An application of the “Pressure drop controlled discharging system” on pneumatic jigs

Abstract

ABSTRACT Airjigs employ air instead of water or heavy liquids as separating media, thus separation is achieved by stratification through the fluidizing and pulsing (and/or vibrating) effects. In practice, although stratification is achieved successfully, proper discharge of the float and sink (light and heavy minerals) materials can be accomplished. In addition, the feed quality from mine sites can vary and this may negatively affect the optimized operational conditions. In this case, the discharging system of separators should be controlled automatically. In the pneumatic separators, this is currently achieved through a nuclear detector that controls the discharging system. We developed an alternative discharge controlling system based on the pressure drop (Dp), since the nuclear detector is a risky radioactive source that requires careful control for avoiding the radioactive leakage. In addition, it experiences considerable failure on application. In this study, an easy, secure, and effective Dp controlled discharging system is proposed as a new technique to control the discharging system and sustain the product qualities.