The complex of paste thickening of the Uchalinsky GOK reduced water consumption by 30 percent
In the paste thickening complex of the Uchalinsky GOK (an enterprise of the raw materials complex of the UMMC), an rationalization proposal was introduced for circulating water supply, which made it possible to reduce the volume of industrial water consumption required for the technological process by 30%. The essence of the proposal is to return the clarified water formed after the separation of waste tailings into a thickened product and a liquid phase - water, into the process of preparing a flocculant solution used for dewatering waste tailings.
“We conducted reuse tests clarified water from the upper discharge of the thickeners, which made it possible to increase the efficiency of the flocculant, improve the dehydration process, the purity of the discharge and the final density of the condensed product at the outlet, ”said Rafael Yakupov, head of the department of technological hydraulic structures of RMU.
The improvement in performance is due to the chemical the composition of clarified waters - they already contain a part of the dissolved flocculant, one might say that this is a ready-made "semi-finished product" for use in additional dilution of the flocculant solution. Paired with clarified water, the flocculant works much better and more efficiently than with industrial water, which it was additionally diluted with earlier.
The idea of reusing clarified water, or, as they are also called, drainage of thickeners, came to KPS specialists in the process of technical re-equipment of the pumping station for the upper discharge of thickeners, which is designed to return the discharge of thickeners to the tailings dam bed, from where the circulating water is returned to the technological process of the concentration plant.
During the modernization, more powerful pumping units were installed in the pumping station - LOWARA LC350 with a capacity of 1,500 m 3 /hour and a lifting height of 80 m, an additional pipeline was installed for pumping clarified water to the flocculant solution preparation unit.
Help. The complex for the paste thickening of the tailings of the concentrating plant was commissioned in 2018. According to the technology, the tailings of the concentration plant are dewatered in thickeners with a high compression ratio to obtain a paste with a content of 70-72% solids. The thickened product from the thickener with a content of 70-72% solids is sent to the waste space of the Uchalinsky quarry.