I got stuck in cleaning the sand particles in a mixing system. These clay particles leach out from Ottawa sand when I start to mix the system in higher mixing ratios (700 rpm). I would like to know is there any effective method to get rid of these particles either chemically or mechanically. I prefer not to go beyond 700 rpm cause there is a possibility to grind the sand beads.
Dear Behnam Sadri
Hello
In the physical separation, Hydrocyclon and Some fo classifier can help to you.
But, in chemical process, Leaching and Solvent extraction apply to with favour exractants.
All The Best
depending on how much sand you are trying to clean there are a few options. Clays are generally very fine, and sand is coarse.
- washing the sand over a screen once the mixing has liberated the clays
- a pump and cyclone to separate at say a 30um cutpoint, desliming operation
- upflow classification where water velocity caries fine particles to overflow
The type of system chosen depends on how much, for kilograms then screening is good, if it is tonnes per hour then the other options may be preferable.
Sorry I saw the question late. - Hydro cyclone requires a constant flow of the pulp and you need a rubber lined pump. The experimental arrangement for that requires too much effort.
There is an old method from crafts (similar to that, what Justin has suggested). You push a fine mesh screen continuously in a water bath such as it is done in jigging machines. That might be more efficient than washing.
Hello,
Depending on the particle size of the these clays (although that should probably under 20 µm, you can use hydrocyclones (Mozley 1'' or 2'' with the adequate apex-vortex dimensions). Also you may have a system formed by a mill without balls for washing followed by a fine screen (e.g. 20 µm) or a hydrocyclone. At COREM, we can do this easily. If you need any help, do not hesitate to communicate with me.
Hi
Thanks for your contribution in this discussion. The main reason that I am not interested to use hydrocyclone is the amount of sand I am dealing with. The sand I am intended to clean is about 100 grams. So using hydrocyclones may not be economical/feasible. I tried screening method before and it was not successful. I do appreciate if you let me know any other options for cleaning off these beads.
Hi,
What is the particle size of the ore? given the low mass, you may try a cyclosizer and to hope to isolate the clays in the last cyclone.
good luck!
Would be good to know, that you want to treat 100 grams only. That limits the possibilities drastically.
Coming back to my jigging idea: If you have the possibility to arrange a water bath in a U-tube where you mount on one side a screen with your sand and on the other side you arrange a piston pulsing the water column up and down for a few hours than the sand in the screen might be almost free from clay particles.
For 100 gram you could also try froth flotation with f.e. quaternary ammonium salts as collector which is good for catching the aluminosilicates. Xanthates commonly not capable for aluminum. Amines maybe will bring out too much quartz sand, but this depends on the grain size, what we don't know. So it's all guessing around, only.
Thank you very much for your comments. Another method of cleaning sand with screening helped me to resolve this issue. Thanks again for your contribution.
for a soil washing process on a batch of 2m3, how to separate clay from sand?
The main contaminant is crude oil.
At lab scale I realized was easy to clean the soil separating sand and clay (easy to do with a centrifuge)
But now, to scale up the process, I don’t know how to do it in a cost effective and fast way
(the batch is performed on a place without electricity, all the devices only work with fuel)
Thanks for any hint.
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