the Wollaston Iithostructural domain where it underlies the eastern edge of the Helikian Athabasca Formation. The Collins Bay deposit is 6 miles north-northeast of the Rabbit Lake mine. Two principal zones of uranium mineralization are described.The ""A"" zone is a partly eroded, high-grade pod of metal oxide and arsenides sheathed by clay-like minerals. It trends north-northeast and lies under 25 to 40feet of water. Uranium mineralization is localized at or adjacent to the unconformity between the Athabasca Formation and the basement rocks. The basement comprises a granitoid Archean terrain overlain by paragneisses of the Aphebian Wollaston Group. ""A "" zone ore contains phyllosilicates, quartz, pitchblende, rammelsbergite, pararammelsbergite, carbonaceous material, galena, gersdorffite, niccolite, carbonate and a trace of sphalerite.The ""B "" zone lies 6,000 ft south of the ""A "", and subcrops under till cover. It is a partly eroded zone composed of metal oxide and arsenides which occur within variably altered Athabasca Formation. Minerals recognized are phyllosilicates, pitchblende, niccotite, gersdorffite, millerite, carbonaceous material, pyrrhotite, skutterudite and a trace of galena. The Athabasca Formation varies from 90 to 160ft thick. Granitoid gneisses of probable Archean age and paragneisses of the Wollaston Group underlie the deposit. An easterly dipping thrust fault transects its length.The deposit is typical of the ""unconformity-type"" uraniumnickel deposits of the Athabasca Basin. Observed features fit well with the ""diagenetic-hydrothermal"" model for such deposits, as envisioned by Hoeve and Sibbald (/978)."

Jan 1, 1980

By G. M. Castillo

Newmont?s Phoenix mine started production in March of 2006. Due to the extreme hardness of the ore, the mill has struggled to meet throughput projections. Grinding studies showed that optimizing the existing circuit would not achieve budgeted throughput. These studies also showed that the pebble crusher was being underutilized due to the inability of the SAG mill to break the rock. The concept was developed to supplement the feed to the existing pebble crusher with a secondary crusher. Models of this process looked favorable so a portable crusher was installed to test the process. The temporary crusher was successful at increasing the throughput by 7% and based on the operating data, plans are currently being developed to install a permanent secondary crushing system in front of the SAG mill. This paper will review the results from the test crusher and the flow sheet for the permanent secondary crusher.

Jan 1, 2012

By P. K. Frempong, S. D. Butt

"A case study for the application of a novel geostatistical technique for resource estimation of a narrow steeply dipping, gold-silver mineralized quartz vein deposit is presented. The technique is novel in two respects. First, mineral grades are kriged directly rather via the accumulation method more often applied to vein deposits and, second, a modified 2D ordinary kriging algorithm is used that allows the calculation of a single grade and variance for irregular shaped blocks of varying sizes. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the suitability of this novel geostatistical technique for resource estimation of the Poura mine deposit and, if appropriate, to lay a firm foundation for future geostatistical work at the mine.The reserve estimation concentrated on the remnant ore blocks and pillars in both underground and surface workings. The data, which was collected in 2D coordinates with grade and vein thickness values, was first analyzed statistically and used to compute experimental semi-variograms. Appropriate semivariogram models were fitted and various aspects of the estimation technique were evaluated using cross-validation error analysis, with acceptable results. A block kriging computer program called Krige2D was developed to implement the modified 2D kriging algorithm and calculations. Production data were not available to evaluate the computed block resources, but they were compared with a previous resource data determined using an arithmetic approach. The geostatistical technique estimated slightly higher grades but lower overall tonnages as compared to the earlier arithmetic estimates."

