Innovation Centre
University of Sunshine Coast
90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs 4556
University of Sunshine Coast
90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs 4556
Contact Luke Berry
0417 077 342
Contact Luke Berry
0417 077 342
Clay minerals present a widespread problem in tailing dewatering process due to the fine size of the clay particles.
The increasing use of saline water makes dewatering of clay minerals more complicated in mining operations by helping or hindering dewatering efficiency due to the change of the ionic properties of the water and the way in which flocs form.
Kinetic has focused on the interaction of clays in water to understand how different types of clay act in water to destabilise their tendency to act as colloids by modifying the interactions.
At the same time, we are building understanding of the effect of water chemistry such as pH, water salinity on clay surface chemistry and clay association structures as well as their correlation with the dewatering performance of high clay content tailings.
We have developed a predictive model on the interaction of flocculants and clay tailings towards better managing water recovery and dewatering efficiency.
This modelling has been assisted by cutting edge technologies such as cryo-SEM to observe how clays form dense or loose water trapping flocs in the presence of specific flocculants and coagulants.
Dewatering behaviour of clay minerals in saline water is governed by factors such as clay mineralogy, clay suspended solid concentration, water salinity, and flocculant dosage.
The driving parameters not only affected clay settling by modifying inter-particle interactions but also by creating different clay flocculation structures. We have developed a model of the relationships between the drivers and dewatering performance for bentonite, kaolinite, and illite clays.
The effectiveness of flocculants is affected by conditions such as water salinity and we have strategies to manipulate conditions and flocculant dosages to optimise dewatering.
One strategy under development is a feedback system of sensors that can calibrate the amount and type of flocculant to conditions including the changing make-up of clays in tailings.
View our peer-reviewed paper published in Powder Technology and our paper reviewing existing strategies for dewatering saline and clay-rich tailings.
References
Liu, D., M. Edraki, et al. (2018). "Investigating the settling behaviour of saline tailing suspensions using kaolinite, bentonite, and illite clay minerals." Powder Technology 326: 228-236.
Website link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032591017309506
Literature review – forthcoming (2018)
