Eriez’s Flotation Division continues to benefit from its investments in testing capabilities at its Central Test Lab (CTL) in Erie, Pennsylvania, with the company saying its technical services business has doubled since 2015.
Eriez maintains an assortment of bench and pilot-scale equipment for both laboratory and in-field evaluations, with the flotation division conducting on-site testing for clients at its 15,000 sq.ft (1,394 sq.m) CTL in Erie.
“EFD can test and provide detailed process analysis and state-of-the-art solutions for nearly any application,” the company says. “In addition to testing, technical services are performed by a large team of mineral processing engineers. EFD’s highly experienced and qualified team is available to evaluate process flowsheets and conduct field trials and start-ups.”
Eriez’ on-site testing services provide quantitative data generated on a demonstration scale in the plant environment. The flotation division also excels at improving plant performance by conducting circuit evaluations, determining optimum operating conditions and finding solutions for common problems, according to the company.
To bolster this expertise, Eriez recently made significant investments in its in-house analytical capabilities to meet growing demand.
“In addition to flotation equipment, CTL houses all of Eriez’ core products – such as magnets, vibratory, screening, metal detection and filtration equipment – as well as an XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) analytical machine and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry) for assay determination. This allows Eriez to conduct in-house metallurgical control analyses to allow for faster turnaround for its customers.”
Eric Yan, EFD Deputy Managing Director, said the last year had been “full of great opportunities” and growth for testing services.
“We have been working on several large-scale flowsheet development projects for clients in phosphate, potash and sulphide mineral industries,” he said. “We also have some exciting processes which allow our clients to recover their waste streams.
“We look forward to continuing to expand and advance our testing services offerings to support our valued customers.”
This is not the only area of growth for Eriez.
The company reports that sales of its Dry Vibrating Magnetic Filters (DVMFs) have been steadily escalating in line with ongoing increased worldwide lithium production, driven by growing demand for lithium-ion batteries.
Eriez DVMFs are specifically designed to remove very fine iron-bearing contaminants from hard-to-flow fine powders, such as lithium, being well-suited for both lithium producers and users.
Producers pulverise lithium before it goes to the user as a very fine powder, with DVMF units placed prior to and after mill processing. As an additional check, users can apply the DVMF when they receive lithium purchased from the producer.
Eriez said DVMF sales are climbing across the globe, most significantly in top lithium producing countries such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China and the US.
Eriez Director of Minerals and Materials Processing, Jose Marin, says: “We project DVMF sales will continue to soar in upcoming years as producers work to meet growing demand for lithium-ion batteries used in electronic consumer devices as well as electric and hybrid vehicles.”
