ZIMBABWE SCHOOL OF MINES

MINERAL PROCESSING 1

2023 Module
COURSE CODE: META 103

Eng. A. RUNGANI
(BSc HEN Metallurgical Eng.- UZ & MIP-AU)

Email: [email protected]
Cell: +263778817943
SCREENING
COMMINUTION: SCREENING

• DEFINITION OF SCREENING
• REASONS FOR SCREENING
• TYPES OF SCREENS
• SCREENING MECHANISMS
• LINEAR SCREEN OPERATION
• OPERATOR CONTROLLED
VARIABLES
• SCREENING EFFICIENCY
 WHAT IS SCREENING ?
Mechanical separation of particles on the basis of
size

Use a perforated surface which acts as a go/no go

gauge

Retained material – oversize

Passing material – undersize

 PURPOSE OF SCREENING
 Scalping
Remove over or undersize material – Run of
Mine/Crushers
 Crushing
Limit oversize
Limit undersize
 Produce a sized feed
 Produce a sized end product
PURPOSE OF SCREENING
SIZE CONTROL BY
METHODS
SIZE CONTROL BY
METHODS
 OTHER APPLICATIONS
 Desliming- remove fines (typically <0.5
mm).
 Dewatering- remove moisture.
 Drain and rinse- medium recovery in
dense medium circuits.
 Trash removal- remove plastic and wood
from underground.
 TYPES OF SCREENS
 Primary classification according to action
Static – stationery
Dynamic - vibration
 STATIC SCREENS
GRIZZLY
Heavy duty applications
Installed at a downward angle
• 20 to 50 degrees
Scalping before crushers
• Remove fines
Aperture size 100 – 300 mm
Simple and robust
 STATIC SCREENS
FLAT PANEL
Light duty applications
Installed at a downward angle
Remove excess water or medium
Used in conjunction with vibrating screen
Aperture size 0.5 - 2 mm
Simple easy to maintain
 STATIC SCREENS

SIEVEBEND
Curved surface
Screening surface
• Wedgewire (WW) or
• Polyurethane (PU)
• Open area WW >> PU
• Life PU >> WW
SIEVEBEND
 DYNAMIC SCREENS

VIBRATING GRIZZLY
Similar to static grizzly except that shaking
action is introduced.
VIBRATING GRIZZLY
 DYNAMIC SCREENS

TROMMEL
Slightly inclined rotating cylindrical screen
Cheap, vibration free and robust
Low capacity – use 1/3 of screening area at
any given point in time
Prone to blinding
TROMMEL SCREEN
 TROMMEL SCREEN

Applications
• Sizing – sand and gravel industry
• Scalping – diamond
• Trash removal – beach sands
 VIBRATING SCREENS

Multi-decks
–Single
–Double
–Triple
DYNAMIC SCREENS
 DYNAMIC SCREENS

LINEAR SCREENS
– Slurry fed from top
– Rotating cloth which acts as
screening media
– Trash removal (woodchip)
– Sizing
» 0.15 to 0.5 mm
 PURPOSE
 To remove the tramp material from the cyclone
overflow: Prevents downstream problems
 Usually woodchips: from underground support
 Usually block up valves, pumps: production
delays
 Interfere with the flotation process: very light
and float
 Plastic/grit
 FUNCTION
 Slurry distributed onto a filter cloth
 Supported by pulleys and rollers
 Drive motor pulls the cloth around the tail
pulley
 Slurry is smaller than the filter cloth aperture
size
 Flows through the cloth into an under pan
 Woodchips too big: stay on the surface
 Water Sprays wash the woodchips
 Woodchips into a sump or over a sieve bend to
remove the entrained water
 COMPONENTS
F
e
e
d
Bo
x
I
n
l
et
Dr
i
v
eU
ni
t
D
i
s
t
r
ib
u
ti
o
nS
c
re
e
n
50
m
m. L
i
m
it
S
wi
t
ch

H
e
a
d
P
u
l
l
e
y

F
i
l
t
e
rC
lo
t
h
1
9
0
0m
mW
id
e

C
l
o
t
hT
en
s
i
o
n
er P
u
l
p
Di
s
ch
a
r
ge

L
i
m
it
S
wi
t
ch

M
a
i
n
Fr
a
me
D
i
s
c
ha
r
ge
C
h
ut
e

W
o
o
d
c
hi
p
s
SCREEN FRAME
 Steel structure with stiffened joints and channel
sections with an integrated collecting launder
 Welded/bolted together and protected by a
protective coat, and/or rubber lining.

