Claims:Claims:
1. A polymer optimizing unit (100) to evaluate optimum polymer to be dosed in a slurry, the polymer optimizing unit (100) comprising:
an inlet port (104), through the inlet port (104) the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit (100);
an outlet port (108) in line with the inlet port (104), through the outlet port (108) the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit (100);
a plurality of fins or vanes (112) positioned between the inlet port (104) and the outlet port (108), the slurry on entering the inlet port (104) hits the plurality of fins or vanes (112) and rotate;
a shaft (116) coupled to the plurality of fins or vanes (112), the shaft (116) rotates on rotation of the plurality of fins or vanes (112); and
a control unit (120), the control unit (120) being coupled to the shaft (116), the control unit (120) being configured to measure rotation of the shaft (116) and evaluate polymer optimum based on measured rotation.
2. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (120) comprises a motor.
3. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotation of shaft is calibrated against polymer dosage.
4. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (120) being coupled to a doser (124), the doser (124) being configured to receive input on polymer optimum dosage from the control unit (120) and doses into the slurry.
5. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the doser (124) comprises one or more valves to dose the polymer optimum.
6. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein slurry comprises one or in combination(s) of tailings, slimes or rejects of minerals.
7. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein size of tailings, slimes or rejects is less than 0.5 mm.
8. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polymer is flocculant or coagulant.
9. The polymer optimizing unit (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.
10. A polymer mixing arrangement (140) to evaluate, dose and mix a polymer optimum into a slurry, the polymer mixer arrangement (140) comprising:
a mixer (128), the mixer (128) being configured to receive the slurry () and the polymer optimum and mix;
a polymer optimizing unit (100) coupled to the mixer (128), the polymer optimizing unit (100) comprising:
an inlet port (104), through the inlet port (104) the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit (100);
an outlet port (108) in line with the inlet port (104), through the outlet port (108) the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit (100) and channels into the mixer (128);
a plurality of fins or vanes (112) positioned between the inlet port (104) and the outlet port (108), the slurry on entering the inlet port (104) hits the plurality of fins or vanes (112) and rotate;
a shaft (116) coupled to the plurality of fins or vanes (112), the shaft (116) rotates on rotation of the plurality of fins or vanes (112); and
a control unit (120), the control unit (120) being coupled to the shaft (116), the control unit (120) being configured to measure rotation of the shaft (116) and evaluate polymer optimum based on measured rotation to be dosed in the slurry; and
a doser (124), the doser (124) being coupled to the mixer (128), the doser being further coupled to the control unit (120), the doser (124) being configured to receive input on polymer optimum from the control unit (120) and doses the polymer optimum in the slurry of the mixer (128).
11. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein the doser (124) comprises one or more valves to dose the polymer optimum.
12. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein the control unit (120) comprises a motor.
13. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein the rotation of shaft is calibrated against the polymer dosage.
14. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein slurry comprises one or in combination(s) of tailings, slimes or rejects of minerals.

15. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 14, wherein size of tailings, slimes or rejects less than 0.5 mm.
16. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein the polymer is flocculant or coagulant.
17. The polymer mixing arrangement (140) claimed in claim 10, wherein the axis of the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.

Dated this 31st day of March 2022

GOPINATH A S
IN/PA 1852
OF K&S PARTNERS
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANT
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENT ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10, Rule 13)

TITLE: A POLYMER OPTIMIZING UNIT

APPLICANT: TATA STEEL LIMITED, JAMSHEDPUR – 831001 JHARKHAND, INDIA
Nationality: Indian

