PEPT studies of heavy particle flow within a spiral concentrator

• Processing of iron ore slurry in spiral concentrator has been investigated by PEPT.
• Tracking of quartz and chromite particles on the spiral concentrator was undertaken.
• The bottom half of the spiral does not show a strong concentration effect.
• Radial position of quartz and chromite fines (−63 +53 μm) is similar.
• Different motion behaviour of fine particles (−63 +53 μm) have been shown.

Future improvements of gravity concentrators require an increased knowledge of the mechanics behind the separation, including the motion of the particles. This work details the investigation of particle motion through a spiral concentrator. The results of tracking the motion of individual particles using the positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) technique are described. Tracer particles of different sizes and density were tracked along the trough of a laboratory scale spiral. Multiple passes of one tracer through the spiral are combined to represent the bulk of flow of this particle type and size, with the position and time recorded to allow for the particle trajectory and speed to be determined. Finally, the use of PEPT will be shown to be a powerful method to visualise the behaviour of particles during the concentration process, providing data that will be used for the validation of new models of spiral concentrator performance.