Dynamic simulation of tailing thickener at the Tabas coal washing plant using the phenomenological model

•Dynamic simulation was carried out for different conditions and the effect of feed flow rate variations on the thickener behavior was investigated.•For all conditions, it was observed that when feed flow rate increases, the solid volume fraction of discharge and bed height increase.•For the flocculated suspension, the maximum solid volume fraction of the thickener underflow decreases and the bed height increases with pH reduction.•The maximum solid volume fraction of the thickener underflow for d80 = 275μm is higher than that of d80 = 125μm

Real time dynamic simulation provides a powerful tool to control the mineral processing plants with the minimum cost. In this study, the dynamic simulation was carried out for the thickener at coal washing plant. Therefore, the parameters of the phenomenological model for the sedimentation and thickening were determined at different conditions. Dynamic simulation was carried out for each condition and the effect of feed flow rate variations on solid volume fraction of the thickener underflow and bed height was investigated. For all conditions, it was observed that when feed flow rate increases, the solid volume fraction of discharge and bed height increase. It was also observed that, in the case of the flocculated suspension, the maximum solid volume fraction of the thickener underflow decreases and the bed height increases with pH reduction, for two size fractions. Also, the maximum solid volume fraction of the thickener underflow for d80 = 275 μm is higher than that of d80 = 125 μm and the height of compression zone for d80 = 125 μm is higher than that of d80 = 275 μm at the certain pH and flocculant dosages.