FLOTTWEG CENTRIFUGE TECHNOLOGY

FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY

Maximize Recovery and Profit
 MECHANICAL SEPARATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY
Enhance Your Success with Centrifuge Technology

Flottweg is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial cen- Are you looking for any other applications? Con-
trifuges for solid-liquid separation. For over 60 years, our technology tact us, we will be happy to answer your ques-
has supported our clients in maximizing their profit by increasing their tions and find an individual solution!
yields with highly efficient separation solutions. The heart of every
separation process, our Flottweg Decanter Centrifuges, are the opti- Our separation technology meets all require-
mum choice for a wide range of separation tasks. ments for the mining industry:

Efficient operation, robust design and high purity output make Key success factors
Flottweg Decanters Made in Germany a multi talent in the mining in-
dustry. Our separation solutions can be found in nearly all processes • Reliable, robust and easy to operate
in the recovery of mineral raw materials. – optimized cost for operation
• Quality and purity of the final products
Examples of Flottweg Applications in the mining industry are: – quick return on investment
• Better environmental performance with
HYDROMETALLURGICAL PROCESSING - reduced supplies and consumables
• Gold and silver - high yield, reduced by-products
• Lead and zinc - energy savings
• Nickel and copper (e.g. subsequent drying processes)
• Platinum
• Rare earth

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS
• Kaolin
• Ground calcium carbonate (GCC)
• Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC)
• Titanium dioxide
• Barium and zinc sulfate
• Aluminium hydroxide

® = registered trademark in various countries

2
 DECANTER CENTRIFUGES FOR USE IN
MINING APPLICATIONS
Versatile Operation, Efficient, Robust

Are you laying out new facilities or optimizing existing ones? Discover Centrifuge facts
the possibilities of Flottweg Decanter Technology. For decades, the
usual separation equipment to perform the different separation tasks Versatility
in mining processes has comprised static settlers, thickeners, low • Separation (2-phase and 3-phase)
speed centrifuges and filters. • Classification / degritting
• Concentration / thickening
Our engineers have continuously optimized our centrifuges for the • Clarification / dewatering
requirements of mining applications. Best wear protection, continuous
operation with high g-force and fully automatic systems make our Key Success Factors:
solutions the ideal separation equipment for the mineral tasks. • Handling large product quantities
Particular highlights include the impact on cost effectiveness, quality • Resistance to wear and corrosion
of the final product and the environmental compatibility of decanter cen- • Continuous and automatic operation
trifuges. • Closed design to avoid emissions
• Long service interval
• Brief service downtime

dewatering / clarification

+
TEChNiCAL iNFO

separation (3-phase)

+ +

classification / degritting

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 OPERATING PRINCIPLE 2-PHASE
The Flottweg Decanter

FEED SOLIDS DISCHARGE

The product is fed through a stationary pipe into the feed zone located Settled solids are ejected through ports at the
in the center of the rotating assembly. The product is then accelerated conical end of the bowl into the solids housing
circumferentially and delivered through ports in the scroll into the bowl. and fall vertically through the discharge chute.

SCROLL OVERFLOW WEIRS

The scroll rotates at a slightly different speed than the bowl and conveys The clarified liquids flow to the cylindrical end of
the separated solids toward the conical end of the bowl. This differential the bowl where they exit over weir plates. Easily
speed determines the residence time of the solids in the bowl. Resi- adjustable weir plates allow for precise adjust-
dence time is a critical factor for cake dryness. it can be automatically ment of the pond depth in the bowl. The liquid
adjusted by changing the differential speed of the scroll thus providing overflow is then collected in a centrate chamber
optimal separation. Depending on the physical properties of the prod- and discharged by gravity.
uct, Flottweg Decanters can be supplied with a different scroll design
or with a modification to the existing scroll. Scroll pitch and single or OPTION: FULLY ADJUSTABLE
multiple lead configurations are important design variables. IMPELLER (SKIMMER)
The clarified liquid can also be removed with an
BOWL impeller from the bowl under pressure. The Flot-
The bowl has a cylindrical and conical section. The rotational speed is tweg Adjustable impeller is an engineering refine-
pre-set optimally to the application and requirements. The slurry rotates ment that permits quick and precise adjustment
with the bowl at the operating speed and forms a concentric layer on of the pond depth during operation to accommo-
the bowl wall. The solids contained in the product are packed against date for changing process conditions.
the bowl wall by centrifugal force. The length of the cylindrical bowl sec-
tion and the cone angle are selected to meet the specific requirements
of an application.

