Use of chelating agents for enhancing the settling of slimes
AssigneeInternational Minerals & Chemical Corp.
InventorsMartin Hamer, Othmer F. Batzer
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Abstract
The settling of finely-divided solids that are in suspension in an aqueous medium due to the presence of a colloidal argillaceous mineral is enhanced by adding to the suspension a small but effective amount of at least one chelating agent. Effective chelating agents include malic acid, tartaric acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, and N,N,N.sup.1,N.sup.1 -ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. This invention is especially useful for treating aqueous suspensions of ultrafine clay and other materials resulting from the hydraulic concentration of an ore material, such as phosphate slimes.
Claims13
A process for settling finely-divided waste slime solids from a phosphate ore processing operation including colloidal argillaceous material from an aqueous suspension thereof which comprises adding to said suspension, in an amount effective to enhance the settling of said solids, at least one chelating agent of the group consisting of malic acid, tartaric acid, nitrilotriacetic acid and N,N,N.sup.1,N.sup.1 -ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, said amount being at least about 20 pounds per ton of suspended solids, and settling the solids from the suspension.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.