Flowing film concentration and Tabling

GOVARDHANA | DEPT OF MME | NIT WARANGAL

Introduction
Liquid films in laminar flow have a mechanical property

that is easily adaptable to the separation of minerals

according to specific gravity
The velocity of fluid is not same at all depths of the film,

being nil at the bottom and maximum at or very near the

top
This property in turn depends upon the viscosity of the
fluid (Existence of internal friction of one layer upon another)

Contd...
The simplest device for flowing film concentration

consists an inclined surface or table

On this device assorted particles are subjected flowing

water the lighter particles being washed off while the

heavier particles accumulate
Removal of the heavy particles is intermittent
This is the stationary table known for thousands of years

Contd...
For means of continuous delivery of the heavy particles, devices

have been developed such as vanners and round tables whose

basic principle is the same as that of the stationary table
But other devices such as bumping and shaking tables have also

been introduced which jointly utilize flowing film and other

principles
They are now far more important

Flowing Film Concentration

The particles at the bottom of a flowing fluid film under the
influence of the several forces at play arrange themselves with
the lighter, coarser and rounder particles further downstream
than the heavier, finer, and flatter particles
Down slope sequence of particles is
1.
2.
3.

Fine heavy particles

Coarse heavy and fine light particles
Coarse light particles

 It is interesting to note that flowing-film stratification

places the coarse-heavy particles with the fine-light

particles
This is reverse of the stratification that takes place in

classification

Stratification in tabling

Stratification in Classification

 The behaviour of particles at the bottom of flowing fluid film

is affected by the following factors

The slope of the deck
The thickness of the fluid film (or the rate of flow of the deck)
The viscosity of the fluid
The coefficients of friction between the various particles and the
deck
The specific gravity of the particles
The shape of the particles
The roughness of the deck

 On horizontal deck there is no motion of particles

As the deck is tilted particles begin to move until all are moving
The velocity of moving particles depends upon their specific

gravity, the viscosity of the fluid, the thickness of the film, the
slope the deck, and the coefficients of friction of the particle in
the deck
Providing sliding motion is obtained, heavier particles move
slower than light particles, but not in directly proportion
Other things being equal, the speed of particles is directly
proportional to the square of the flowing film thickness and
inversely proportional to the viscosity of the fluid
Increasing the slope increases the velocity but not directly related

 The effect of coefficient of friction is difficult to evaluate as it is a

function of velocity and in fact may cease to have any definite

meaning in regard to the jump-skip motion of irregular particles
rolling on a sloping deck

SHAKING TABLES
Construction : The shaking table consists of a deck (mostly

rectangular) covered with rubber or linoleum, mounted on a

supporting frame. The surface is covered with riffles running
parallel to the length side of the table.
A drive mechanism attached to the supporting frame shakes

the table along its length

This longitudinal shaking motion consists of a slow forward
stroke followed by a faster reverse stroke so that materials
move towards the discharge end
Feed slurry(about 25% solid) is fed through a feed box and a
long water box is attached to the feed side of the deck

Shaking Table

Working principle
The separation of particles is based on the differences in specific

gravity and to lesser extent on shape and size of materials to be

separated.
The separation is achieved by flowing a slurry across a riffled
surface, slightly inclined from the horizontal, and shaking the
table surface along its length

Stratification due to shaking

action

 The minerals are subjected to two forces, one due to the table

motion and other at right angles to it, due to the flowing film
of water
The net effect is that the particles move diagonally across the

deck from the feed end

The heavy gravity particles move to one end of the table along

the riffle gaps and low gravity particles are washed away over
the top of the riffle
There is no sharp separation due to middlings
Concentrator table is widely used to sort tin, tungsten, gold, silver, lead,
zinc, tantalum, niobium, iron, manganese, titanium, coal, etc

Shaking Table

 Shaking tables are operated at optimum operating

conditions by making adjustments to the stroke length and

frequency, angle of inclination, flow rates of slurry and
wash water and arrangement of riffles
The introduction of double and triple-deck units has

improved the area/capacity ratio at the expense of some

flexibility and control
The length of stroke usually varies within the range of 1025 mm or more, the speed being in the range 240-325
strokes per minute

Operation of Shaking Tables

Adjustments are provided ass tables for the amount of wash water, the

cross tilt, the speed and the length of the stroke

The speed of the tale ranges usually form 180 to 270 strokes per minute
and he strokes are from to 1.5 inch ling
Generally speaking adjustments are as follows
For a roughing operation more water, more ore, more tilt and longer
stroke
For a cleaning operation less water, less ore, less tilt a shorter stroke
For fine feed less water, less feed, faster reciprocation, shorter stroke
For coarse feed more water, more feed, slower reciprocation longer
stroke

 Tonnage treated depends upon

1.
2.

3.
4.

5.

Size of feed
Whether the operation is roughing or cleaning
The difference in specific gravity between the minerals
that are to be separated
The relative abundance of locked particles
The average specific gravity of the material treated

 For ore tables normal feed dilution is 20-25% solids by weight,

while for coal tables pulps of 33-40% solids are used. The water
flow varies from a few litres to almost 100 l/m according to the
nature of the feed material

Ore-concentrating tables are used primarily for the

concentration of minerals of tin, iron, tungsten,
tantalum, mica, barium, titanium, zirconium, and, to a
lesser extent, gold, silver, thorium, uranium, and
others. Tables are now being used in the recycling of
electronic scrap to recover precious metals

Spiral Concentrator
It is one of the relatively modern, high capacity, low

cost units developed for the low grade ores and

minerals
Separation principle - specific gravity difference of the
minerals to be separated
It consists of one or more helical conduits supported on a
central column. Feed pulp (15 and 45% solids, 3 mm to
75 m) is introduced at the top of the spiral concentrator
by slurry pump

 As the slurry flows down the spiral,

the particles stratify due to the combined

effect of size, density, centrifugal force,
the differential settling rates, friction
against the spiral surface, the drag of
the water and hindered settling through
the flowing particle bed

Flow pattern in a spiral concentrator

 The low density particles are carried away with the bulk

of the water towards the outer side of the spiral

While the heavier Particles move toward the inner side
Product box located at the bottom collects separately the
product, middling, and tailing from the spiral

 Spirals are made of fiber glass and polyurethane to reduce

wear from abrasion

Less floor space required
No moving parts
Can be operated in multiples to have increased capacity
Capacity ranges from 1-3 t/h of feed for minerals and 3-5
t/h for coal
Iron ores from beach sands, mica and phosphate ores, coal
cleaning, processing of tailings obtained by flotation and
other concentrating process
Used for recovery of chromite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon, tin, and monazite