Centrifuges: The Alternative Technology

Robert Klug1* and Nils Schwarz²

1. Flottweg, Germany
2. Schwarz Global Consulting, South Africa

ABSTRACT
There are several technologies available for thickening and dewatering of mining process slurries.
The most commonly used are thickeners and filters, but technological developments have made
centrifuges a viable option and their use, as a modern and alternative technology, is being considered
more and more.
In terms of tailings, the main goal for all mine operation is to minimize operating costs and the
environmental impact on the disposed material. The high potential risk of wet tailing storage in tailing
dams is causing this technology to become unpopular, and there is a strong drive in many parts of the
world, by governments, communities and environmental agencies to limit any further construction
and use of such facilities.
For the alternative disposal method of dry disposal of tailings, two aspects of the process have to be
evaluated, namely the maximum dryness of the separated solids and the maximum liquid recovery.
For most mining operation, dry disposal is a new concept. Presenting these companies with examples
of operations where this processing option has been successfully applied and proven, will help them
to adapt to the changing requirements in the future.
Focus has been placed on adapting decanter centrifuges to the mining environment. Modern decanters
stand out in terms of their small footprint, low water demand, high availability and their high degree
of automation, combined with the excellent cost / performance ratio. Decanter centrifuges have started
to play a key role in applications such as tailing dewatering, drilling and tunneling muds processing,
hydrometallurgical processes of gold, nickel or zinc and separating SX crud in copper refineries.
This paper will present advantages of decanter centrifuges compared to the traditional technology
and corroborate these advantages by case studies, especially from South America.

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INTRODUCTION
The demand for a suitable and cost efficiency dewatering technology is in the focus of several mine
operators.
The political and environmental perspective is rapidly changing. There are several technologies
established on the market, but there are as well new approaches to the challenges which been faced.
The three most common technologies for dewatering and water recovery are thickeners, press filters
and centrifuges.
Several additional factors need to be considered, such as the size of daily operation, whether the mine
is an open pit or underground operation, its location, re-use of solids (backfilling), etc.
A general proposal of which technology will take the lead in the future is not feasible.

The following is a short description of each mentioned technology.

THICKENERS
Thickener have been common in mining operation to recover clean water rapidly and continuously,
by just using earth gravity ever since the invention of the Dorr Thickener in 1905. These units can be
very large with diameters ranging up to 120m.
The solid concentration of the thickener underflow is, however, in the view of most modern mining
operation, not sufficient anymore. This has resulted in the development of deep cone or super deep
cone thickener to increase the solid concentration of the underflow. Typically, the height of these
modern thickeners is equal to their diameter, with a very deep cone at the bottom. The underflow of
such thickener supposed to provide solids from the underflow of 55 – 65% by wt. In comparison the
average on existing thickener typical not exceed 35 – 45% by wt.

FILTER PRESS
The manufacturer of filter presses have also been adapting to the new challenges, by developing large
and more user-friendly operation on their equipment, i.e. full automated rapid discharge cycle, quick
washing procedure, etc. At the moment there a several presses in operation, which have plates
exceeding 4 x 4 m in size. These presses also try to address the problems of time-consuming solid
discharge and washing of the filter cloths have been addressed. The main focus of this technology is
to increase the flow capacity which can be handled, since most open pit mining operation are facing
severe water challenges with their high demand of capacity increase. Some of the presses are capable
of processing > 400 t dry matter an hour, which accumulates to 10.000 t dry matter daily per press.
The use of a thickener of the press filter is mandatory to reduce process volume

CENTRIFUGES
Centrifuges have been in use for dewatering mainly in municipal wastewater operation where they
have gradually replaced belt filters and filter presses almost everywhere. This efficient technology has
hardly been used in mineral processing so far. Advantages in the design and modern wear protection
makes this product more and more interesting for the mining community.
Centrifuges can work with thickeners, to reduce process volume but at smaller mines or mines that
are, integrating a dewatering technology the need of a thickener is not mandatory. Typically, a two-

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step process of hydro cyclone and centrifuge will provide almost equal dry matter discharge as a press
filter.

Figure 1 Cut-away of solid bowl decanter centrifuge

Feed

Solids discharge Liquid discharge by gravity

COMPARISION
The diagram on this page is gives an indication of the parameters that need to be compared to assess
the available technologies.
To read the chart correctly, the further the marker is away from center the better the technology rated
in this criteria. A perfect solution would be a full coverage of the diagram
The diagram shows a number of parameters that may not be automatically in the mindset of
engineering offices or mining companies.

