Partial seawater desalination treatment for improving chalcopyrite floatability and tailing flocculation with clay content

Ramos, Jahir; Robles, Pedro; Leiva, Williams H.; Jeldres, Ricardo I.; Cisternas, Luís A.

doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2020.106307

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Common alternative water utilization technologies based on chemical intensive strategies, such as coagulation, flocculation, thermal distillation, and reverse osmosis (RO) , have shown high effectiveness. However, these strategies are usually accompanied by higher cost, larger energy consumption, and secondary environmental pollution .…”

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confidence: 99%

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight–Energy–Water Nexus

Sheng

et al. 2021

ACS Nano

289

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Alternative water resources (seawater, brackish water, atmospheric water, sewage, etc.) can be converted into clean freshwater via high-efficiency, energy-saving, and cost-effective methods to cope with the global water crisis. Herein, we provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of various solar-powered technologies for alternative water utilization (i.e., "sunlight−energy−water nexus"), including solar-thermal interface desalination (STID), solarthermal membrane desalination (STMD), solar-driven electrochemical desalination (SED), and solar-thermal atmospheric water harvesting (ST-AWH). Three strategies have been proposed for improving the evaporation rate of STID systems above the theoretical limit and designing allweather or all-day operating STID systems by analyzing the energy transfer of the evaporation and condensation processes caused by solar-thermal conversion. This review also introduces the fundamental principles and current research hotspots of two other solar-driven seawater or brackish water desalination technologies (STMD and SED) in detail. In addition, we also cover ST-AWH and other solar-powered technologies in terms of technology design, materials evolution, device assembly, etc. Finally, we summarize the content of this comprehensive review and discuss the challenges and future outlook of different types of solar-powered alternative water utilization technologies.

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confidence: 99%

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight–Energy–Water Nexus

Sheng

et al. 2021

ACS Nano

289

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“…The use of seawater with a reduced magnesium concentration can reduce or even eliminate the formation of such precipitates, facilitating more The above results offer promise in the search for alternative water sources for mineral processing in areas of freshwater scarcity, seawater may be accessible, but its direct use has the potential for detrimental effects on flowsheet performance. While the advantages of using seawater with a reduced magnesium content have previously been identified for froth flotation [8,11] and flocculation in thickening operations [12,13], the present study suggests there may also be substantial improvements in slurry fluidity, offering a more economical strategy for pumping thickened tailings and possibly the opportunity to thicken to high solid concentrations, improving the efficiency of water use and advancing to effective closure of water circuits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…The authors increased the settling rates and reduced supernatant turbidity at pH 11, obtaining values that even exceeded the performance at the natural pH. Studies that complement this strategy have considered divalent ion removal through an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide [13] or a biotechnological approach [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Magnesium within Seawater Used in Mineral Processing to Improve Water Recovery and Rheological Properties When Dewatering Clay-Based Tailings

et al. 2022

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In areas where access to water for mineral processing is limited, the direct use of seawater in processing has been considered as an alternative to the expense of its desalination. However, efficient flotation of copper sulfides from non-valuable phases is best achieved at a pH > 10.5, and raising the pH of seawater leads to magnesium precipitates that adversely affect subsequent tailings dewatering. Seawater pre-treatment with lime can precipitate the majority of magnesium present, with these solids then being removed by filtration. To understand how such treatment may aid tailings dewatering, treated seawater (TSw) was mixed with raw seawater (Rsw) at different ratios, analyzing the impact on the flocculated settling rate, aggregate size as measured by focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM), and vane yield stress for two synthetic clay-based tailings. A higher proportion of Tsw (10 mg/L Mg2+) led to larger aggregates and higher settling rates at a fixed dosage, with FBRM suggesting that higher calcium concentrations in Tsw may also favor fines coagulation. The yield stress of concentrated suspensions formed after flocculation decreased with higher proportions of Tsw, a consequence of lower flocculant demand and the reduced presence of precipitates; while the latter is a minor phase by mass, their high impact on rheology reflects a small particle size. Reducing magnesium concentrations in seawater in advance of use in processing offers advantages in the water return from thickening and subsequent underflow transport. However, this may not require complete removal, with blending Tsw and Rsw an option to obtain acceptable industrial performance.

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“…The Eh-pH diagrams show that the copper and copper-iron sulfides turn to copper oxides and iron oxides, which likely form fast on the surface of the sulfides. Once the oxides are on the sulfide surfaces, these surfaces become more hydrophilic, more flotation collector is required to render them hydrophobic, and the mineral floatability lowers (Cruz et al, 2020). Copper oxides are more soluble than copper sulfides, so there will be more copper ions, which would cause un-wanted activation of pyrite and make more difficult the selective flotation of copper sulfides against pyrite as was observed by Mu and Peng (2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Pourbaix diagrams for copper ores processing with seawater

Marin¹,

Ordóñez²,

Gálvez³

et al. 2020

Physicochem. Probl. Miner. Process.

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Decreases in the copper grade, waste disposal, energy supply, and water scarcity are some of the most critical challenges for the copper mining industries. One of the alternatives to counteract the water scarcity is the use of seawater, whether raw, partially desalinated, or desalinated. The use of seawater implies the generation of several compounds as a result of the interaction of ions in waters and ores. For this reason, it is required a greater understanding of these compounds generated on mineral processing, being Pourbaix diagrams used to estimate the possible compounds that will be formed in an aqueous medium for a given metal ore. In this paper, the effect of temperature, salinity, and Cu-concentration on the stability of the copper-solid species was investigated by constructing Pourbaix diagrams for different copper ore types with seawater. The results show that the corrosion areas decrease when the temperature increases for both oxidized and sulfide minerals. It was confirmed that the concentration is a critical variable that influences the size of corrosion areas. In terms of the effect of the other ions that seawater contains, carbonate, chloride, and bromide affect the stability of the Cu-solid species. The proposed diagrams serve as a useful tool to predict the stable species that may be obtained when seawater is used. The use of seawater in mining is an essential issue because it is considered as a more sustainable alternative instead of use freshwater or desalinated seawater, especially in locations with complex water availability, as is northern Chile.

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Partial seawater desalination treatment for improving chalcopyrite floatability and tailing flocculation with clay content

Cited by 22 publications

References 35 publications

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight–Energy–Water Nexus

Solar-Powered Sustainable Water Production: State-of-the-Art Technologies for Sunlight–Energy–Water Nexus

Reducing Magnesium within Seawater Used in Mineral Processing to Improve Water Recovery and Rheological Properties When Dewatering Clay-Based Tailings

Pourbaix diagrams for copper ores processing with seawater

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