The research aimed at comparing the performances of two common centrifugal type classifiers, air classifier and hydrocyclone, operated dry and wet respectively. The reason for starting the study is the possible shifting to dry processing in the future as the water has limited availability. Such comprehensive research has not been undertaken in the literature although individual assessments were completed. Within the scope, copper ore, gold ore and magnetite-calcite blends were chosen as these applications are common globally. The research commenced with the experimental tests via laboratory scale air classifier and hydrocyclone. Afterwards, size analyses and component measurements (via XRF, MLA, fire assay) were undertaken. The data was initially used in mass balancing of the experimental data to adjust the flow rates alongside with assays then Tromp curves were plotted to determine cut size, sharpness of cut, bypass parameters. Comparison of the two classifiers were completed for the same overflow target sizes. Throughout the assessments, the magnitudes of the Tromp curve parameters for the overall classification and component-based results were compared. As a result, air classifier may be alternative to hydrocyclone classification since less bypass, higher sharpness values were obtained. This study provides insights on choosing the dry or wet classification.

中文翻译：

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实验室规模空气分级机与旋流器在相同目标尺寸下的性能比较


该研究旨在比较两种常见的离心式分级机（空气分级机和水力旋流器）分别在干式和湿式操作下的性能。开始这项研究的原因是，由于水的可用性有限，未来可能会转向干法加工。尽管已经完成了单独的评估，但文献中尚未进行此类全面的研究。在该范围内，选择了铜矿石、金矿石和磁铁矿-方解石混合物，因为这些应用在全球都很常见。该研究从实验室规模的空气分级机和水力旋流器的实验测试开始。随后，进行尺寸分析和成分测量（通过 XRF、MLA、火试金）。这些数据最初用于实验数据的质量平衡，以调整流速和分析，然后绘制 Tromp 曲线以确定切割尺寸、切割锐度、旁路参数。对于相同的溢出目标大小完成了两个分类器的比较。在整个评估过程中，对总体分类和基于组件的结果的 Tromp 曲线参数的大小进行了比较。因此，空气分级机可以替代水力旋流器分级，因为可以获得更少的旁路、更高的锐度值。这项研究提供了选择干式或湿式分类的见解。