Jan 1, 2004

By R. C. Urquhart

Since the first use of the electric arc furnace Henri Moissan (1892) and its use by Paul Hérholdt (1902) to melt steel, it has been successfully used as a pyrometallurgical smelting tool in the production of calcium carbide, iron, ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. Commercial forms of the electric arc furnace have evolved from round, single-phase single electrode units to rectangular three electrode three-phase units to round three electrode three phase units and ultimately to rectangular six electrode three-phase units. DC electrical supply has also been used to replace the three phase power supplies in some cases. This paper examines how these electric arc smelting furnaces have evolved in size, efficiency and configuration within the constraints of the smelting process, electrodes and electrical power supply equipment.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. H. . MORGAN

Talc-soapstone deposits exist in Patton Township of Quebec and have been mined by Bakertalc Inc. or its predecessors since 1938. The company produces products ranging from purified and micronized talc through to soapstone lumps. The deposits are found within serpentinite dykes and are zoned. Zoning grades from a serpentine core through zones of talcmagnesite, schistose talc and talc-chlorite schist be/ ore reaching the wall rock of quartz-sericite-chlorite schist. Talcmagnesite zones generally comprise 80 to 90% of the mined rock. The serpentinite dykes containing the talc probably were originally post-Ordovician peridotite of the same series that hosts the Eastern Townships asbestos deposits. Alteration of serpentine to talc-soapstone and magnesite apparently resulted through addition of silica and carbon dioxide along shears and fractures. Talc concentrations occur also at the intrusive contact between dykes and wall rock. The present Bakertalc Inc. operation at the Van Reel Mine is being worked from an inclined shaft 200 m below surface. The talc rock undergoes a variety of milling processes, depending on its particular market, be/ ore being bagged and shipped.

Jan 1, 1984

By Laxman M. Amaratunga, Glen G. Hein

"Most mining operations utilize the tailings coarse fraction for backfilling while the fines have been traditionally disposed on surface in tailings ponds. Recently, paste fill has been developed which uses a fraction of the fine tailings (10-30% w/w of <45 µm) in the fill (Brummer and Moss, 1991). This development allows a mining company to use a portion of the fines for backfill, but still requires surface impoundment of the unused tailings. Reactive tailings have the added problem of generating acid after being oxidized in the presence of air and water. Treating acid mine drainage (AMO) from these ponds has proven to be a costly environmental problem and a long term liability.One practical method to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the tailings pond is to modify the physical and chemical prope1ties of the fine tailings so that they can be utilized in an environmentally safe manner. This was accomplished by agglomerating the tailings into pellets and using theses pellets as a coarse aggregate in a total tailings paste fill. This technology does not require any supplemental sand or gravel to be added to the fill.This paper presents the ongoing research into utilizing these tailings agglomerates as a coarse aggregate fraction, in order to create a total tailings paste fill which has supe1ior strength characteristics.IntroductionThe Canadian mining industry produces more than 500 million tonnes of tailings and waste rock annually. The waste rock is usually returned underground for use as rock fill in underground support with the tailings remaining to be disposed of in tailings ponds. Tailings consist of a coarse and fine fraction, and can be either reactive (acid generating) or non-reactive. In an effort to minimize tailings disposal, the coarse fraction has been used underground in backfill along with alluvial sands. This diversion of the coarse fraction, however still requires that the fine fraction be disposed of in tailings ponds. This disposal creates the potential for acid mine drainage (AMO), since in the presence of air and water, reactive sulphide tailings can generate acid. It is therefore an important goal in the mining industry to minimize the disposal of fine tailings into tailings ponds since the treatment of AMO is a costly and long-te1m environmental liability."

Jan 1, 1997

By M. Seyed Ahmadi

This study investigates the role of nitrogen gas injection in the dissolution rate of Si into liquid Al. A unique revolving liquid metal tank was used, with a capacity of 50 kg of liquid Al. Experiments without gas injection have shown that the dissolution of Si increases as the bath superheat and the tangential velocity of the liquid Al increase. When injecting nitrogen gas at flow rates between 0-5 lit/min in the vicinity of the solid Si, results so far clearly show greater dissolution. In addition, results on the role of the gas flow rate relative to the position of the nozzle are presented and analyzed.

