Iron Ore Tailings Filtration
Iron Ore Tailings Filtration
The Iron ore mine of this case study, produces magnetite iron ore concentrate and the iron ore tailings are mainly produced after the magnetic separation process. Then the tailings slurry will be thickened by a high rate thickener. The goal of this iron ore tailings project was to dewater the iron ore tailings as much as possible in order to recover the maximum volume of water considering the scarcity of water of this iron ore mining area.
Case Study on Iron Ore Tailings Filtration
Feed Details
Feed : Iron Ore Tailings
Conc. : 50-55% (w/w)
Qty. : > 700 DMTPH
Site located at 1600 m.a.s.l.
Desired Output Parameters
Filtered Cake Moisture : ≤ 16% (w/w)
Filtrate Quality: Solids < 3 gpl
Process Engineering
A representative iron ore tailings sample is collected & tested in Dewater Filter Press R & D Laboratory in Italy in a lab scale Filter Press.
The first step was to understand the iron ore tailings slurry chemical & physical characteristics. And tests such as elemental analysis, dimensional Particle size analysis, IR Spectroscopic analysis, XRD Crystalline Phase analysis were conducted.
Subsequently multiple filtration tests were conducted on the Iron Ore Tailings by altering
- filter press plate configurations,
- chamber thickness,
- feeding,
- squeezing,
- cake blowing pressures & time
to define the optimum filtration parameters to reach the performance parameters required by the customer.
Result (Dry Cake)
Filter Press & its ancillaries
sizing
The Filtration test results from the iron ore tailings sample provided us the optimum process parameters to make the sizing of the Filter Press & all the associated ancillary equipment.
The Filter Press & the ancillaries are sized considering the results from the filtration test.
Recommended solution
Membrane plate configuration was choosen for this iron ore tailings filtration project.
We recommended the customer for 06 Nos. Dewater HP Next Generation Filter Press to reach the total capacity with desired Filter Press performance parameters.
*Our projects are covered under non-disclosure agreement. Hence specific process input-output details can not be shared.
**Please contact us for your specific requirements & we will be happy to assist & support.