Gormashexport CJSC (Russia):

Bauman A. V., Deputy General Director on Scientific Work, Ph. D. in Technical Scieces, aleksei_bauman@mail.ru

The paper deals with the problem of choosing a radial thickener for mining, metallurgical and other industries. The author describes in brief the method for an instant estimation of radial thickeners performance with reagents added in design of dewatering and water circulation circuits. Design features and operation principle of the radial thickener as well as thickening process particulars are scrutinized with the aim to collect information required for the device design and selection. Criteria for selection of such equipment are given and analyzed. The challenges arising in choosing a particular thickener for a definite process are described, such as a multitude of models and indefinite terminology along with scarce information on their performance results and the lack of methods for their estimation. Most of the text-books and reference books citing the design calculation methods were issued 30–40 years ago and either fail to mention the reagents use or mention it in brief. The author emphasizes that the use of coagulants and flocculants is imperative for the selection of thickening equipment and thickening process design.

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