Jan 1, 2011

By V. Songmene, R. Khettabi, J. Masounave, R. D. Njoya

L&apos;augmentation régulière des règlements environnementaux et de la sécurité au travail deviennent de plus en plus strictes. L&apos;usinage fait partie des opérations industrielles qui peuvent causer des problèmes de santé au travail et sur l&apos;environnement. La plupart des particules de poussières produites pendant toutes les opérations d&apos;usinage à sec ou lubrifie causent des nuisances environnementales graves. Le travail propose étudie l’influence des paramètres de coupe, des alliages et des états des matériaux sur la formation des copeaux et sur la génération de poussière lors de l&apos;usinage à sec. Deux modes d&apos;usinage (le fraisage et le perçage) sont abordés. Une loi reliant la ténacité des matériaux aux émissions de poussières est proposée. Les effets des matériaux et de leurs conditions, ainsi que des procédés d&apos;usinage sur la génération des poussières ont été mis en évidence. Des mécanismes de formation de poussières sont identifiés et reliés à la formation des copeaux.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. F. Favreau

"After a blast, the volume of the blasted rock normally occupies more space that it did before the explosion. The degree of such swell significantly affects the efficiency of digging the muck with a shovel or dragline. This paper explains why swell occurs, and describes the new subroutine SWELL of the blast simulator BLASP A which can simulate blast-induced swell. Results are also presented which display the effect of various blasting parameters on the degree and distribution of the swell within the muck pile of a bench blast. IntroductionIt is a common opinion that fragmentation is the most important of the various aspects which affect the efficiency of excavating rock with explosives. This paper proposes that, in fact, displacement and swell of the blasted rock are as important as fragmentation if the excavation process is to be rapid and efficient. It must ""a priori"" be recognized that a minimum degree of fragmentation is indeed necessary. For a given shovel or dragline, this minimum degree of fragmentation may be defined as follows: even the largest fragment of rock must be easily contained within the bucket. Once this criterion is met, however, there are good reasons to believe that displacement and swell take over as the key criteria which influence the rate of mucking, in cubic metres/hour. If the muck pile is not well displaced and swelled, the teeth of the bucket have difficulty penetrating between the rock fragments even if fragmentation is good and, as a result, the mucking is slow and inefficient. The purpose of this paper is to use computer simulations on the model BLASP A to demonstrate the effect of the blast design parameters on the displacement and swell of the blasted rock."

Jan 1, 1993

By Per-Lennart Nystedt

"The Boliden Lead Kaldo Plant for the treatment of lead bearing flue-dust from the Copper Smelter and the Slag Fuming Plant has been in operation at the Ronnskar Works of Boliden Metall since the middle of 1976. At the present stage, the plant can treat lead-bearing dust of different kinds and compositions. The process allows good separation of arsenic and halogens from lead.The flue dust from the Copper Smelter and the Slag Fuming Plant is very complex and, apart from lead, also contains zinc, copper, tin, bismuth, cadmium, antimony, arsenic, sulphur, silver, chlorine and fluorine. The metallurgical process has been developed by Boliden Metall and has been tested on a pilot scale at the Foundation for Metallurgical Research (MEFOS) in Lulea, Sweden.The pelletized dust is smelted in the converter, where the heat is generated by an oil oxygen burner. The second step consists of reduction with coke. A lead bullion and slag are obtained. The slag, transported in liquid form, is treated in the Slag Fuming Plant for the recovery of zinc. The third step is the elimination of arsenic from the bullion. This is achieved by treating the lead with iron (turnings or pellets). The result is a crude lead and speiss. The lead contains silver, tin, antimony and bismuth, and is suitable for the final refining stages in normal plant equipment for refined lead.For process control, we use the rapid analysis centre, which is pneumatically and electronically linked to &apos;all major plant sections and allows for a quick turn-around between delivery of the sample and feedback of results. All three steps in the process are performed in the same converter.Since the starting up of the plant, the original process has been subjected to some modifications. Initial problems related to equipment, maintenance and environment have been solved step by step. Examples are quoted. Recent operating particulars are presented."