scroll bowl
TEChNiCAL iNFO

feed

solids discharge liquid discharge by gravity

Flottweg Decanter for the separation of solids from liquids with discharge of the liquid phase (centrate) by gravity
® = registered trademark in various countries

4
 OPERATING PRINCIPLE 3-PHASE
The Flottweg Tricanter®

The Flottweg Tricanter® performs a three-phase separation, i.e. simul-

taneous separation of two immiscible liquids with different densities and
one solid phase, provided that the solid phase is the heaviest phase.
The main difference from a decanter is the separate discharge of the
two liquid phases.

Flottweg Tricanter®
TEChNiCAL iNFO

liquid mixture

+ +

heavy phase light phase solid

Principle of the Flottweg Tricanter® (three-phase decanter)

Discharge of the centrate: heavy liquid phase under pressure, light phase by gravity

NO MATTER IF FEED CONCENTRATION VARIES

The Flottweg Tricanter® discharges the heavy liquid through an ad- depth and liquid-liquid separation zone. This op-
justable impeller under pressure and the light phase by gravity. The timizes the purity of the liquids and may eliminate
variable impeller allows for precise on-the-fly adjustment of the pond further downstream equipment.

separation zone 1
TEChNiCAL iNFO

separation zone 2

Feed and discharge devices with control lever for the adjustable impeller of
the Flottweg Tricanter®

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 DECANTER CENTRIFUGES IN
HYDROMETALLURGICAL PROCESSING

hydrometallurgical processing of ores is highly varied and has become Benefits

an increasingly important technology in the production of today’s
precious and base metals. Processing plants in the form of flotation • High cake dryness
or leaching installations selectively enrich the specific metallic • High separation efficiency
components. Flottweg Decanters perform this separation in a continu- • Continuous operation
ous and most efficient operation. • Automated operation reduces
From an environmental standpoint, waste products such as leaching labor costs
residues and tailings are also separated via centrifuges. Flottweg De- • Small footprint
canters achieve the highest cake dryness and optimum centrate • Short payback period
clarity.

TYPICAL PROPERTIES OF PRODUCTS ARE TYPICAL PRODUCTS

• Density of the solids above 2 g/cm³ • Gold and silver
• ph – conditions which require special materials • Lead and zinc
• Temperatures up to 100°C • Nickel and copper
• high hardness of the solids which require adequate wear protection • Platinum
• high salinity which affects the liquid density and liquid viscosity • Further rare earth elements
• Requirement for corrosion resistant materials • Many other hydrometallurgical
• Small particle sizes in the range of 5 – 100 µm mining applications

Flottweg provides decanters specifically designed on basis of

extensive knowledge in ore processing. The state-of-the-art
Flottweg Decanter Technology offers the highest separation
efficiency and operational reliability even in case of challenging appli-
cations.
High cake dryness, highest yields

® = registered trademark in various countries

6
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXPERTISE ...
... and Many Years of Experience in the Mining industry!

Flottweg System including a

decanter Z92 in the gold mine
tailings process

Flottweg System including a

decanter Z92 in the diamond
mine tailings process

Flottweg Decanters Z92 in the

nickel extraction process

... and many more.

Ask our sales agents for references!

