Size separators

A considerable reduction in particle size separation can be achieved at the expense of increased pressure drop using a Venturi scrubber (see Fig. 11.2c). 

Flow Sheets. AH minerals processing operations function on the basis of a flow sheet depicting the flow of soHds and Hquids in the entire plant (6,13,14). The complexity of a flow sheet depends on the nature of the ore treated and the specifications for the final product. The basic operations in a flow sheet are size reduction (qv) (comminution) and/or size separation (see Separation, size), minerals separation, soHd—Hquid separation, and materials handling. The overaH flow sheet depends on whether the specification for the final mineral product is size, chemical composition, ie, grade, or both. Products from a quarry, for example, may have a size specification only, whereas metal concentrates have a grade specification. 

Each basic operation can be divided into one or more unit operations. Size reduction involves cnishing and grinding depending on the size of material handled, and these may be carried out in stages. Separations can be either soHds from soHds, based on size or mineral composition, or soHds from Hquids, ie, dewatering (qv). Size separation or classification is an integral part of any flow sheet, not only to meet product size specifications, but also to ensure a narrow size distribution for subsequent minerals separation circuits and to decrease the load and improve the efficiency of size reduction units which are energy intensive. 

Sizing of the cmshed and ground product is a necessary step prior to any mineral processing operation, and in the production of a product having a specific size. Controlling the size of material fed to other equipment is important. AH equipment has an optimum size range of material that it can handle most efficiently. Size separation can be achieved either by screening (for coarser particles) or by classification (for fines) (see also Separation, size). 

Although the size separation/classification methods are adequate in some cases to produce a final saleable mineral product, in a vast majority of cases these produce Httle separation of valuable minerals from gangue. Minerals can be separated from one another based on both physical and chemical properties (Fig. 8). Physical properties utilized in concentration include specific gravity, magnetic susceptibility, electrical conductivity, color, surface reflectance, and radioactivity level. Among the chemical properties, those of particle surfaces have been exploited in physico-chemical concentration methods such as flotation and flocculation. The main objective of concentration is to separate the valuable minerals into a small, concentrated mass which can be treated further to produce final mineral products. In some cases, these methods also produce a saleable product, especially in the case of industrial minerals. 

In sohd—sohd separation, the soHds are separated iato fractions according to size, density, shape, or other particle property (see Size reduction). Sedimentation is also used for size separation, ie, classification of soHds (see Separation, size separation). One of the simplest ways to remove the coarse or dense soHds from a feed suspension is by sedimentation. Successive decantation ia a batch system produces closely controUed size fractions of the product. Generally, however, particle classification by sedimentation does not give sharp separation (see Size MEASUREMENT OF PARTICLES). 

Centrifugal separation, Magnetic separation, Size separation. 

The characteristic separation curve can be deterrnined for any size separation device by sampling the feed, and coarse and fine streams during steady-state operation. A protocol for determining such selectivity functions has been pubHshed (4). This type of testing, when properly conducted, provides the relationships among d K, and a at operating conditions. These three parameters completely describe a size separation device and can be used to predict the size distribution of the fine and coarse streams. 

AH three parameters, the cut size, sharpness index, and apparent bypass, are used to evaluate a size separation device because these are assumed to be independent of the feed size distribution. Other measures, usually termed efficiencies, are also used to evaluate the separation achieved by a size separation device. Because these measures are dependent on the feed size distribution, they are only usefiil when making comparisons for similar feeds. AH measures reduce to either recovery efficiency, classification efficiency, or quantitative efficiency. Recovery efficiency is the ratio of the amount of material less than the cut size in the fine stream to the amount of material less than the cut size in the feed stream. Classification efficiency is defined as a corrected recovery efficiency, ie, the recovery efficiency minus the ratio of the amount of material greater than the cut size in the fine stream to the amount of material greater than the cut size in the feed stream. Quantitative efficiency is the ratio of the sum of the amount of material less than the cut size in the fine stream plus the amount of material greater than the cut size in the coarse stream, to the sum of the amount of material less than the cut size in the feed stream plus the amount of material greater than the cut size in the feed stream. Thus, if the feed stream analyzes 50% less than the cut size and the fine stream analyzes 95% less than the cut size and the fine stream flow rate is one-half the feed stream flow rate, then the recovery efficiency is 95%, the classification efficiency is 90%, and the quantitative efficiency is 95%. 

There are relationships between the independent size separation device parameters and the dependent size separation efficiencies. For example, the apparent bypass value does not affect the size distribution of the fine stream but does affect the circulation ratio, ie, the ratio of the coarse stream flow rate to the fine stream flow rate. The circulation ratio increases as the apparent bypass increases and the sharpness index decreases. Consequendy, the yield, the inverse of the circulating load (the ratio of the feed stream flow rate to the fine stream flow rate or the circulation ratio plus one), decreases hence the efficiencies decrease. For a device having a sharpness index of 1, the recovery efficiency is equal to (1 — a). 

---