HEAD PULLEY
 Mild steel pulley, rubber lined also known as
the Drive Pulley
DRIVE UNIT
 Mechanical variable speed drive through a
spiral bevel helical gearbox

SCREEN CLOTH
 Endless screen cloth travels over the support
rollers. After the oversize discharge, the cloth
returns to the tail pulley via a system of return
rollers. The cloth has a pneumatically
controlled guiding system. Tensioning is
achieved by a roller mounted on a pivoted frame
under gravity.
SCREEN WASH SPRAYS
 Wash spray located at the discharge end of the
screen.
 Sprays are constructed out of corrosive and
abrasive resistant materials.
 Constant pressure for efficient operation.
 Spray nozzles flare the water for cloth coverage
 Top sprays ensure oversize material is efficiently
washed & Push stuck material from apertures
 Bottom sprays discharge woodchips from
underneath
SLURRY FEEDER
 Consists of a rubber lined feed box with rubber
lined distributor plates to regulate the feed and
evenly distribute the slurry onto the filter
screen.

TENSIONING SYSTEM
 Attached to the tail pulleys of the screen.
 Lower tail pulley lowered/raised to adjust cloth
tension using counterweight system
 Tension adjusted to avoid wearing..to taut more
wear.
CONTROLS: SCREEN EFFICIENCY

 Feed flow rate

 Feed Density
 Condition of cloth
 Spray water efficiency
 FEED FLOWRATE
 Too high: the feed box will overflow or the
screen will overflow
 The overflowing material, still containing the
woodchips will fall into the under pan or create
spillage.
 Too low the screen capacity under utilised and
wear of the cloth tends to be only in the
middle.
 FEED SIZE
 Small enough to fit through the screen cloth
apertures.
 Too coarse material will report to the oversize,
which is discarded.
 FEED DENSITY
 Lower density: more screen efficiency
 Water flushes the slurry through the cloth, and
if there is not enough water, the slurry particles
move more slowly through the screen cloth.
This tends to “blind” the cloth as near size
particles get stuck in the apertures
 Filter
Feed Box
Cloth
Drive Unit
Feed

Support rollers
Oversize
discharge
Tensioning chute
system

Under pan
Alignment High
system Pressure Woodchips
Slurry sprays

Controls
 Spray water pressure and
“spread”
The top spray water pressure should be high
enough to facilitate movement of the slurry
particles from adhering to the woodchips, to
moving through the apertures. The bottom water
spray pressure should also be high enough to
eject the oversize into the oversize chute. If it is
not, the oversize material will adhere to the cloth,
causing cloth blinding
 CONDITION OF CLOTH
The linear screen cloth wears and the size of the
apertures become bigger, which may allow some
oversize to report to the undersize. More
importantly, the cloth should not be torn or have
holes in as this would cause woodchips to report
to the undersize. The cloth also needs to be
clean, so that all the apertures are open for
screening. The amount of spaces available on the
screen cloth for slurry to pass through is known
as the percentage open area of the screen
 IMPORTANT TERMS

Blinding
 is the gradual build up of fine material on the
screen apertures.

Pegging
 is when particles lodge in apertures.
 IMPORTANT TERMS
Open area
 refers to the total area of apertures

Aperture
 refers to the opening of the surface and can be
round, square, rectangular, teardrop etc
 IMPORTANT TERMS

separation size

 refers to the average particle size that will pass

through the screen

 under normal operating conditions, separation

size is less than aperture size
 OPERATOR CONTROLLED
VARIABLES
 not common since screens designed to treat
whatever crushers produce

 feed rate can be controlled to avoid

overloading the deck, done by;
• limiting crusher output
• changing speed of feeders
 SCREENING EFFICIENCY
Bad screening efficiency can be due to a
number of things which include;

 overfeeding
 blinded screen mats
 uneven feed distribution
 screen mechanically defective
 SCREENING EFFICIENCY
 these faults can and must be rectified to
ensure maximum effectiveness of the
screen

 Crusher efficiency can be judged by

looking at a screen product
SIZING RANGE
 SCREENING
APPLICATIONS
 Screening

Auto Centering Vibrating

Screen

20 ～ 300t/h

Round Vibrating
Screen(YA)

80 ～ 1700t/h

Linear Vibrating
Screen

20 ～ 300t/h
 END

Compiled by: A. Rungani [email protected] +263778817943