Jan 1, 1980

By Haipeng Li, Jacob Masliyah, Barun Gorain, Jian Huang, Qingxia Liu, Zhenghe Xu, AuTec Innovative Extractive Solutions Ltd.

"Froth flotation is widely used to selectively separate one or more minerals from an ore over a wide range of particle sizes with high efficiency. Bubble–particle attachment is one of the most critical steps in flotation. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the need for an innovative dual bubble generator to improve flotation efficiency. This dual bubble generator was designed to generate two different sizes (micron size and typical flotation size) bubbles. The micron size bubbles generated on the crevices of particle surfaces in venturi type of cavitation tubes enhanced the attachment of fine particles to the bubbles in conventional flotation systems. They also acted as a secondary collector, which has the potential to reduce operation cost and improve flotation recovery. The dual bubble generator was evaluated for a double refractory gold ore with 3g/t Au, 1.5 wt% TCM (total carbonaceous matter) and 0.7 wt% sulfides. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercial bubble generator. Compared with the commercial bubble generator, the dual bubble generator showed not only a higher gold recovery, but also an improved separation efficiency, demonstrating the potential of dual bubble generator in fine particle flotation.INTRODUCTIONFroth flotation has been widely used in mineral processing and waste water treatment. However, flotation has been proven inefficient for fine particle recovery although it becomes increasingly inevitable to process fine particles with the depletion of easy processing ores. The critical problem of fine particle flotation is the low attachment of fine particles to flotation size bubbles due to their low collision rate. Based on a commonly acceptable flotation model given by R =F*[Pc*Pa*(1-Pd)], the probability of bubble–particle collision (Pc), attachment (Pa) and particles detachment from air bubbles (Pd) collectively determines fine particle recovery (R) (Yoon and Luttrell, 1986). Since Pc = (3Dp/Db) where Dp and Db are diameters of particles and bubbles, respectively, bubble size and particle size impact the bubble-particle collision in opposite directions. It is evident that the probability of bubble–particle collision decreases with decreasing the size of particles, leading to a low recovery of fine particles. In this case, reducing the bubble size and/or increasing the apparent size of particles by fine particle aggregation are clear means to improve fine particle recovery."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. P. Nowlan

"This paper is an attempt to outline the structural problems at the Cochenour Willans mine, in so far as their details have been tentatively worked out. It must be emphasized that there are considerable data that can be interpreted in more than one way, and that further work may modify or completely change some of the hypotheses presented herein. Certain features, however, are sufficiently constant to warrant reliance on them when searching for extensions of orebodies.As the individual ore shoots usually have relatively small dimensions, but are often very high grade, structural details are of more than usual significance in laying out a mining programme. An illustration of this is a small shoot recently located and mined as a result of studying a minor slip cutting off a part of high grade gold ore in No. 319 stope. The shoot, which is bounded on three sides by slips, and on the fourth by the original stoping, was roughly triangular in plan, 20 feet on the base, and 40 feet in length. The average width mined was 4.5 feet, but the gold obtained totalled over 1,800 oz.The property lies in Dome township, east of McKenzie island, and consists of an original group of thirteen claims acquired from the Cochenour Willans syndicate, plus one additional group of five claims obtained by purchase from the Kelson Red Lake Gold Mines, Limited, and one other claim that rounds out the southeast corner of the block.The claims of the original group were staked by W. M. Cochenour, Dan Willans, and Horace Young, during 1926 and 1927. The Cochenour Willans Syndicate was formed in 1928, and until incorporation of the present Company work was carried on at varying intervals by several different interests, including Ventures Limited, Hollinger Consolidated, who sank a shaft to open up the 150-foot level, and by the Syndicate itself. The first ore from the property was shipped to the Gold Eagle mill by the present Company in 1939, and amounted to 4,959 tons, from which 2,360 oz. gold was recovered. The first brick was poured in December, 1939, and production has been continuous since that date. To the end of June, 1946, gold having a value of $5,982,000 has been produced from 345,033 tons of ore treated."

