Developing a particle-based process model for a dry magnetic separator

摘要

Mineral processing unit models require information on particle size, solids flowrate and mineralogical composition to model unit operations. Particle based modelling describes a modelling approach where mineral composition, mineral liberation and textural information of particles making up the process streams is used in modelling. The advantage of this approach is that all model streams carry particle level information. The objective of this study was to develop a particle based model for a dry magnetic separator. Magnetic separation tests were carried out on high, medium and low grade magnetite ores using a laboratory magnetic separator. Streams from the separator were sampled and sized for chemical and mineralogical analyses. A particle based model was developed that calculates the trajectory of a single particle based on its mineral composition and textural properties. The model was tested on experimental data and was able to predict the effect of variation in process feed stream mineralogical attributes on magnetic separation performance. This study highlights the benefits of the particle based modelling approach.