Screening Tests of Copper Mine Tailings Flocculation with Polyacrylamide

Abstract

The flocculation method had a good effect in treating copper tailings, and polyacrylamide (PAM) was commonly used as an effective flocculant. In this paper, a complete set of screening tests was established to effectively evaluate the flocculation performance of PAM used for copper tailings treatment. Firstly, the traditional jar tests were applied and the anionic PAM performed better for flocculation treatment of copper tailings than cationic and nonionic PAM. However, this method could not be further applied to screen anionic polyacrylamide with different molecular weights and hydrolysis degrees because of unobvious difference in settling curves of them. Therefore, the dynamic test rig was self-designed for further screening. Furthermore, the orthogonal design scheme of five factors and three levels was carried out for experimental design and results evaluation. The optimal conditions selected from dynamic rig tests were applied to the plant trial, and the treatment effect can meet the requirements after fine-tuning based on the plant operating conditions.