Weir Minerals, building on over 20 years of Cavex® hydrocyclone experience, has added the Cavex 2 650 to its product line, with the cyclone set to deliver unparalleled results, the company says.

The release follows the recent launch of the Cavex 2 hydrocyclone, which brought with it the introduction of a LIG+™ inlet and chamber design that, the company says, produces a more stabilised flow pattern, further reduces turbulences and friction throughout the hydrocyclone and provides up to 30% additional capacity.

The latest 650 model has undergone years of research, lab testing and in-field testing to ensure it can withstand the rigours of heavy-duty industrial and abrasive applications. It also addresses the continual demand for increased operational and circuit capacity, and offers customers process improvements combined with digital technology, Weir Minerals said.

“It is important to note that enhancements of the hydrocyclone performance go hand in hand with improving the environmental footprint of the equipment,” the company said.

“By reducing bypass returning to the mill, fewer fines are returned back to the mill in a closed-circuit milling process, thus reducing the need for energy to be used to further process particles that are already small enough to move on to the next stage. This frees up mill capacity, previously used up with fine particles, for the size reduction of larger particles.”

As a hydrocyclone that can make a finer separation, the Cavex 2 650 can operate at a lower pressure for further energy savings or a higher feed density for water savings, while maintaining the existing cut size from the hydrocyclone, according to the company.

And, finally, using equipment with a higher volumetric capacity requires fewer units to be installed upfront as well as fewer consumable spare parts used over the life of the hydrocyclone.

Significant benefits to mining customers include:

• Increased operational and circuit capacity up to 30%;
• Maximised plant recovery by reducing the quantity of misclassified particles with an average improvement of the alpha parameter of more than 10%;
• Improvements in bypass with an average of over 15%;
• Opportunity to retrofit Cavex 2 650 cyclone into existing cyclone cluster footprints;
• Less turbulence during the separation process due to the LIG+ inlet and elongated chamber design;
• Enhanced performance with a Synertrex®-enabled monitoring system, which can detect roping or blockage conditions in advance for continuous, efficient operation of the hydrocyclone; and
• Improvement of environmental footprint.

To satisfy all process conditions and slurry types, the Cavex 2 650 hydrocyclone comes with a range of material technology options including Linatex® premium rubber, R55 rubber, neoprene for high levels of hydrocarbon and ceramic.

The Cavex 2 650 hydrocyclone can be customised to suit almost any application with a variety of spigots, vortex finders and cone angles, according to the company.

These new hydrocyclones have already been put to the test, with the latest Cavex 2 650 hydrocyclone trial taking place with a customer in Chile. The testing was conducted in a large copper ore mine which had a SAG mill in a closed circuit with the cyclone cluster. The trial tested one Cavex 2 650 in a six-place cluster of existing Cavex cyclones and saw an improvement of up to 48.5% in circulating load and 31.7% in water bypass versus the original cluster, according to Weir Minerals.

A lab water test with the same hydrocyclone fittings as above also yielded positive results: a 211 mm inlet and 260 mm vortex finder delivered 16% more capacity at 100 kPa, and 17% more capacity at 250 kPa.

“These improvements in efficiency and bypass translate to increased savings for brownfield sites where the existing hydrocyclones do not have enough capacity and are maxed out, while greenfield projects benefit from savings in capital expense,” the company said.

The Cavex 2 650 hydrocyclone is the second in a range of standard sizes that Weir Minerals is planning to release, with more sizes in development to expand the current product range.