922 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
SIMULATION RESULTS
Impact of S/L Separation Efficiency on Concentrations
in Recycled Water
In this section, focus is made on sulfates. The first set of
simulations uses the dissolution parameters from Best fit
DW-PW (Table 2). Figure 8 shows the variation of sulfate
concentration in recycled water and of water recirculation
ratio as a function of S/L separation rate. The recirculation
ratio is between the quantity of recycled water and the total
quantity of water feeding the circuit.
The variation of recirculation ratio evolves nearly lin-
early with the S/L separation rate, while the sulfate con-
centration in the recycled water increases more rapidly
for high separation rate, theoretically reaching Cmax for
100%. To assess the impact of the dissolution parameters
(Figure 9), the same simulations were carried out with all
sets of Table 1.
The difference between dissolution behavior increases
when recirculation ratio increases: sulfate concentration of
recycled water is more sensible to the dissolution parame-
ters at high recirculation ratio than at lower ones. The Cmax
value has a preponderant impact on recycled water concen-
trations, notably when their values get closer to saturation
concentration. Thus, even if the different k – Cmax pairs
can explain similar behavior for dissolution test with DW
as SW, their integration in the plant model leads to differ-
ent results, which highlights the importance of determining
accurately the right pair of parameters.
Interestingly, the trends seemed to converge when
maximal concentration increases. The simulations give a
range of potential reachable concentrations. As for the dis-
solution tests, the dilution with process water, depending
on the ratio of recirculated water, drives the plant behavior,
leading to a pseudo-equilibrium: maximal concentrations
reached in recirculated stream remain below saturation
Figure 7. Flowsheet for water treatment line on recirculation
Figure 8. Evolution of SO
4 concentration in recycled water and water recirculation
ratio with S/L separation efficiency
SIMULATION RESULTS
Impact of S/L Separation Efficiency on Concentrations
in Recycled Water
In this section, focus is made on sulfates. The first set of
simulations uses the dissolution parameters from Best fit
DW-PW (Table 2). Figure 8 shows the variation of sulfate
concentration in recycled water and of water recirculation
ratio as a function of S/L separation rate. The recirculation
ratio is between the quantity of recycled water and the total
quantity of water feeding the circuit.
The variation of recirculation ratio evolves nearly lin-
early with the S/L separation rate, while the sulfate con-
centration in the recycled water increases more rapidly
for high separation rate, theoretically reaching Cmax for
100%. To assess the impact of the dissolution parameters
(Figure 9), the same simulations were carried out with all
sets of Table 1.
The difference between dissolution behavior increases
when recirculation ratio increases: sulfate concentration of
recycled water is more sensible to the dissolution parame-
ters at high recirculation ratio than at lower ones. The Cmax
value has a preponderant impact on recycled water concen-
trations, notably when their values get closer to saturation
concentration. Thus, even if the different k – Cmax pairs
can explain similar behavior for dissolution test with DW
as SW, their integration in the plant model leads to differ-
ent results, which highlights the importance of determining
accurately the right pair of parameters.
Interestingly, the trends seemed to converge when
maximal concentration increases. The simulations give a
range of potential reachable concentrations. As for the dis-
solution tests, the dilution with process water, depending
on the ratio of recirculated water, drives the plant behavior,
leading to a pseudo-equilibrium: maximal concentrations
reached in recirculated stream remain below saturation
Figure 7. Flowsheet for water treatment line on recirculation
Figure 8. Evolution of SO
4 concentration in recycled water and water recirculation
ratio with S/L separation efficiency