JOURNAL PAPER

Three-dimensional measurement and simulation of the dewatering behavior of flocs and sediments using X-ray microtomography

X. Jia^I; R.A. Williams^I; C. Selomulya^II

^IInstitute of Particle Science and Engineering, School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Leeds, UK
^IIDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

SYNOPSIS

The ability to perform three dimensional imaging at micronscale resolution of real mineral floc sediments and structures using commercially available Micro X-ray Tomography (XMT) instrumentation can be used for the analysis of aggregates and granules, liberation and dewatering of sediments. This paper presents a review of recent work by the authors relevant to the mining and minerals industries. It covers three main topics: X-ray imaging of agglomerates and multi-component mineralic particles,, permeability of sediments, and dissolution of granules with potential application to heap leaching.

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