Indias first column flotation installation in the zinc cleaning circuit of base metal industry at Rajpura Dariba Mine

of Hindustan Zinc Limited Udaipur (Rajasthan) - India

N.K.Mittal , P.K.Sen & S.J.Chopra Engineers India Limited, R&D Complex, Sector-16, Gurgaon- 122 001, Haryana (India) e mail : nkm@eilrnd.ernet.in and A.A.Jaipuri , R.K.Gaur & M.R.Jakhu Hindustan Zinc Limited ,Yashad Bhawan ,Udaipur-313 004, Rajasthan (India) ABSTRACT Lab scale investigations by Hindustan Zinc L imited (HZL) using 3 flotation column and data analysis by Engineers India Limited (EIL) confirmed amenability of production of zinc concentrate of desired grade by column flotation. Based on statistically designed pilot scale experiments on-line data generated by HZL, the scale-up and design has been done using the software COLSIM developed at EIL. Two column in series replaced nine conventional mechanical cells in three cleaning stages of the zinc circuit at Rajpura Dariba Mine (RD Mine) of HZL. The plant has been commissioned and is in operation since last one year. The column flotation system has led to the improvement in final zinc concentrate grade by simultaneous reduction of the insoluble matters (ISM). Keywords Froth Flotation, Column flotation, Simulation INTRODUCTION Lead-Zinc flotation plant of Hindustan Zinc Ltd. at Rajpura Dariba Mine (Jakhu et al., 1999) having 3 parallel streams of 800 tpd capacity each produced the final zinc concentrate whose ISM was high and was not readily acceptable to the smelter. Column flotation because of its large popularity to overcome such problem interested the company to be used as an option to replace the existing mechanical cells in the cleaning circuit so that ISM content can be reduced to the acceptable range. On-line test work at plant site was jointly conducted by EIL and HZL using 3 Deister column to check the amenability of the column for the required duty. Test work revealed that column reduced the ISM content from the existing level of 7 -8 % to 2-4 % and at the same time improved the zinc grade from 48-50 % to 52-55 % without any loss in the recovery. These findings were examined by the Ministry of Mines and Department of Science & Technology (Govt. of India), and it was decided to implement the column flotation technology in one of the stream of the zinc cleaning circuit at RD Mine. EIL was awarded the job of column scale-up and related design and engineering work.

TECHNICAL NOTE

PILOT TEST WORK On-line test work was conducted at plant site using 3 Deister column. The basic parameters generated during the test work and used in the model for scale-up are: Column carrying capacity Residence Time Superficial feed velocity.

The column operating parameters studied during the test work includes wash water, froth depth and air rate. COLUMN SCALE-UP AND DESIGN CALCULATIONS Data Reconciliation and Gross Error Estimation ( RAGE) software developed at EIL was used to filter the laboratory information and estimate the flowrates. RAGE uses the well accepted sum of weighted least square errors as objective function for minimization, subject to different combinations of mass and energy balance constraints. The reconciled information was then used for column scale-up using the software COLSIM.COLSIM is a column flotation simulator developed based on axial plug flow dispersion approach. For purposes of modelling, column is divided into two zones viz., the collection zone, where particle recovery occurs and the cleaning zone, where there is preferential froth drop back effect. The model equations used for simulating the collection zone are based on first principles of bubble particle hydrodynamics. Based on the acceptable values for basic parameters and simulation studies (Mittal et al ., 1995), it was decided to install two column in series of circular cross-section and of size 1.75m (Dia) X 12m (height) so as to replace three zinc cleaning banks of total nine cells. AIR SPARGER, WASH WATER AND FEED DISTRIBUTION Air Sparger Variable gap air spargers of Multotec, South Africa have been used for this installation. The spargers are in use since last one year and are giving quite satisfactory performance. Feed Distribution Feed distributor being an integral part of column has been specifically designed for this installation by EIL. No internal launders and baffles have been used. Wash Water Distribution The wash water distributor consists of horizontal tubular set with holes located in the lower part of the tube at specified angles in order to get a rain of sprinkled water, like a fountain. COLUMNS COMMISSIONING AND METALLURGICAL PERFORMANCE Integrated flowsheet of zinc circuit at RD Mine after column installation is shown in Figure-1. The plant was commissioned in May-June, 1998 and since then it is running with consistent and desired metallurgical

performance. Table-1 gives an idea of circuit metallurgical performance before and after columns installation.

TABLE 1 CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE BEFORE AND AFTER COLUMNS INSTALLATION Metallurgical Data % ZINC % ISM Pre-Revamp % 48-50 7-8 Design Data % +52 <5 CONCLUSIONS Indias first column flotation system in lead-zinc circuit of a base metal industry has been successfully installed at Rajpura Dariba Mine of Hindustan Zinc Limited. The plant is in operation since last one year and the results are quite satisfactory and are as per the design predictions. The installation has led to improvement in final zinc concentrate grade by a minimum of 4 % and at the same time reduced the ISM content by 4 %. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Financial support for this work was provided by Department of Science and Technology (Govt. of India), Ministry of Mines (Govt. of India) & Hindustan Zinc Ltd., and is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank management of EIL & HZL for giving the permission to publish this work. REFERENCES 1. Mittal, N.K., Sen, P.K. and Chopra, S.J., An Approach to Flotation Circuit Simulation: Integration of Column Cells. In Proc. Conference on Mineral Processing Recent Advances and Future Trends, Eds. Mehrotra, S.P, et al., IIT, Kanpur, India, 1995, pp 743-748 2. Jakhu, M.R, and Sinha, B.K.P., Beneficiation plants of HZL-Technology Update. In Proc. Conference on International symposium on Beneficiation, Agglomeration and Environment, RRL, Bhubneswar,India, 1999. Post-Revamp % 52-55 2-4 1 Yr Average % 52-55 2-4

Lead tailing

Conditioner Rougher-I Rougher-II Scavenger Final Tailings

Wash water

Rougher Conc.

Scavenger Conc. Dilution tank

Column-II

Air

Column-I

Air Zinc Concentrate

Thickener

Column Tailings

Fig. 1 Columns Integration in zinc flotation circuit at RD Mine