Custom designed plants for raw material preparation

Sand, gravel, minerals and ores are valuable raw materials. The extraction and processing of these raw materials is becoming increasingly important due to the long-term increase in demand for resources worldwide. In order to achieve optimum utilization of the deposits, our plants are individually tailored to the respective conditions and requirements.

Worldwide producers of sand, gravel, minerals and ores rely on Schauenburg MAB plants. They are characterized by very accurate end products, minimal material losses, low water and energy consumption, simple operation and low maintenance costs.

Our sorting equipment reliably removes light materials such as wood or coal from the raw material. This ensures the production of high-quality concrete, glass and quartz sand, for example. Our components are retrofitted in numerous existing sand processing plants.
Our plants serve as a preliminary stage for ore processing. In a first step, the extracted ores are washed, classified and sorted according to their specific weight. This leads to a significant reduction in operating costs in the subsequent process stages. In addition, fewer chemicals are needed for further processing of the pre-treated raw materials.

As one of the leading companies in the wet-mechanical processing of ores and minerals, Schauenburg MAB supplies complete plants to all corners of the world, including, for example, a processing plant for sands containing uranium to Namibia and a treatment plant for copper ores to the Congo (DRC), which is rich in mineral resources.

As a reliable partner, we meet the highest quality demands of our customers with extensive process engineering experience, precisely optimized processes and reliable on-site support.

All components required for a treatment process are offered by us in particularly high quality. Schauenburg MAB offers specialized and individual solutions for density sorting with simultaneous classification in the mining sector. The application areas include copper processing as well as uranium and diamond enrichment.

These solutions work in a fine separation range ( < 1mm) and can be understood as a direct competitor of classifying screening machines. Working with density differences offers the advantage over pure classification that an increased yield of the valuable material takes place. With our core components Hydrosort 1 and Hydrosort 2 a large optimization potential can be achieved.

The Schauenburg MAB product range extends from sword washers, which break up agglomerated material in a first process stage, to thickeners, which separate the finest particles from the wash water. Based on years of experience, our centrifugal pumps are designed to suit the construction site and are particularly robust thanks to a replaceable wear-resistant lining in the form of Linatex® natural rubber.

Separating and dewatering

In the wet processing of mineral materials, proven processes are used to separate solids from a liquid. This can be water or a supporting liquid (bentonite suspension) commonly used in tunneling.

Dewatering involves the reduction of residual moisture in the solid. The dewatering performance basically depends on the grain structure. Dewatering of granular fractions is done by solids concentration in MAB hydrocyclones type AT. Residual moisture contents of up to 30 % are achieved with the aid of the pocket function. A more extensive dewatering of a residual moisture content of up to 14 % is possible by using MAB vibratory dewaters.

The extensive dewatering of the separated solids minimizes bentonite losses.

Classify

Classification processes in wet processing technology are referred to as “stream classification”. The machines and equipment from the MAB program cover both turbulent cross-flow hydroclassification and counter-flow classification.

The MAB high-performance hydrocyclones are used in fine-grained to ultra-fine-grained areas, which require a particularly high acceleration for classification. MAB high performance hydrocyclones are cast from a high quality polyurethane compound that has proven to be highly resistant to abrasion. For applications requiring even higher wear properties, we have high-quality ceramic cyclones in our product range.

The flow rates of the high-performance hydrocyclones range from 0.5 to 120m3/h. For sandy areas, steel-rubber-coated MAB hydrocyclones are available; these can operate with a feed rate of 15 to 1000m³/h.

The particularly wear-resistant LINATEX® natural rubber lining ensures long service lives.

Washing

The use of single-shaft and double-shaft gravity washers ensures an optimum washing effect. The input of kinetic energy dissolves sludge particles adhering to mineral grain surfaces. This “friction process” effectively occurs only in a high solids concentration.

MAB Sword Washers are supplied in the capacity range of 10 to 330 t/h.

Special hydrocyclones or Hydrosort®l units are used for washing out components that can be washed off. The Hydrosort®l enables very intensive desludging of the fraction 0 to 4 mm. In this process, water is fed in from below in countercurrent and the components that can be removed are flushed out by means of an autogenously generated fluidized bed. The throughput rates of the equipment range from 2 to 140 t/h.

In mechanical process engineering, standard machines are used in a further step to reduce the final or residual moisture content of solids and to separate solid-liquid mixtures.

Thickening

In the wet processing of mineral materials, the washing water is recirculated. The water losses resulting from the residual moisture in the valuable product are supplemented by fresh water. The Schauenburg MAB plants ensure the smallest possible water cycles and thus enable energy-efficient operation.

The fine particles suspended in the wash water are compressed by settling in so-called gravity circular thickeners. The solids-free clear water is recovered at the overflow and can thus be fed back into the circuit.
The size of the thickener is determined by the feed quantity and the solids settling velocity. This can be influenced by the concentration and addition of flocculants.

A centrally located scraper prevents the solids from settling by means of slow rotational movements. The crowding arms of the scraper form channels in the compression zone. As a result, water is released and escapes into the clarification zone.

MAB thickeners are supplied in steel design as free-standing structures with internal coating.

Do you have any questions?

Custom designed plants for raw material preparation

Martin Bunzel

Division Manager Environment and Recycling

Marcel Mertsch

Project Engineer Process Engineering