The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Title
A polymer optimizing unit
Technical Field
Present disclosure relates in general to a field of mines and minerals. More particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to dewatering slurry of tailings, rejects, slimes in mines.
Background of the Disclosure
Treatment of tailings and other waste material have become a technical, environmental and public policy issue. Minerals processes produce a huge quantity of waste material slurries or tailings which can be in aqueous suspension with dispersed particulate solids, for instance sand, clay, shale and other minerals like iron ore, copper. It has been and still is a sizable issue for the mining industry to treat these tailings and accomplish liquid solid separation at the processes end to separate liquid from the solid.
It is common practice to use synthetic or natural polymers such as coagulants and polymers to separate the solids from the liquid. In-line flocculation is a well-known process in which a polymer is injected into a flow of slurry feed that uses the pipeline flow to mix and treat the material. But the amount of such polymers to be dosed in the slurry is not well evaluated and quantified. Over dosage of such polymers may result to be costly and under dosage may lead to improper liquid solid separation.
There is a need to improve an automated and inline treatment of tailings, rejects, slimes etc process, and improve the efficient dosage of the polymer.
Objects
An object of the invention is to propose a design through which optimum dosage of polymer is evaluated against slurry of tailings, rejects, or slimes for effective separation.
Another object of the invention is to propose an arrangement through which optimum dosage of polymer is fed in a slurry of tailings, rejects, slimes and mixed for effective separation.
Disclosure of the Invention
The present invention provides a polymer optimizing unit to evaluate optimum polymer to be dosed in a slurry, the polymer optimizing unit comprising:
an inlet port, through the inlet port the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit;
an outlet port in line with the inlet port, through the outlet port the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit;
a plurality of fins or vanes positioned between the inlet port (104) and the outlet port (108), the slurry on entering the inlet port (104) hits the plurality of fins or vanes (112) and rotate;
a shaft coupled to the plurality of fins or vanes, the shaft rotates on rotation of the plurality of fins or vanes; and
a control unit, the control unit being coupled to the shaft, the control unit being configured to measure rotation of the shaft and evaluate polymer optimum based on measured rotation.
The optimization of the polymer in the slurry for effective separation of water from the solids such as tailing, slimes or rejects, is based on solids going into the tailing pond. If solid is more, polymer needed may be more. If solid is less, polymer need may be less. In the present disclosure the rotation of the shaft through fins and vanes are accounted for the amount of solid. The rotation is further calibrated with polymer dosage.
In an embodiment, the control unit comprises a motor.
In another embodiment, the rotation of the shaft is calibrated against polymer dosage.
In another embodiment, the control unit is coupled to a doser, the doser being configured to receive input on polymer optimum dosage from the control unit and doses into the slurry. The doser may comprise one or more valves to dose the polymer optimum.
In yet another embodiment, slurry comprises one or in combination(s) of tailings, slimes or rejects of minerals. The size of tailings, slimes or rejects may be less than 0.5 mm.
In yet another embodiment, the polymer is flocculant or coagulant.
In yet another embodiment, axis of the plurality of fins or vanes is transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.
In a separate embodiment, the present invention provides a polymer mixing arrangement to evaluate, dose and mix a polymer optimum into a slurry, the polymer mixer arrangement comprising:
a mixer, the mixer being configured to receive the slurry and the polymer optimum and mix;
a polymer optimizing unit coupled to the mixer, the polymer optimizing unit comprising:
an inlet port, through the inlet port the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit;
an outlet port in line with the inlet port, through the outlet port the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit and channels into the mixer;
a plurality of fins or vanes positioned between the inlet port and the outlet port, the slurry on entering the inlet port hits the plurality of fins or vanes and rotate;
a shaft coupled to the plurality of fins or vanes, the shaft rotates on rotation of the plurality of fins or vanes; and
a control unit, the control unit being coupled to the shaft, the control unit being configured to measure rotation of the shaft and evaluate polymer optimum based on measured rotation to be dosed in the slurry; and
a doser, the doser being coupled to the mixer, the doser being further coupled to the control unit, the doser being configured to receive input on polymer optimum from the control unit and doses the polymer optimum in the slurry of the mixer.
In an embodiment, the doser comprises one or more valves to dose the polymer optimum.
In another embodiment, the control unit comprises a motor.
In yet another embodiment, the rotation of the shaft is calibrated against the polymer dosage.
In yet another embodiment, slurry comprises one or in combination(s) of tailings, slimes or rejects of minerals. The size of tailings, slimes or rejects can be less than 0.5 mm.
In yet another embodiment, the polymer is flocculant or coagulant.
In yet another embodiment, the axis of the plurality of fins or vanes is transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.
For a better understanding of the disclosure and to show how the same may be performed, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to accompanying drawings.
Brief description of the accompanying drawings
The novel features and characteristics of the disclosure are set forth in the appended description. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a polymer optimizing unit and polymer mixing arrangement in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of fins or vanes for the polymer optimizing unit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Detailed description of a preferred embodiment
In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure a polymer optimizing unit (100) is shown in FIG. 1. The polymer optimizing unit (100) is configured to evaluate a polymer in optimum quantity to be dosed in a slurry . The polymer optimizing unit (100) comprises an inlet port (104), through the inlet port (104) the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit (100).
The polymer optimizing unit (100) also comprises an outlet port (108) in line with inlet port (104), through the outlet port the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit (100).
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the slurry may be tailings or slimes or rejects of minerals from run of mines that are mixed with water coming from washries to the tailing pond and have little usage afterwards. The tailings or slimes or rejects may belong to iron ore, coal, copper, zinc, ferro alloys, lead etc. It is an appreciable task to recover such water and reuse it for other suitable purpose.
