Cautions about Thickener in Daily Operating

In daily operating work, thickener feed concentration, concentration of the concentrated product and quality of overflow water should be checked to meet the requirements of production. In practice, the concentration of concentrated product can be controlled by adjusting discharging speed. When discharge concentration is adjusted, more attention should be paid to prevent an increase in loss of solids overflow to guarantee the quality of overflow water to meet the requirements.

Thickener is of great significance for the dressing plant, so a better understanding of influential factors about thickener capacity should be made. The unit capacity of the thickener refers to each unit concentrated area of thickener, and tons of material processed per day and night. The main factors influencing production capacity are as following:

1. Feed concentration and ore discharge concentration; 2. Composition of the feed grain size; 3. The viscosity of slurry foam; 4. Reagents and the existence of electrolytes; 5. Slurry temperature;  6. The value of the concentrate material.

In addition to the above factors, the factor sedimentary slurry is the most important one affecting thickener sediment efficiency. The source of the slurry includes two kinds: the one was formed in the process of ore mining, called primary slime. The other is formed by over-crushing  in the grinding process, called raw sludge. Because of the fine particle sizes, the slurry has larger surface, which make it easier to keep much water. And the water content depends on the wettability and capillary phenomenon. For the colloidal particle with the particle size of 0.1-0.1 micron, owing to the molecular force and the effect of electrostatic repulsion between the same charged particles, it tends to be balanced by the settlement itself, virtually no precipitation. Therefore, in the process of thickener precipitation, the fine particle sizes are the most difficult to be settled. In the dressing plant, the work adjusting the ratio of liquid and solid in the slurry and the method heating the slurry is often finished by adding electrolyte, active substances to the surface of colloidal particle (usually add sodium silicate or soda). This method contributes to dispersing the particles sludge flocculation and accelerated subsidence.

Recently, under the influence of the national policies, the project of dry tailing is in large demand. There is also an increase of demand in thickener. So it is necessary to have a clear picture of thickener from reading the above information.