Figure 2 Comparison of the three most common dewatering technologies used in mine operation
(Equal volume capacity and equal solid load processing for up to 1.000 t DS/h)

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There are two criteria where the centrifuge technology is lacking behind in performance of the other
two technologies, namely the consumption of polymer, which in turn has an effect on the OPEX of the
equipment.
The type of polymer selected is critical to economic operation of the centrifuge. Unlike the thickeners
and filter presses where relatively large, stable flocs are desirable, a centrifuge needs a polymer which
reacts very quickly to form very small flocs almost instantly after inline dosing at the centrifuge feed
inlet. Due to the short residence time the flocculent only has a maximum of 30 seconds in which to
have an effect. To minimize consumption of polymer an online ultrasonic density meter is installed in
the feed to optimize polymer dosing.

DEWATERING RESULTS
The dryness of the solids after processing depends strongly on the location as well on the requirement
for tailing deposit.
The centrifuge fills the gap between thickened tailings and filtered tailings

Figure 3 Diagram showing the ratio of the solids content of different dewatering technologies.
Photos show the typical equipment used for thickening / dewatering

A centrifuge is capable of handling feed variation in wide range but still delivers same high dry matter
contents of solid discharge

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 Figure 4 Results of centrifuge dewatering performance with changing feed parameters.

CASE STUDY ARGENTINA

In Patagonia, Argentina, there is an underground gold mine with a capacity of about 2.400 t dry matter
per day. The water supply is critical, since no fresh water supply is present. The mine looked for a
reliable dewatering technology, which would be able to recover most of the water. The mine operates
the dewatering in two processing steps. In the first step, the process water is sent through a set of
hydro cyclones to capture larger particles, which will then be mixed with cement to form backfill
material for shafts that are no longer in use. The overflow of the hydro cyclones is routed by gravity
to an intermediate, agitated tank, from which individual pumps distribute the tailings to the four
installed decanter centrifuges. Separated solids collected on a shared belt conveyor installed below all
four units. The recovered centrate is then routed to holding tanks, before it is pumped back to the
process. In one holding tank, a filter system is installed to provide the centrifuge installation with clean
water supply for polymer preparation and flushing capabilities.

Intermediate
Processing Facility Agitated Tank
4x 920 mm Solid Bowl Centrifuges

Light Blue Tanks for Recovered Water

Dark Blue Tank for Filtered Polymer
Solid Discharge by Preparation Water
Belt Conveyor
Figure 5 Overall 3D CAD Layout of dewatering facility

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 Figure 6 Photos of feed, recovered centrate and discharged solids

To save money on solids transportation the customer set the centrifuge to discharge a pasty solid
discharge without free water, the benefit is that the discharged solids will behave like lava discharge
from a volcano and flow by natural gravity into the designated depression close by.

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 Figure 7 Photos of solid discharge of four centrifuges, flowing by gravity into natural depression

Table 1 Operating parameter in Argentina

Parameter Value

Feed flow rate up to 60 m³/hr

Feed solid concentration 27% by wt.

Solids feed rate up to 25 t/hr

Drum speed 1,000 rpm

Centrifugal force 5,101 m/s² (520 x g)

Solids in centrate < 500 ppm

Solids concentration in cake 65% w/ flocculent (Customer Requirement)

Operational power consumption 30 kW main drive, 45 kW scroll drive

Flocculent consumption 0.2–0.4 kg/t dry matter

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CONCLUSION
The use of centrifuges for dewatering tailings is a viable alternative to existing technologies. Based on
environmental impact, space requirement and investment cost, the mechanical separation of solids
and liquids by centrifugal force will find its way increasingly into modern mining and minerals
processing operations.

REFERENCES
Davies, M.P. and Rice, S. (2001) ‘An alternative to conventional tailing management – “dry stack”
filtered tailings‘. In proceedings of Tailings and Mine Waste `01, Balkema, Fort Collins, CO, USA,
pp. 411–422

Davies, M.P, & Lupo, J. & Martin, T. & McRoberts, E. & Musse, M. & Ritchie, D. (2010) ‘Dewatered
Tailings Practice – Trends and Observations‘. In proceedings of Tailings and Mine Waste ‘10, Balkema,
Vail, CO, USA, pp. 133–142

Davies, M.P. (2011) ‘Filtered Dry Stacked Tailings – The Fundamentals ‘. In proceedings of Tailings and
Mine Waste 2011, Balkema, Vancouver, BC, Canada, pp. 411–422

Johnson, J.M., 1997, Tailings Disposal Design. In: Marcus, J.J., ed., Mining Environmental Handbook,

Effects of Mining on the Environment and American Environmental Controls on Mining, Imperial

College Press, London, pp. 428- 444.