Disc filters detailed
As part of this special tailings edition, International Mining Editorial Director Paul Moore talked to Eustaquio Barbosa, Director of Operations at Brasfelt Ltda, based in #BeloHorizonte, Brazil. #Brasfelt manufactures equipment for solid/liquid separation and is the leader in the Brazilian market in #vacuum disc filtration for #ironore while also continuously developing products and solutions for the #filtration of other mined products as well as offering filtration solutions for other industries. Barbosa told IM: "Brasfelt emerged in 1993 as a reseller of filter fabrics and other products produced by Tamfelt Oy, a Finnish company. The business evolved naturally and, due to a lack of local production, started a cooperation with a Norwegian company called Hydralift. Brasfelt then acquired the rights to produce vacuum #discfilters locally, which became the first ones produced in Brazil and were first sold to Vale’s Kobrasco plant, part of its Tubarão operations, in 1998. After that, Brasfelt modified its solutions and offering so that it could best fulfil the necessities of the local market, including the right price level. The result is that today Brasfelt filters are stronger and allow for higher production and longer operation cycles, consequently decreasing the costs of operation and maintenance. Therefore, Vale and other companies started to acquire Brasfelt filters in Brazil and in Chile, so that Brasfelt became a market leader in those countries."
He adds on why disc filters are so suited to Brazilian iron ore tailings #dewatering: "The choice of a filter depends on multiple factors, but one of them is the size of the solid particles. For extremely fine materials, the natural choice is filter presses. But for not so fine particles, the natural choice is disc filters. The main operational difference between them, is that filter presses do not have a continuous cycle (they operates in batches) and also the productivity (tonnes per hour per square meter) is lower than that of disc filters. So the use of disc filters in iron ore tailings, which requires high production, was a break in the paradigm that stated disc filters are not suitable for this application. The content of sand really affects how the equipment will perform. Due to this challenge, Brasfelt made some innovations in its disc filters, such as the application of ceramic lining in more vulnerable parts and replacing the filtrate tubes from HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) to polyurethane. These innovations allowed the equipment to be resistant to the sand content of the #tailings."
#futureofmining #tailingsmanagement #futureoftailings #tailingsdewatering
