High compression thickeners

Green, D., High compression thickeners are gaining wider acceptance in minerals processing . Filtration Separation, November/December, 947 (1995)... 

In gravity thickening, large and relatively fragile floes are needed to aUow high settling rates and fast coUapse in the compression zone. 

Viscosity Index Improvers. VI improvers are long-chain, high molecular weight polymers that increase the relative viscosity of an oil at high temperatures more than at low temperatures. In cold oil the molecules of the polymer adopt a compressed coiled form so that the affect on viscosity is minimized. In hot oil the molecules swell, and interaction with the oil produces a proportionally greater thickening effect. Although the viscosity of the oil—polymer mixture decreases as the temperature increases, viscosity does not decrease as much as the oil alone would decrease. 

Hematite. This additive can be used to increase the specific weight of a cement slurry to as high as 19 Ib/gal. This is an iron oxide ore with a specific gravity of about 5.02. Hematite requires the addition of some water when it is used as an additive. Hematite has minimal effect on thickening time and compressive strength of the cement. 

Ilmenite. This additive has a specific gravity of about 4.67. It is a mineral composed of iron, titanium and oxygen. It requires no additional water to be added to the slurry thus, it can yield slurry specific weights as high as the hematite additive. Ilmenite also has mineral effect on thickening time and compressive strength of the cement. 

Wunderlich30 and Zubov33 suppose that ECC under high pressures occur as a result of an isothermal thickening of folded-chain lamellae. However, this contradicts the later data of Wunderlich and of Japanese authors31 who have shown that folded-chain crystals (FCC) are formed after ECC, when the melt is cooled. According to Kawai22, crystallization under hydrostatic compression can he considered as a variant of the bicomponent crystallization. 

The ultrahigh-rate (rakeless) thickener uses internal cones to achieve the tilted-plate effect. The design allows internal flocculation. The tank is tall, with a 60° bottom cone, providing sludge compression height and volume, resulting in a high-density underflow. 

This chapter is an in-depth review on rheology of suspensions. The area covered includes steady shear viscosity, apparent yield stress, viscoelastic behavior, and compression yield stress. The suspensions have been classified by groups hard sphere, soft sphere, monodis-perse, poly disperse, flocculated, and stable systems. The particle shape effects are also discussed. The steady shear rheological behaviors discussed include low- and high-shear limit viscosity, shear thinning, shear thickening, and discontinuity. The steady shear rheology of ternary systems (i.e., oil-water-solid) is also discussed. 

Thicken VE (vinyl ester) grades have been developed to offer specific improved properties in compression molding compounds, with a view particularly to under-bonnet automobile applications. As well as dynamic, mechanical, and physical properties, they provide good glass wet-out properties, excellent process ability, durability, and resistance to high temperatures. They are available with or without a TP shrinkage control additive. 

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