To the Issue of Mathematical Modeling of the Red Mud Thickening Process

Abstract

The article focuses on the main mathematical modeling principles for engineering processes. The physical model of the red mud thickening process has been formed. The choice of mathematical model type has been described where the mathematical model represents the physicochemical character of the thickening process and allows estimating pulp water-yielding features at the stage of compression. Mathematical modeling of the engineering process, based on the studies of physicochemical patterns in its course and consideration of these patterns in the mathematical model, does not have certain disadvantages. Experimental data, used at the mathematical model formation where the mathematical model represents the physicochemical mechanism of the process, serve for their further analysis, physicochemical and mathematical interpretation. The mathematical model should be used as a method for detecting internal patterns in the process and for identification and quantitative assessment of its features.

Modeling of Particle Size Distribution in the Presence of Flocculant

“…These include the bed mass, influencing the thickened product's density; the bed level, influenced by the degree of flocculation (refer to the works [10,11] by the researcher Burger, R.A. for further details); and the solid phase content in the upper drain of the symmetric thickening apparatus. In the dynamic conditions of operational production, factors, such as the changes in total pulp flow, variations in leached bauxite composition, disruptions in the leaching process, and manual control, make the thickening process inherently unstable [12][13][14].…”