Jan 1, 1954

By K. Schimann, H. D. Knipping, J. P. Fouques

"The Cigar Lake uranium deposit, in the Athabasca area of north Saskatchewan, was discovered in May 1981 by Cogema (Canada) Ltd., as operator of the Waterbury Lake Joint Venture.The deposit, which is devoid of direct surface expression, is located at the unconformity between the Lower Proterozoic (Aphebian) Wollaston Group meta-sediments and the Middle Proterozoic (Helikian) Athabasca sandstone, at a depth of 410 m to 450 m below surface.At the end of 1984, the deposit had been defined by 105 mineralized holes over a length of 1800 m and a width of between 25m and 105m. It has the shape of flat-lying /em 5 m to 30m thick and shows a remarkable longitudinal and lateral continuity from the information obtained to date. A well defined bulge of the unconformity underlies the mineralized zone over its entire length.The deposit appears to be controlled by an east-west trending structure within which a particular rock facies (""augen gneiss'') has developed in the graphitic metapelites of the Wollaston Group. It is surrounded by a strong alteration halo affecting both sandstone and basement, characterized by extensive development of Mg-AI rich clay minerals (illite-chlorite). The mineralization is hosted principally by the Athabasca sandstone, and consists mainly of uraninite and sulfa-arsenides of nickel and cobalt. Numerous geochemical and geophysical surveys have been carried out in the Cigar Lake area, and although no specific geochemical or geophysical anomaly can be directly associated with the mineralized body, there may be locally a good coincidence.However, a combination of several methods proved extremely useful in interpreting the regional geology and defining the drilling targets within the favourable areas.Although the Cigar Lake deposit shows many similarities with several classical deposits of the Athabasca region, it is characterized by the intensity of its alteration processes and the presence of massive, extremely high grade mineralization.At the end of 1984, the global geological reserves estimated by geostatistics on the main mineralized ""pod"" of the deposit amounted to 110,000 metric tonnes of uranium at an average grade of 12.2% U, with a precision of 25% at the 95% confidence level."

Jan 1, 1986

By R. C. Wallace

Introduction At a time when the mineral-bearing areas in Manitoba are being fi very keenly explored because of the major developments which are now taking place in that Province, it may be timely to give an analysis of the mineralization in the two major types of deposits, with a view particularly to assist in the intensive prospecting to which the mineral-bearing areas in the Province are now to be subjected. As is already well known, there are two principal types of mineral deposits in the territory- copper-zinc and gold; and attention will be confined almost exclusively in this paper to these two types, with some indication of such modifications of the main types as may be found to be of economic value. The details of the paper are drawn from what is yet a small part of the area of the Province available for prospecting. Enough is now known of the types of mineral deposits which are described in the following pages to justify the expectation that these types may serve as criteria in the search in the newer districts. Doubtless new types will also be found as investigations proceed.

