Wills' Mineral Processing Technology, 8th Edition

Chapter 9

Classification

Classification, as defined by Heiskanen, is a method of separating mixtures of minerals into two or more products on the basis of the velocity with which the particles fall through a fluid medium. The carrying fluid can be a liquid or a gas. In mineral processing, this fluid is usually water, and wet classification is generally applied to mineral particles that are considered too fine (<200 µm) to be sorted efficiently by screening. As such, this chapter will only discuss wet classification. A description of the historical development of both wet and dry classification is given by Lynch and Rowland.

Keywords

Principles; hydrocyclones; sedimentation classifiers; hydraulic classifiers; classifier performance

9.1 Introduction ...