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Scaling inline static mixers for flocculation of oil sand mature fine tailings
Author(s) -
Demoz Alebachew
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14958
Subject(s) - dewatering , flocculation , mixing (physics) , tailings , scaling , static mixer , residence time (fluid dynamics) , dissipation , materials science , process engineering , mechanics , environmental science , petroleum engineering , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , engineering , chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , thermodynamics , mathematics , metallurgy , physics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Operations to reclaim mature fine tailings (MFT) ponds involve flocculation using high‐molecular‐weight polymers, for which inline static mixers are suited. Three different commercial static mixers were utilized to determine mixing parameters corresponding to optimal dewatering performance of flocculated MFT. MFT was treated with polymer solution under different mixing conditions. The dewatering rates passed through a peak with increasing mean velocity, V and Reynolds number, Re of the fluid. The greater the number of mixer elements, the lower the V and Re at which the peak dewatering rate occurred. Mixing parameters such as G‐value, residence time, and mixing energy dissipation rate of the most rapidly dewatering flocculated MFT were dependent on mixer type and setup. In contrast, peak dewatering rates converged when scaled with respect to specific mixing energy, E, demonstrating that E is a suitable scale‐up parameter for inline static mixing to produce optimally dewatering MFT. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 61: 4402–4411, 2015