A Model–Based Parametric Study of Centrifugal Dewatering of Mineral Slurries

Abstract

Solid bowl centrifuges (SBCs) find wide industrial applications for various solid–liquid separation tasks. Despite its importance, the information on the effects of the operational variables of an SBC on the dewatering performance is limited, even with some conflicting results, especially for the effects of the weir height and differential speed on the solids recovery. In the present work, a systematic simulation study was carried out using a validated SBC model to investigate the effects of various process parameters on the solids recovery. The simulation results matched well with the reported experimental findings in the literature. Additionally, the present work provides insights on why there is a disagreement between the experimental findings of the effects of the differential speed and the weir height.