XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 747
• Recessed chamber filtration with different feed
pressure
• Membrane chamber filtration with final squeezing
with different pressure
• Addition of cake blowing in both recessed and mem-
brane option
To simulate the filtration, a bench pilot filter has been used.
This equipment is designed to reproduce in a small scale
any possible industrial filter setup, ensuring the scalabil-
ity of any parameter. The bench filter, shown in Figure 3
(above), consists in one single filtration chamber with a
filtration area of 0.0077 m2 connected to the feed tanks.
Figure 5 reports the results of the first test campaign.
The best results were obtained using cake blow-
ing, both in the recessed and membrane configuration.
Considering that the fixed volume chamber option is quite
cheaper than the membrane one and that it looks adequate
to reach the desired moisture, it can be considered as the
best one in terms of cost effectiveness. The second phase of
testing then focused on optimizing the blowing phase with
a recessed configuration, considering the blowing time and
air consumption as variables as seen in seen Figure 6. The
selected chamber thickness was 50 mm to maximize the
filter throughput thinner chambers were not required in
this case as there was good cake permeability.
Based on these results a blowing time of two minutes
has been considered. The final sizing is based on the cycle
time reported in Table 2.
Table 1. Tailings characteristics
Slurry Data Particle Size Distribution Elemental Analysis Phase Analysis
Density =1.54 Kg/l P10 =2.65 µm SiO2 =42.8% Quartz =41.8% w/w
Solid content =56.0% w/w P50 =22.0 µm Al2O3 =14.0% w/w Chalcopyrite =1.02% w/w
P80 =153 µm Fe
2 O
3 =4.6% w/w Muscovite =55.2% w/w
SO
3 =4.03% w/w Clinochlore =1.9% w/w
K2O =3.74% w/w
Others 3% w/w
Figure 5. Preliminary test campaign results
• Recessed chamber filtration with different feed
pressure
• Membrane chamber filtration with final squeezing
with different pressure
• Addition of cake blowing in both recessed and mem-
brane option
To simulate the filtration, a bench pilot filter has been used.
This equipment is designed to reproduce in a small scale
any possible industrial filter setup, ensuring the scalabil-
ity of any parameter. The bench filter, shown in Figure 3
(above), consists in one single filtration chamber with a
filtration area of 0.0077 m2 connected to the feed tanks.
Figure 5 reports the results of the first test campaign.
The best results were obtained using cake blow-
ing, both in the recessed and membrane configuration.
Considering that the fixed volume chamber option is quite
cheaper than the membrane one and that it looks adequate
to reach the desired moisture, it can be considered as the
best one in terms of cost effectiveness. The second phase of
testing then focused on optimizing the blowing phase with
a recessed configuration, considering the blowing time and
air consumption as variables as seen in seen Figure 6. The
selected chamber thickness was 50 mm to maximize the
filter throughput thinner chambers were not required in
this case as there was good cake permeability.
Based on these results a blowing time of two minutes
has been considered. The final sizing is based on the cycle
time reported in Table 2.
Table 1. Tailings characteristics
Slurry Data Particle Size Distribution Elemental Analysis Phase Analysis
Density =1.54 Kg/l P10 =2.65 µm SiO2 =42.8% Quartz =41.8% w/w
Solid content =56.0% w/w P50 =22.0 µm Al2O3 =14.0% w/w Chalcopyrite =1.02% w/w
P80 =153 µm Fe
2 O
3 =4.6% w/w Muscovite =55.2% w/w
SO
3 =4.03% w/w Clinochlore =1.9% w/w
K2O =3.74% w/w
Others 3% w/w
Figure 5. Preliminary test campaign results