Infl uence of Saline Water on Electrostatic/ High Tension Separation

摘要

The use of saline water for mineral benefi ciation in arid regions is general practice and also therncase with Exxaro Namakwa Sands, situated on the west coast of South Africa. Although it is ‘costrneffective’ to use sea water for mineral benefi ciation, downstream process separation effi cienciesrnmay be negatively affected. This is more specifi c to surface dependent separation techniques suchrnas electrostatic and high tension (HT) separation. If minimal fresh water is available then, properrnwashing is often neglected. Salt crystals can form on particle surfaces during the drying processrnbefore electrostatic separation.rnThis paper describes a study that has been conducted to determine the effect of upfront salt waterrnprocessing on downstream electrostatic/HT separation. The study indicated that minor quantities ofrnsalt can cause the separation effi ciency to decrease substantially.