In accordance with an embodiment, size of tailings or slimes or rejects may be less than 0.5 mm.
In an embodiment of the disclosure the polymer may be flocculant or coagulant that are used to speedily separate water from slurry. The polymers are conveyed to slurry in the form of solution.
Flow of the slurry and polymer can be controlled through various pumping means.
The polymer optimizing unit (100) comprises a plurality of fins or vanes (112) positioned between the inlet port (104) and the outlet port (108. The plurality of fins or vanes (112) is so arranged, that when slurry (104) enters in the optimization unit (100) through the inlet port (104), it hits the plurality of fins or vanes (112). On hitting, the plurality of fins or vanes (112) rotates. The axis of the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.
The enlarged view of the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is shown in FIG. 2.
Shown in Fig. 1, the axis of the slurry flow is X-X’ and axis of the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is Y-Y’. Both the axes are at 90 degrees or substantially at 90 degrees to each other.
Shown in FIG. 1 is the plurality of fins or vanes (112) is coupled with a shaft (116) concentrically. Once the plurality of fins or vanes rotates (112), the shaft (116) also rotates.
The shaft (116) is coupled to a control unit (120). The control unit (120) is being configured to measure rotation of the shaft (116). Based on the shaft’s rotation, the optimum polymer dosage is evaluated and calibrated with control unit (120).
In an embodiment, rotation of the shaft is measured in RPM.
The slurry viscosity and flow rate play an important role in the polymer dosage. High flow rate and high viscosity signify higher amount of tailings or rejects or slime dumped into the pond, thereby requiring higher dosage of polymer for separation between reject/tailing/slime and water. If the flow rate and/or viscosity is high, the momentum of the slurry is high. This momentum may impact the rotation of the plurality of fins or vanes. Thereby appropriate rotation is observed. When rotation is more, the need of polymer is high for effective separation between solid and water. Here the solid refers to tailings or slimes or rejects from run of mines.
The optimization unit flows through the pipe into the polymer optimizing unit (100) and thereby to the pond, it is intercepted by many sensors like flow meters and density meter. These sensors help in determining flow rate and viscosity of slurry.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the rotation value is calibrated with the control unit (120) to polymer dosage. Based on rotation value, the polymer optimum may be dosed in the slurry. For calibration, plurality of data history is considered. The data history may include rotation value and appropriate dosage.
The polymer optimization unit (100) further comprises a doser (124). The control unit (120) is coupled to the doser (124). The doser is further coupled to a mixer (128). The doser (124) is configured to receive input on optimum polymer dosage based on rotation value from the control unit (120) and doses the polymer into the slurry of the mixer (128).
The mixer (128) as shown in FIG. 1 setup for polymer mixing with the slurry. The mixer is comprised of a first inlet (132) and a first outlet (136). The first inlet (132) receives the slurry through the outlet of the optimizing unit (100) and get mixed inside with polymer during the flow and exit through the first outlet (136) into the tailing pond (not shown).
In an embodiment, the outlet (108) of the optimizing unit abuts the first inlet (132) of the mixer.
In a preferred embodiment of the disclosure the control unit (120) comprises a motor coupled with a flocculation dosing system. The shaft (116) may be a motor shaft. The rotation of the shaft is observed by the flocculation distribution system. The in-built algorithm in the flocculation distribution system commands the doser (124) for appropriate polymer dosage in the slurry.
In accordance with an embodiment, the doser (124) comprises a one or more valves (V1, V2) to dose polymer optimum as instructed by the control unit (120). In a separate embodiment, there may be single valve in the doser.
The doser (124) may be coupled to a polymer tank (not shown) for regular flow of the polymer to the mixer (128)
As a preferred embodiment, shown in the FIG. 1 are two valves (V1, V2) to dose the polymer in the mixer (128). The opening of valves is defined with dosage of the polymer, if the dosage is high two valves may be opened, if dosage can be done by single valve, then only single valve may get opened.
In a separate embodiment, a polymer mixing arrangement (140) is shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter arrangement (140)). The arrangement (140) is configured to evaluate, dose and mix the polymer optimum into the slurry. The arrangement (140) comprises the mixer (128) being configured to receive the slurry and the polymer optimum and mix. The polymer optimizing unit (100) is coupled to the mixer (128). The polymer optimizing unit (100) comprises an inlet port (104), through the inlet port (104) the slurry enters the polymer optimizing unit (100). The polymer optimizing unit (100) further comprises the outlet port (108) in line with the inlet port (104), through the outlet port (108) the slurry exits the polymer optimizing unit (100) and channels into the mixer (128). The plurality of fins or vanes (112) is positioned between the inlet port (104) and the outlet port (108). The slurry on entering the inlet port (104) hits the plurality of fins or vanes (112) and rotate. The plurality of fins or vans (112) are coupled to the shaft (116) concentrically. On rotation of the fins or vanes (112), the shaft (116) also rotates. The control unit (120) is coupled to the shaft (116), the control unit (120) is configured to measure rotation of the shaft (116) and evaluate polymer optimum based on measured rotation to be dosed in the slurry.
The arrangement (140) further comprises the doser (124). The doser (124) is coupled to the mixer (128). The doser is also coupled to the control unit (120). The doser (124) is configured to receive input on polymer optimum from the control unit (120) and doses the polymer optimum in the slurry of the mixer (128).
In an embodiment, the doser (124) comprises one or more valves (V1, V2) to dose the polymer optimum. The control unit (120) may comprise a motor. The rotation may be calibrated against the polymer dosage.
The slurry may comprise one or in combination(s) of tailings, slimes or rejects of minerals. The size of tailings, slimes or rejects may be less than 0.5 mm. The polymer in an embodiment can be flocculant or coagulant. The axis of the plurality of fins or vanes may be transverse or substantially transverse to the flow direction of the slurry.
The control unit may be but not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet phone, a laptop, a desktop, and the like.
The control unit may be coupled to the doser by wired means or wirelessly. The control unit can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement abstract data types.