Floating Wicks for Slurry Dewatering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dewatering technologies for slurry ponds, such as tailings ponds in mining operations, are costly and inefficient due to high materials handling and capital costs, as well as sensitivity to shear, which leads to slow dewatering and increased storage volumes, especially when using composite tailings or centrifuges.
Innovation Solution
The method involves distributing floating wicks into the slurry pond, where they float with one end near the interface between the slurry and the supernatant, and applying a load to increase effective stress, accelerating dewatering, potentially with a geotextile layer to prevent sand dispersion and enhance permeability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional dewatering technologies (centrifuges, thickeners, composite tailings) are used, then dewatering capacity is achieved, but operating costs and capital costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The slurry itself provides the dewatering mechanism through its own weight and consolidation process. Floating wicks passively extract water without requiring external energy input, equipment operation, or chemical additives. The system utilizes the natural consolidation of slurry under its own weight, eliminating the need for powered centrifuges, thickeners, or other energy-intensive dewatering equipment.
2Productivity
If sand is added to form composite tailings, then dewatering is induced through effective stress, but sand separates from fines causing off-spec composite tailings that dewater slowly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts water from the slurry using floating wicks before sand addition is required, or uses the wicks to maintain water removal capability during consolidation. This prevents the need to add sand for dewatering induction, thereby avoiding sand-fines separation and composite tailings instability while still achieving effective dewatering.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating wicks act as an intermediary mechanism between the slurry and the atmosphere, providing a continuous water removal pathway that eliminates the need for sand-fines mixing to induce dewatering. The wicks mediate the consolidation process by passively extracting water while maintaining slurry composition stability.
3Area of stationary object
If thick lift deposition is used to reduce land area, then storage space is reduced, but dewatering time increases due to slower water removal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from horizontal dewatering (surface evaporation and drainage) to vertical dewatering by inserting floating wicks that extend through the slurry depth. This three-dimensional water removal approach enables effective dewatering of thick lifts by providing multiple water extraction points at different depths, significantly reducing dewatering time while maintaining compact storage.
4Productivity
If wicks are placed in fluid-like slurry with low shear strength, then dewatering can begin immediately, but wicks may sink or become unstable without sufficient slurry strength
Solution Approach 1:
The floating wicks are designed with buoyancy characteristics that counterbalance their own weight and the hydrostatic pressure of the slurry. The wicks float at the slurry-atmosphere interface, with their buoyant force equalizing the gravitational force, thereby maintaining stable positioning in low-shear-strength slurries without sinking or requiring additional structural support.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for rapid dewatering and consolidation of slurry ponds with reduced land requirements and lower operational costs, as the wicks can be placed without specialized equipment and function effectively in low-shear strength slurries, improving the efficiency of tailings dewatering processes.
Implementation Method 1
distributing floating wicks into the slurry pond, where they float with one end near the interface between the slurry and the supernatant
Implementation Method 2
applying a load to increase effective stress, accelerating dewatering
Implementation Method 3
floating wicks for slurry consolidation... dewatering initially fluid-like slurries using a wick
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for remediating an initially liquid-like slurry pond include distributing one or more floating wicks into the slurry pond, wherein the slurry pond includes a slurry with a supernatant level above the slurry. A method also includes placing a load on the slurry, wherein the load causes an effective stress on the slurry and aids in dewatering the slurry.