Jan 1, 1928

By Brian Flintoff

"When I was first asked to prepare this paper and presentation in late June, I thought it might be fun to ""step back and paint the bigger picture."" Having attempted to do this, fun is not the first descriptor that now comes to mind, and speaking dyslexically, I've had 'nuf.'Unlike Nostradamus, or even Orwell, I've discovered that I'm ""clairvoyantly challenged"" and not even the psychic hot-line was of much help, at least with respect to process control! I am somewhat comfortable speculating on evolutionary change, but the radical developments that will arise from revolutionary changes are well beyond my mortal capabilities. Even with evolutionary change, I'm reminded of the lessons of time series analysis which show the prediction error to grow exponentially as the horizon moves into the future. As Macluhan is reported to have said: ""Predicting the future based on the past is a little like driving your car while looking in the rearview mirror!""Having honestly presented my qualifications, allow me to try to look at process control and to offer some conjecture on where we're probably headed. In the end, it is said that: ""The plant of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.1""IntroductionA little less than a decade ago Andy Mular and I co-edited a monograph entitled ""A Practical Guide to Process Control in the Minerals Industry."" The work was commissioned by the senior management of a consortium of Canadian mining companies, since it was widely perceived that control was an area of great economic potential, but one that had not been effectively tapped. The concern was that if the industry could not soon deliver on the ""potential"", the term may well have appeared in the epitaph of what was, to these men, a very attractive investment opportunity. I think it is fair to say that over the past few years process control has clearly established itself as an essential technology in plant operation and optimization. That isn't to say that we get it all-right, all-the-time, but, the circumstances are much different than they were. In the eyes of many, process control has attained the distinction of being considered a mature technology, even though there are still countless avenues for exploration."

Jan 1, 1998

By Craig Ford

Inmet Mining is committed to implementing the highest corporate responsibility standards in its mining operations worldwide. Inmet is 100% owner of Minera Panama, a world-class copper project that is currently in the feasibility phase in north-central Panama. Panama has limited experience with modern mining, limited mining capacity, and the project context involves significant social, environmental and political complexity. The Project area is remote with recent in-migration of latino and indigenous people, informal and small-scale mining, local subsistence populations and considerable biodiversity value, coupled with a complex jurisdictional setting. In short, it is increasingly the kind of project mining companies are taking on because the easy projects have already been developed. With such challenging conditions, anticipating and managing social risks is critical to effective project management. To this end, between August 2007 and the third quarter of 2009 Inmet seconded Monkey Forest Consulting Ltd to the project to assist Minera Panama in building and implementing an effective, early phase external relations strategy. The team was also tasked to find and develop a locally based team that could sustain success through project development and into operations. Today?s presentation was created by Inmet and Monkey Forest and describes some of the lessons learned in implementing an effective early phase process for managing social issues.

May 1, 2010

By F. McIntosh Galbraith

EMPLOYING geophysics to find ore was for a long time considered by the Canadian mining fraternity to be a performance of dubious value: in a category somewhere between the practice of sorcery, and using a divining rod to locate underground water. With increasing knowledge, however, and with constantly improving instruments, a solid speaking acquaintance with this adolescent science is becoming an integral part of the mining geologist&apos;s stock in trade. And quite properly so: for, in the established mining districts, the ore deposits which could be easily found, by ordinary prospecting methods, have already been located. There remain; however, in almost all of the principal mining camps, areas which are covered to varying depths by glacial debris; and it is here that the obvious opportunities exist for the successful application of geophysical methods. Geophysical results must always be considered in the closest possible relation to the local geology; and, in reality, the &apos;doodle-bugs&apos; are simply additional tools for the geologist (in the same category with a plane table or a microscope). The Sudbury Basin is a shining example of precisely this state of affairs. Detailed geological mapping has not significantly altered the position of the outer norite contact as placed on Dr. Coleman&apos;s original map of the district. What detailed examination has done, of course, has been to reveal the accuracy with which the contact can be placed in different parts of the district, and to show up, in consequence, areas in which further work might reasonably be expected to disclose hitherto unknown or unsuspected ore. Viewed in this light, the proportion of the norite contact which is covered by substantial quantities of overburden is astonishingly large.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. A. Hararah, T. Neesse, M. G. Farghaly, G. Proellss, P. Kaniut, W. Rubarth

ABSTRACT: This paper presents two new options for hydrocyclone control. Volume split control using a control valve in the overflow is applied for the stabilization of separation results at changing feed conditions. Controlled water injection to the conical part of the cyclone leads to the reduction of fine particles in the underflow. Hydrocyclone monitoring in both cases is performed by optical sensors that indicate the spray angle of the underflow. Applications in mineral processing for desliming, classification in closed-circuit grinding, and dewatering are demonstrated.

Jan 1, 2011