Rapid and cost-effective dewatering of wet tailings is crucial for clean and sustainable production in mineral processing. In the process of dewatering oil sands mature fine tailings (MFT) through coagulation-flocculation followed by pressure filtration, we observed that the dosing sequence of coagulants and flocculants had a significant influence on dewatering efficiency. Employing two anionic commercial flocculants (SNF3338 or Kemira PAM) together with an inorganic or a natural coagulant (aluminum sulfate, or chitosan), it was found that the sequence of flocculants followed by coagulants (F-C) gave higher net water release during filtration and lower moisture content in filter cakes than those in reverse sequence (C-F). The capillary suction time measurement showed a faster water release rate from the MFT treated with the F-C sequence. Zeta potential measurements indicated that flocs formed by treatment with the F-C sequence had lower negative potential or more positive potentials, likely contributing to the stronger floc strength and improved inter-floc porosity that favored pressure filtration. The findings in this Technical Note could help optimize the chemical treatment regime and reduce chemical consumption in the filtration of fine wet tailings.

中文翻译：

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混凝剂和絮凝剂投加顺序对油砂成熟细尾矿压力过滤脱水性的影响


湿尾矿的快速且经济高效的脱水对于矿物加工的清洁和可持续生产至关重要。在通过混凝-絮凝后加压过滤对油砂成熟细尾矿 （MFT） 进行脱水的过程中，我们观察到混凝剂和絮凝剂的投加顺序对脱水效率有显着影响。使用两种阴离子商业絮凝剂（SNF3338 或 Kemira PAM）以及一种无机或天然混凝剂（硫酸铝或壳聚糖），发现絮凝剂后混凝剂 （F-C） 的顺序在过滤过程中的净水释放量高于相反顺序 （C-F） 的滤饼中的水分含量。毛细管抽吸时间测量显示，用 F-C 序列处理的 MFT 的水分释放速率更快。Zeta 电位测量表明，通过 F-C 序列处理形成的絮凝体具有较低的负电位或较高的正电位，这可能有助于更强的絮凝体强度和改善的絮凝体间孔隙率，从而有利于压力过滤。本技术说明中的研究结果有助于优化化学处理方案并减少细湿尾矿过滤过程中的化学品消耗。