Study on the solid liquid separation equipment in Uranium processing

摘要

Uranium circuits have a variety of hydrometallurgical concentration processes all containing solid liquid separation processes. Some of the successful operations can be reviewed to understand which technologies are most effective. In Uranium processing solid liquid separation represents a large portion of the CAPEX involved. The majority of research and process design focuses on metal recovery. Solid liquid separation performance, like metal recovery is defined by the process conditions and the optimum conditions are often vastly different. In the never ending pursuit of reducing CAPEX the logical point to study is the larger cost areas. Where solid liquid separation costs are high optimising process conditions may provide benefits. To help separation in most proposed flow sheets it is worth looking at the logic behind the selection of equipment and possible new technologies that may offer improved solutions.