There are many factors affecting sand washing process, mainly including:
1. In Ore Properties: 1) Silt content and granularity composition in the feeding minerals; 2) The ore proportion.
2. In Operating: 1) The ore pulp concentration; 2) Feeding capacity; 3) The overflow weir height.
3. In Equipment Structure: 1) The oblique angle of trough; 2) The movement speed of rake.
Next, we will analyze several factors in detail.
1) The silt content and granularity composition
Under the same concentration, the higher the silt content is, the greater the pulp viscosity will be, and the slower the ore grain settles down, finally the coarser the overflow granularity become. On the contrary, if the pulp viscosity decreases, the overflow granularity will minish. Hence, if the silt content of the feeding ore increases, in order to ensure the overflow granularity, we should reduce the pulp concentration properly. If the pulp has been processed by desliming, the sand washing concentration should be improved appropriately to avoid mixing too much fine grained materials in sand return.
2) The ore proportion
Under the same concentration and other conditions, the smaller the ore proportion is, the bigger the pulp viscosity will become. At this time it’s easy to make the overflow granularity coarser. Otherwise, it’s liable to make the ore pulp viscosity smaller and fine grained material in the sand return increases. So when the ore proportion increases, we should promote the sand washing concentration; and vice versa. For Example, when significant change happens on the feeding ore’s metal nature, we should also change sand washing concentration to ensure that the sand washing machine has a good effect.
