THE EFFECT OF SOLIDS ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE DOWNCOMER OF A JAMESON CELL

Ramiro Escudero, Eloy Tapia, Ricardo Morales

Abstract: The effect of solids on the behaviour of the downcomer of a Jameson cell was studied in terms of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic character of the solids. Hydrophobic (carbon), and hydrophilic (silica sand) solids were used, separately. The experiments were carried out under controlled conditions of gas flow rate, pulp flow rate, and pulp consistency. The observed operating variables were the extension of the downcomer operating regions (pulp jet, mixing, and collection) and gas hold-up. It was observed that gas bubbles are smaller and more uniform in size when the pulp is comprised of silica (hydrophilic particles), as compared with pulps consisted of carbon (hydrophobic particles). When measuring a profile of gas holdup in the separation cell, experimental results show that a more homogeneous radial holdup distribution is achieved in the case of a slurry with silica sand rather than the pulp made of carbon.

Keywords: Jameson cell, downcomer, separation cell, superficial phase velocity, gas hold-up, hydrophobic solids, hydrophilic solids.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0411044