Estudio de concentración gravimétrica natural y centrifuga de minerales auríferos aluviales. Experimentación y simulación : Simulación del sistema de concentración gravimétrica natural mediante mesa vibratoria.

Abstract

Gravimetric separation is a process widely used in the metallurgical industry since it takes advantage of the difference in weights in the matrix of a mineral. One of the most common pieces of equipment to carry out this process is the Wilfley table, for which there are mathematical models that allow saving time and resources. The objective of this work is to develop software capable of predicting the recovery of particulate matter in a gravimetric separation, using mathematical functions already established for this purpose. For this, the Manser and Fitzpatrick models were chosen. Afterwards, bibliographic data was extracted using graph vectorization with gravimetric separation information on a Wilfley table. With this data, an algorithm was built whose function is to linearly interpolate the parameters of the models according to the granulometry and density entered by the user. Afterwards, the algorithm was applied in the development of a user interface that facilitates its use. Finally, the effectiveness of the program was verified through experimental data. From the verification it was obtained that for densities close to 2.7 and 7.3 the prediction error is less than 10%. However, for materials with a density close to 3.4, the models are not calibrated. This last fact indicates the need to load more data into the algorithm so that the interpolation is in smaller intervals of density and granulometry. Finally, in the hematite separation results, it was obtained that the simulation presents errors of less than 10% and close to 1, respectively, for both models.