Effect of temperature on the dewaterability of hematite suspensions

Abstract

Many industrial processes perform solid-liquid separation operations at elevated temperatures. One such example is the Bayer process, which is used to produce alumina from bauxite. During the thickening and washing of the process residue (red mud), the operational temperature decreases from around 110 to 35 °C, and thus an understanding of the effects of temperature on suspension dewaterability becomes important. Since the composition of Bayer process residues is quite complex, the effects of temperature on the flocculation and dewaterability behaviour of suspensions was investigated using hematite as a model system. Experiments were carried out on untreated and polymer flocculated hematite ..