REVIEW OF EQUIPMENT FOR MINE WASTE: FROM THE CONVENTIONAL THICKENER TO THE DEEP CONE FOR PASTE PRODUCTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Thickeners are solid-liquid separation equipment in which a slurry forming a pulp is fed to a tank provided with an internal mechanism in which solids are settled by gravity and can concentrate in the bottom of the tank and at the same time the clarified water overflows towards the surface to be collected in the peripheral launder of the tank. Usually the parts of the settling device are in essence the same from the early designs, although the most modern equipment and new technology advances have mainly been applied to the components that make up the internal mechanism, which provides higher performance in operation. Over the years, tailings and sludge thickeners have experienced a reduction in the size and diameter required for the same solids feed rate. It has been improved by the use of high efficiency synthetic polymer flocculants, which result in a reduction of the size and tank diameter compared to the early conventional designs not using flocculants; the modern thickeners have also maximize their effectiveness by using different pipe feeding and collection systems. Keywords: ?Clarification, paste, sedimentation, tailings, thickeners.