7
 SOLVENT EXTRACTION – SX CRUD
Reduce Organic Loss by More than 50 %

Among the many separation processes used in hydrometallurgy, solvent simultaneously separate crud into its primary
extraction (SX) deserves special attention and is widely used on an in- components consisting of the aqueous, organic
dustrial scale. SX is a process in which soluble metal compounds are and solids phase. The organic phase is re-
transferred from the aqueous into an organic phase. CRUD (“Chalk claimed for the direct return to the settler facility
River Unidentified Deposit”) is a general term defining the solid stabi- and the solids are removed for disposal.
lized emulsion which collects in the settlers of solvent extraction (SX)
facilities and forms the third phase in the SX Crud extraction process. Furthermore, using a Flottweg Tricanter® has a
The crud phase contains fine suspended solids, organic contamination, stabilizing effect on the downstream electro-
trapped air, gypsum or insects, and is a persistent problem in SX plants. winning (SX-EW) operation. The possibility to
treat crud rapidly and reliably allows plant oper-
Traditional processing equipment for crud separation results in very ators to keep crud build up in the SX plant under
high organic loss and high operating costs. The Flottweg Tricanter can ® control.

primary
jaw cyclones
crusher

emergency primary
stockpile mill

stripped aqueous solution / raffinate

TEChNiCAL iNFO

CCD = Counter Current Decantation Circuit

M M M M

acid leach solution

(pH = 2)
PLS = Pregnant Aqueous Leach Solution copper acid leach (alternative heap leaching)

® = registered trademark in various countries

M

tailings slurry

crud
M
neutralisation
M
SX loading aqueous
Flottweg Tricanter ®
tailings dam
loading organic

SX stripping recovered organic cathode

sulphuric M

copper
acid stripped organic solids to waste electro winning > 99 % copper
aqueous strip solution / rich electrolyte

aqueous strip solution / spend electrolyte

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LEADING IN 3-PHASE-DECANTER SEPARATION
Benefits of the SX Crud Tricanter®

The Flottweg Tricanter® can also be used to re- Benefits

cover organic material after clay treatment in a
two-phase separation. • Reduction of organic loss by more than 50%
• Maximum organic recovery rate
• Enhanced settler efficiency
• Elimination of crud runs
• No more shut downs of settlers to de-crud
• Minimized entrainment losses
• Payback period within one year

Solvent before extraction

Copper-based solution

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 INDUSTRIAL MINERALS – PIGMENTS AND FILLERS
increase Yields – Decrease Required Energy

There is a broad variety of applications for industrial minerals to be Flottweg Decanters operate with the best sepa-
used as pigments or fillers. it ranges from the ceramic industry to the ration efficiency, thus minimizing product losses
materials industry and from the cosmetic or food industry to the paper and producing the highest cake dryness to min-
and paint industry. imize the required energy in subsequent drying
processes.
Typical processes are purely mechanical operations such as milling,
grinding, separating and degritting while other processes include chem- APPLICATIONS
ical operations such as crystallization or precipitation. in general, the • Kaolin
final products must be of the highest purity and must have a well • Ground calcium carbonate (GCC)
defined particle size distribution. • Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC)
• Titanium dioxide
Benefits • Barium sulfate
• Zinc sulfide
• Very accurate separation cuts classifying stages • Aluminum hydroxide
• High solids recovery of ultrafine particles in dewatering stages • Many others
• High cake dryness
• Continuous operation
• Small footprint
• Low energy demand compared to filters or spray dryers

PROCESSING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

SEALING EXPLOSION-PROOF
Most sizes and models of Flottweg Centrifuges are available in a variety All Flottweg Centrifuges are available for instal-
of rotor and housing seal designs for the following operating conditions: lation in hazardous areas. Flottweg Decanters
• Atmospheric and Tricanters® are available in gas-tight ver-
• Vapor-tight sions and comply with the established health,
• Gas-tight safety and environment regulations or are suit-
able for explosive or hazardous atmospheres.
Flottweg Centrifuges can also be adapted for operating in closed-loop
systems.
TEChNiCAL iNFO

