Abstract The medium grade iron ores contain high ultrafine fractions of soft slime which result in poor dewatering characteristics. Herein, a detailed study was conducted to assess the settling behaviour… Click to show full abstract
Abstract The medium grade iron ores contain high ultrafine fractions of soft slime which result in poor dewatering characteristics. Herein, a detailed study was conducted to assess the settling behaviour of iron slimes or tailings using a novel starch-based binary graft copolymeric flocculant (St-g-(pAAm-co-pSS)) and the performance was compared with four commercial reagents. The copolymer has been synthesized by grafting of acrylamide and sodium p-styrene sulfonate on starch using free radical polymerization. The polymer demonstrated outstanding settling behaviour with respect to settling speed and capacity to remove turbidity during iron-ore tailings flocculation as compared to other commercial reagents. An optimal dosage of synthesized reagent has been recommended based on the mud-level index and settling rate, for single-step and multi-step addition to the iron tailings slurry. The synthesized reagent has been assessed upon its capacity to produce clear overflow water and compaction of the solids.
               
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