TY - BOOK

T1 - Comparative Laboratory Studies of Conventional Comminution and High Voltage Pulse Fragmentation of an Industrial Mineral

AU - Tschugg, Julia

N1 - embargoed until 12-03-2023

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - A comparative study of the effects of high voltage pulse (HVP) treatment and conventional comminution was conducted to examine the suitability of the alternative comminution method in the processing of an industrial mineral. Comminution efficiency studies were based on the principles of energy-optimised comminution according to the OCS method, which compares net energy consumption and the increase in mass-specific surface for comminution sequences with and without HVP-induced fragmentation, pre-weakening and/or pre-concentration. The results indicate that the effect from pre-weakening is only present in the next fragmentation stage. Observation of the comminution efficiency of HVP fragmentation determined the Rittinger coefficient for HVP breakage was more than 95 % lower than that obtained by conventional comminution. Analysis of the effect on ore properties showed that HVP fragmentation generated a lower yield of fines <1 mm. Product quality (e. g. mineral liberation, pre-concentration by grade splitting, process contamination, etc.) and analysis of fracture patterns by X-ray computer tomography did not confirm results found in previous research carried out on other rock types. Additionally, separation efficiency based on recovery, remaining impurities in the concentrate, losses and selectivity did not improve by implementing a HVP stage in the comminution circuit nor directly after HVP fragmentation. This poses the question as to the suitability of the HVP method for the processing of the researched raw material and its product requirements.

AB - A comparative study of the effects of high voltage pulse (HVP) treatment and conventional comminution was conducted to examine the suitability of the alternative comminution method in the processing of an industrial mineral. Comminution efficiency studies were based on the principles of energy-optimised comminution according to the OCS method, which compares net energy consumption and the increase in mass-specific surface for comminution sequences with and without HVP-induced fragmentation, pre-weakening and/or pre-concentration. The results indicate that the effect from pre-weakening is only present in the next fragmentation stage. Observation of the comminution efficiency of HVP fragmentation determined the Rittinger coefficient for HVP breakage was more than 95 % lower than that obtained by conventional comminution. Analysis of the effect on ore properties showed that HVP fragmentation generated a lower yield of fines <1 mm. Product quality (e. g. mineral liberation, pre-concentration by grade splitting, process contamination, etc.) and analysis of fracture patterns by X-ray computer tomography did not confirm results found in previous research carried out on other rock types. Additionally, separation efficiency based on recovery, remaining impurities in the concentrate, losses and selectivity did not improve by implementing a HVP stage in the comminution circuit nor directly after HVP fragmentation. This poses the question as to the suitability of the HVP method for the processing of the researched raw material and its product requirements.

KW - Aufbereitung

KW - Industriemineral

KW - Zerkleinerung mit gepulster Hochspannungstechnik

KW - Vorschwächung

KW - Voranreicherung

KW - Optimierte Zerkleinerungskette

KW - Rittinger-Koeffizient

KW - Sortierung

KW - KAPPA-Diagramm

KW - Einzelpartikeltests

KW - Rissanalyse

KW - mineral processing

KW - industrial minerals

KW - high voltage pulse fragmentation

KW - pre-weakening

KW - pre-concentration

KW - grade splitting

KW - Optimized Comminution Sequence

KW - comminution efficiency

KW - Rittinger coefficient

KW - separation efficiency

KW - KAPPA-diagram

KW - single-particle tests

KW - fracture pattern analysis

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

ER -