Influence of Natural Additive on Slurryability and Flowability of Iron Ore
Chandan Gupta, Satish Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India
Keywords: Iron ore suspension, stabilization, Sapindus Mukorossi (surfactant), critical micellar concentration, rheological modeling
Abstract
The present article describes the extensive characterization and stabilization of concentrated iron ore suspension having size ≤ 75 µm by various bench-scale tests. The rheological characteristics of iron ore in the concentration range of 60-80% (by wt.) have been investigated with and without the addition of Sapindus Mmukorossi dispersant. The stability of iron ore suspension with saponin is established through rheological properties, dispersant concentration and stabilization mechanism. The nature of experimental rheological data at different shear rates is accomplished by regression analysis and found to be a good fit with Herschel-Bulkley model. The Critical Micellar Concentration of the aqueous extracted dispersant is 0.018 g/cc. The presence of Sapindus Mukorossi saponin greatly improved the slurryability and stability of iron ore suspension. The head loss and specific energy consumption analysis successfully evidence the economic relevance of the surfactants in transporting the slurry through the pipelines.
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