MATERIALS HANDLING
Clean spacer
Scaled sample
NaOH & EDTA clean
Genmine C15 clean
Fig. 3 CaSO4
cleaning after three hours
As mentioned above, calcium sulphate scaling is particularly difficult to control, and unlike with calcium carbonate scale, adding acid won’t help. Following extensive research, Genesys
has developed three new cleaning products specifically designed to address these issues: Genmine C07 (neutral pH) and Genmine C15 and Genmine C17 (high pH). All
three have shown great promise in CaSO4 removal, vastly outperforming traditional cleaners in testing (Fig. 3). A heavily scaled Vexar spacer was
weighed before and after cleaning, with the differential between weights giving an insight to the cleaner’s performance. After a three-hour clean, Genmine C17 removed 99.3% of scale, Genmine C15 removed 96.5% and Genmine C07 removed 93.3%.
SCALE PREDICTION SOFTWARE Te dosing of membrane chemicals is particularly sensitive in the challenging conditions created by minewater. One tool that can assist here is Membrane Mine Master (MMM) software, developed specifically to predict the appropriate antiscalant dosing for RO, NF or UF membrane plants used to filter minewater. Tis new software breaks the rules of conventional scale prediction software by functioning across the pH range (1-14), while most are limited to a narrow pH range, typically 5-9. Based on the plant specifics entered,
particularly details of the water chemistry, it will recommend an appropriate antiscalant and dose rate, and gives the option of producing a summary report. Te software is now being trialled using
real site data and its accuracy will continue to be improved as more field data on the performance of the antiscalants becomes available.
Membrane
Mine Master screenshots
times normal solubility, across the whole pH range, without additional pre-treatment and its dedicated cleaning products are capable of completely removing gypsum scale, restoring membrane plant performance, provided they are used soon enough. Te Membrane Mine Master software can help operators work out the appropriate antiscalant and dose rates to keep scale at bay and reduce the costs associated with pre- treatment and disposal of wastewater.
THE RIGHT CHEMISTRY Mining companies are increasingly adopting membrane technology both to enhance metal recovery and treat complex wastewater, whether for reuse or discharge into the environment. Genesys recognised the need to provide better support for the mining community and rose to the challenge. Its specialist antiscalants can prevent the formation of CaSO4
scale at saturation levels up to 8-10
In addition to the range of CaSO4 specific products, the company offers
antiscalants to prevent silica, calcium carbonate, barium sulphate and metal deposits commonly encountered in mining. It also offers a range of cleaning products to tackle fouling with clay, iron and other metals and organics, including biofilm.
References 1 Global population of eight billion and growing: we can’t go on like this, McKie, R (2019)
2 Tirsty world of mining: Harvesting new water solutions, Szyplinska, P (2012)
3 Review of membrane technology as a process tool, Butcher, D (2020)
Gregory Gibson, Stephen Chesters & Max Fazel are with Genesys International.
www.genesysro.com
www.engineerlive.com 51
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