Effect of excitation parameters on the motion characteristics of the tailings slurry during vibration dewatering

• Published in: Minerals engineering 2023-12, Vol.204, p.108407, Article 108407
• Main Authors: Pan, Miao, Xu, Tong, Yu, Shijie, Wang, Weinan, Jiang, Haishen, Qiao, Jinpeng, Zhao, Yuemin, Duan, Chenlong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Excitation parameters; Kinematics; Layer thickness; Tailings slurry; Vibration dewatering
• ISSN: 0892-6875
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108407

[Display omitted] •Continuous-scale vibration dewatering experiments were carried out.•The motion behavior of the tailings slurry on the screen surface was obtained.•The spatial distribution of water in the material layer was characterized.•Revealed the competition mechanism between percolation length and time on moisture. Fine flotation tailings slurry (FFTS) are potential mines rich in a large number of useful minerals, and the large-scale stockpiling of tailings slurry have caused serious resource waste and environmental pollution. High efficiency dewatering is urgent demand of the FFTS disposal and utilization. In this work, the influence of excitation parameters on the FFTS motion characteristics and dewatering performance was explored during the continuous dewatering by the vibration screen. The results showed that the slurry concentration along the screen surface showed a trend of increasing in steps, and a typical three-region differential dewatering phenomenon appeared. The increase of vibration intensity was conducive to speeding up the motion velocity of the FFTS and avoiding the accumulation of the tailings particles on the screen surface. And the layer thickness on the screen was reduced, which was beneficial to shorten the percolation distance of the liquid. There was a competitive coordination mechanism between percolation distance and dewatering time on the dewatering performance. When the velocity was less than 0.07 m/s, the moisture was reduced by the reduction of the layer thickness, and the dewatering time was not the main factor. When the velocity exceeded 0.07 m/s, the influence of the layer thickness on the dewatering was weakened, the material could not obtain sufficient dewatering time. The dewatering results showed that with the optimal conditions of f = 16 Hz, A = 5 mm and α = 45°, the product moisture reached 19.37 % and the discharge speed was 4.69 t/m2·h. A case study indicated that dewatering for 6000 t FFTS could be completed by 3 vibration screens working 7.67 h per day, and the volume of FFTS was reduced from 2125 m3 to 831.25 m3. The work might provide theoretical and technical support for efficient dewatering of FFTS with environmental benefits.