- Title
- Gravity separation and flotation of fine particles using the Reflux Classifier platform
- Creator
- Galvin, Kevin P.; Iveson, Simon M.
- Relation
- International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC 2014). IMPC2014: Online Proceedings (Santiago, Chile 20-24 October, 2014)
- Relation
- http://www.gecaminpublications.com/impc2014
- Publisher
- Gecamin Digital Publications
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- Fine particles are the most valuable because they are the most liberated. However, they are also the most expensive and difficult to recover and concentrate. The Reflux Classifier is a novel invention that combines many of the virtues of existing fine particle separation technologies in a way that provides profound synergies. Multiple parallel narrow channels create a laminar-shear separation zone. The laminar flow provides a well-defined velocity gradient that exposes particles on the wall to a conveying velocity that is approximately proportional to their size, thus reducing the dependence of elutriation velocity on particle size. The high shear rate in these channels generates a hydrodynamic lift force that selectively lifts low-density particles off the channel wall and thus causes them to be preferentially conveyed out in the overflow. Particles that are not elutriated slide back down into the mixing reflux zone beneath the inclined channels which gives them multiple opportunities to re-enter the channels. The resultant suspension of both coarse and fine high-density particles in the fluidized bed zone at the base of the unit generates a strong autogenous dense medium that helps to direct large low-density particles back up to the overflow. The fluidization water also simultaneously de-slimes the high density underflow product. When placed in a centrifuge, the benefits of these features multiply with the improvements in capacity and selectivity that arise from high G-forces. When inverted, these features can be used to perform flotation well beyond the conventional flooding limit. Hence this invention platform has the potential to dramatically improve both gravity and flotation separation performance across the minerals processing industry.
- Subject
- classification; gravity separation; process evaluation
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1296300
- Identifier
- uon:19235
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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