NSF Award
9024821
Recent developments in pulsed power technologies for generating kilojoule energy levels economically, have made electrocrushing and electrohydraulic fragmentation of rocks and ore comminution more practical. The Phase I results have demonstrated the effectiveness of liberating copper from copper porphyry ores using electrocrushing and electrohydraulic fracturing techniques, as a function of energy deposited in the ore samples, the electric field strength, pulse width and electrode configuration. The successful proof-of-concept demonstration of ore liberation of Phase I using electrocrushing, therefore leads to a more exhaustive research development program for Phase II. There are two key objectives for Phase II research program: (1) to extend the Phase I results to include two (or three) additional ore types for which the market price is stable and sufficiently high, and to conduct more exhaustive electrocrushing experiments with a larger number of samples and (2) to address specific energy consumption and mineral recovery issues by comparing the electrocrushing and electrohydraulic fragmentation techniques to the traditional method of compressive mechanical disintegration. The experiments will be conducted in pulsed power facilities using the optimum electrode configurations and discharge energy levels arrived at in Phase I. The first series of tests will be conducted in the batch mode using both short and long pulse width discharges, followed by slug flows stimulating laboratory scale continuous ore processing.
