The best one? The best one for an equipment supplier / manufacturer (like me) is the one that sells fastest at a reasonable margin, it may not be the best feed well in the world. Most thickener suppliers use this discussion to differentiate their thickener from the others on the market and present measured results by some user as a credible customer advocate. The bigger the company the more resources they have to fly clients into conferences and spend months generating papers. All that aside, here is a list of features the best feed wells for fines would have. For references I would reaccomend also looking at the clarifiers used in waste water treatment where they face very challenging colloids, fibres, fats as well as fines.
1) optimal Flocculant dosage
2) optimal slurry Dilution for flucculation.
3) optimal Residence time.
4) optimal Mixing and VERY importantly, ENERGY DISSIPATION.
5) Radial flow from feed well to weir, AND from surface to feed wells for dilution.
6) optimal solids contact and grit recirculation to the mixing and flocculant contact zone.
So using a scorecard one can compare the above factors for several feed wells and get an answer. Having done this frequently, my choice is the patented double feed well design ( invented by Mark Crozier of PasteThick Associates et al) and currently manufactured and sold by WesTech Engineering Inc. The Brand name is EvenFlo which referers to near perfect energy dissipation and subsequent even radial flow from the feed well. They are a water treatment company with a low marketing profile in MINING and metallurgy circles.
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Patrick Jay Member, APT - Adroit Process Technology
Sorry Mark not being facetious on purpose but would like to say in mu opinion that Outotec MANUALS/Drawings and sales process documentation is TOP DRAWER stuff. You can generally find the help you need on the touch screen of the kit, on SCDA help screen, on the Discs, online viia a service portal, or even in the paper version. R.T.F.M.
There will be a group studios Finns pre-thinking your dilema guaranteed.
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Patrick Jay Member, APT - Adroit Process Technology
The key is in the OTHER control systems that you need to deploy and there is a transport "mafia" ekement in more than one country that are generally more than willing to rob you in the execution phases.
Fabrication almost anywhere else is cheaper than Australia. Aussie know that and will charge the difference if you get it done locally. Hard to win. Take control of logistics is the best hint. The midflemen nail you.
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Patrick Jay Member, APT - Adroit Process Technology
so in my experience FCA is best since the manufacturer packs and loads the carrier at their designated point which would naturally be under the safest crane and under the best controls that they have available. Low risk and a clearly defined controlled point of risk transfer.
Example:- Complex deliveries of dismantled items and break bulk items on specialised skids.( Like 4x Larox PF144's weight several 100 tons and in > 30 boxes and containers and various speciallity skid mounted lumps).
As a Manufacturer you want to kiss all those items a "bon voyage" under controlled circumstances.
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Patrick Jay Member, APT - Adroit Process Technology
Not sure what location these load cells are or whether they all for same application. Load cells under thickener can only measure total mass so are "inventory" related input and combined with inputs from other instruments such as:-
-bed level
-Rake Torque and rake height
-bed pressure
- underflow density
- pump speed
The measurements can be used several ways in VARIOUS INTEGRATED control logic sub routines. Load cells are used for torque measurements on several drive mechanisms to provide inputs for the rake lift and underflow pump control but since this is a paste thickener it's unlikely to have a rake lift since the drive will be sized to grind through a fully settled bed. Im guessing these cells are underneath and provide the inventory input which requires a bed level and bed pressure input before a solids inventory can be calculated.
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Patrick Jay Member, APT - Adroit Process Technology
The best one? The best one for an equipment supplier / manufacturer (like me) is the one that sells fastest at a reasonable margin, it may not be the best feed well in the world. Most thickener suppliers use this discussion to differentiate their thickener from the others on the market and present measured results by some user as a credible customer advocate. The bigger the company the more resources they have to fly clients into conferences and spend months generating papers. All that aside, here is a list of features the best feed wells for fines would have. For references I would reaccomend also looking at the clarifiers used in waste water treatment where they face very challenging colloids, fibres, fats as well as fines.
1) optimal Flocculant dosage
2) optimal slurry Dilution for flucculation.
3) optimal Residence time.
4) optimal Mixing and VERY importantly, ENERGY DISSIPATION.
5) Radial flow from feed well to weir, AND from surface to feed wells for dilution.
6) optimal solids contact and grit recirculation to the mixing and flocculant contact zone.
So using a scorecard one can compare the above factors for several feed wells and get an answer. Having done this frequently, my choice is the patented double feed well design ( invented by Mark Crozier of PasteThick Associates et al) and currently manufactured and sold by WesTech Engineering Inc. The Brand name is EvenFlo which referers to near perfect energy dissipation and subsequent even radial flow from the feed well. They are a water treatment company with a low marketing profile in MINING and metallurgy circles.