® = registered trademark in various countries

Atmospheric Vapor-tight Gas-tight

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 FLOTTWEG DRIVES

FLOTTWEG SIMP DRIVE® Benefits

The bowl is driven via a motor controlled by a frequency inverter (VFD).
The Flottweg Simp Drive® - an intelligent system consisting of a multi- • High efficiency and low energy demand
stage planetary gear and control system including a frequency inverter • A simple drive system not requiring
- controls the differential speed depending on the torque that is gener- linkage
ated when transporting the solids cake through the centrifuge bowl. • Constant drive, constant torque
When processing products generating high torques, the Flottweg Simp • Simple integration into process
Drive® is also an intelligent protection for the gearbox and the drive in control systems
case of torque overload. • Smallest possible inverter size
• Frequency inverters which are
standard designs
• High flexibility in the selection of
the operating speed
• Discharge of the bowl even at standstill
TEChNiCAL iNFO

Bowl drive
• Applicable for small to medium
Scroll drive
differential speeds

Flottweg Simp Drive®

OPTION
FULLY HYDRAULIC DRIVE
The bowl and the scroll are driven by separate hydraulic motors. A char-
acteristic feature is the hydraulic motor which rotates together with the
TEChNiCAL iNFO

bowl and directly powers the scroll, with the bowl driven by V-belts. A
compact hydraulic unit with two variable pumps feeds two separate oil
circuits. The volume flow rate of the oil determines the bowl speed and
the differential speed of the scroll, with the oil supply pressure directly
proportional to the torque output and thus to the load. The drive’s design
enables independent rotation of the scroll even when the bowl is shut
down.
Fully hydraulic drive

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 QUALITY MADE IN GERMANY
Features of Our Machines – Rugged, Robust, Reliable!

Designed and MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 1) Welded hard facing or spray coating

manufactured
in Germany Flottweg exclusively uses high-quality Duplex stainless steels for all 2) Ceramic
parts that come into contact with the product. On request, Flottweg Cen- 3) Tungsten carbide tiles
trifuges are also available in more corrosion resistant materials such 4) Chilled hard metal portcastings
as super duplex steels or high nickel alloys e.g. hastelloy. 5) Plastic liners

WEAR PROTECTION in order to minimize maintenance costs for ap-

Flottweg offers a wide range of wear protection to meet the particular plications involving highly abrasive products, all
material requirements of the mining applications: wear protection elements, except welded hard
facings or spray coatings, are field replaceable.
TEChNiCAL iNFO

Replaceable wear protection elements

Protection of the scroll with hard metal tiles Cake discharge port protected with replaceable bushings
® = registered trademark in various countries

The picture shows a

Flottweg System.

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PROCESS ENGINEERING AND EXPERTS
Discover New Potential

Every process is different. The various parameters have a significant Our services
influence on the separation efficiency. To know those parameters
means increasing the efficiency and yield of your separation process. • Laboratory analysis –
discover new options and performance
We support our customers along the entire process chain from R&D parameters
raw material analyses to approval tests. Flottweg offers all necessary • Processing department –
methods for analyzing your products and evaluating new potential. performance optimization of our
separation solutions
Our worldwide locations and networks guarantee support and service • Project planning department –
for our customers. With the help of our experience and testing capability customized systems and solutions
we develop made-to-measure solutions to meet your individual require-
ments.

