TECHNICAL RISK MITIGATION THROUGH RHEOMETALLURGICAL GENERATION OF PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT DESIGN CRITERIA

摘要

According to the rheometallurgical concept, the main root cause of the process risk primarily resides in disconnects between the optimized metallurgical parameters and the physical conditions created as a result. This leads, in turn, to the interruption of the continuous flow needed to maintain the functionality of the plant, causing bottle-necks, slow or incomplete rampup, or worse, complete shut-down and decommissioning. The rheometallurgical process risk analysis addresses these situations by quantifying the flow and separation behaviour of the process pulps and slurries in order to ensure continuous functionality of each circuit and hence of the overall processing plant. This rather unique yet well-proven effectiveness is documented in the paper by discussing testwork matrices that generated data for several commercial projects, and with emphasis on hydrometallurgical process equipment design-criteria applications.