posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00authored byD Audet, Richard Clegg
Alumina breakage is a significant problem for alumina producers. Weak alumina tends to result in difficulties in materials handling, excess loss of product and environmental issues. Alumina strength is currently measured, as it has been for many years reported as Attrition Index using the Forsythe technique and apparatus. However this test suffers from a number of drawbacks, the main one being that by only considering the change in < 45 m , it falsely reports as strong alumina a weak alumina with a coarse size distribution. A project to examine an alternative method for determining alumina strength based on single particle impact is underway with Central Queensland University’s PELM (Process Engineering and Light Metals) Centre, Gladstone. An apparatus similar to that developed by Ghadiri (University of Surrey, UK) has been constructed with ease of construction and use in mind. The principle of the apparatus is to accelerate alumina particles using the vacuum of a small chamber in which a target is positioned. Each particle impacts the target once (as the name suggest) and either breaks or survives the impact. After the whole sample has passed through the apparatus, both the initial and impacted sample are analysed to determine the extent of breakage. Results will be presented of a series of aluminas from several locations, corresponding to different morphology types. Breakage will be compared with the current technique according to the ranking of strong or weak product.
Funding
Category 3 - Industry and Other Research Income
History
Start Page
117
End Page
120
Number of Pages
4
Start Date
2008-01-01
Location
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Publisher
AQW Inc
Place of Publication
Brisbane, QLD.
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Open Access
No
External Author Affiliations
Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability (IRIS); Process Engineering and Light Metals; Rio Tinto Alcan;