Design of Successful Bulk Flow Systems for Hydromet Operations

Overview

As mining and mineral processing technologists, our primary purpose is to add value to materials through physical and chemical transformations via the judicious selection and then optimisation of the building blocks of our profession-unit operations. However, for unit operations featuring bulk solids, our efforts can be undermined if the flow is not controlled. Unlike the flow of liquids, the flow of bulk solids is complex and not well covered in undergraduate courses.

This intense course has been tailored specifically for hydrometallurgists to addresses this Blind Spot by providing a fundamental understanding of the science underpinning bulk solids flow behaviour together with simple, practical steps that can be taken to solve but ideally avoid common problems.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will learn how and why typical bulk material flow problems occur by:

• Understanding why bulk solids flow is not the same as liquid flow,
• Covering a wide range of equipment types found in hydrometallurgical flowsheets and the solutions to flow problems commonly associated with each of them,
• Gaining a better understanding of how wall friction, cohesive strength, compressibility, permeability, and other properties affect the flow of solids through various types of feeders, blenders, chutes, bins, and hoppers,
• Seeing how to specify and select hardware best suited to various bulk solid flow problems and objectives; including how to retrofit equipment to correct flow problems,
• Identifying and solving flow problems involving lost production, plant downtime, extra labour, poor quality control, wasted material, and unreliable equipment.

Who Should Attend?

Hydrometallurgists and allied professionals involved in the study (including safety and environmental aspects), detailed design, commissioning and operation of mineral processing value chains or procurement of equipment to handle bulk solids, as well as anyone responsible for solving and preventing flow problems.

Course Outline

• Flow (liquid vs bulk solid systems)
• Material characterisation
• Typical bulk solids flow problems
• Hopper flow patterns (funnel and mass flow)
• Mixing/blending theory and types of mixers
• Segregation of powders and bulk solids.

Duration (for CPD recording purposes): 9.5 hours

If you are recording mandatory CPD you should refer to your own regulator’s requirements as recognition of CPD hours may vary.

Course Materials

All attendees with receive a bound hardcopy of the course notes upon registration, with soft-copy on a supplied USB as well as an educational mass-flow/funnel-flow desktop model.

Fees

• Standard • $850
• 3+ Attendees, Exhibitors, Sponsors, Presenters • $800
• Young Professionals, Academics • $600
• Sole Consultant, Unemployed, Retired • $500
• Students • $250