Sample analysis with EDX (Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) Keep a close eye on your product quality –
Zinc sludge SEM analysis (Scanning Electron Microscope)

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 GLOBAL AFTERMARKET SUPPORT NETWORK
No Matter Where You Are in the World

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR STRENGTH Flottweg Services include

Application-based project planning, high-quality manufacturing and
professional after-sales service are prerequisites for a trouble-free • Experienced advice on separation pro-
operation. Experienced and reliable service engineers from our cus- cesses
tomer service department are ready to respond quickly if needed. The • Pilot tests on-site or at the Flottweg
Flottweg Service Group is also available to perform preventive Laboratory and test center
maintenance in order to avoid interruptions in production. • Selection and sizing of appropriate
equipment
• Customer-specific automation/control
QUALITY “MADE IN GERMANY” systems and process integration
Flottweg is iSO 9001 certified and manufactures its • Design and construction of complete
products in compliance with all the latest technical process systems
standards. • Installation, commissioning,
maintenance, repair and spare parts
service worldwide

FLOTTWEG AFTER-SALES CUSTOMER SERVICE

Even the best machinery needs to be maintained and serviced. engineers and technicians are qualified for any
Flottweg has established a worldwide service network consisting of its kind of installation, commissioning, repair and
own subsidiaries, branch offices, and representatives to provide our maintenance.
customers with localized service and spare parts. Our service

Flottweg Service technicians are always available for you

FLOTTWEG WORLDWIDE
Flottweg is headquartered in Vilsbiburg (near Munich), Germany, and has Check out our website at www.flottweg.com to
branch offices in Cologne and Leipzig as well as subsidiaries in Australia, find a competent contact person.
Brazil, Canada, China, France, italy, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, and
the United States plus representatives in nearly every country in the world.
® = registered trademark in various countries

14
TECHNICAL DATA
Decanter Z-Series and Tricanter®

Decanter Z23-3 4630 x g* Tricanter® Z23-3 4630 x g*

Z23-4 3890 x g* Z23-4 3890 x g*

Z3E-4 4500 x g* Z3E-4 4500 x g*

Z4E-3 4140 x g* Z4E-3 4140 x g*

Z4E-4 4140 x g* Z4E-4 4140 x g*

Z5E-4 3620 x g* Z5E-4 3620 x g*

Z6E-2 3550 x g*

Z6E-3 3550 x g*
Z6E-3 3550 x g*

Z6E-4 3550 x g* Z6E-4 3550 x g*

Z8E-4 3000 x g* Z8E-4 3000 x g*

Z92-3 2600 x g*

*Acceleration in g, depending on the temperature and the density of the product

Z92-4 2600 x g*

TECHNICAL DATA OF FLOTTWEG DECANTERS AND TRICANTERS®

Model Z3E Z4E Z5E Z6E Z8E Z92
Dimensions* (L x W x H) 2950 x 840 x 800 mm 3500 x 1000 x 1200 mm 4200 x 1300 x 1150 mm 4800 x 1800 x 1250 mm 6200 x 2000 x 1500 mm 5900 x 2800 x 1750 mm
116 x 33 x 32 inch 138 x 39 x 47 inch 165 x 51 x 45 inch 189 x 70 x 49 inch 244 x 78 x 59 inch 232 x 110 x 69 inch
Gross weight* 1760 kg / 3880 lb 3000 kg / 6600 lb 6200 kg / 13600 lb 9750 kg / 21500 lb 14150 kg / 31200 lb 18000 kg / 39700 lb
Motor for bowl drive 18.5 kW 45 kW 90 kW 132 kW 160 kW 250 kW
Motor for scroll drive 7.5 kW 15 kW 55 kW 110 kW 110 kW 110 kW
Flottweg Simp Drive®
Max. hydraulic capacity** 10 m³/h 35 m³/h 60 m³/h 80 m³/h 160 m³/h 180 m³/h

* The listed figures are to be understood as guidelines. Actual capacity will depend on the individual characteristics of the feed product.
** Data based on water, g-force depending on temperature, special material and product density. Data to be understood as guidelines.

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 Flottweg Separation Technology –
Engineered For Your Success

Flottweg SE
industriestraße 6-8
84137 Vilsbiburg
Deutschland (Germany)
Tel.: + 49 8741 301-0
Fax: + 49 8741 301-300
mail@flottweg.com
www.flottweg.com
REPRESENTATiVE

PR-0004 ZN-10 1 07/2017