Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Concentrate Filter Cake Truck Load-Out Bin (A)
This case study is an example of a Kamengo truck load out bin discharging cohesive PGM filter cake into trucks. What makes this application challenging is that the filter cake will be stored in the storage bin for up to 72 hours and the material gains significant strength at rest. To overcome the shear strength of the bulk solid, the Feeder is discharging from a 10-foot (3m) wide bin opening. This installation went into service in 2020.
The Challenge and Kamengo’s Solution
Kamengo was chosen to deliver two truck load-out storage bins with feeders handling platinum group metals (PGM) concentrate filter cake. Each installation serves a different mine site. Each truck load-out arrangement includes a mass flow storage bin and Kamengo Feeder fitted with an integrated dust control system. Each storage bin is handling a PGM concentrate filter cake, and receives material directly from the filter press. Filter cake is expected to be stored in the storage bin up to 72 hours. To ensure material will not bridge over the Feeder, Kamengo delivered a 10-foot (3m) wide Kamengo Feeder. An advantage of choosing a Kamengo solution, is that the Kamengo Feeder handles loads very efficiently. As a result, a wide Kamengo Feeder is close to a tenth of the cost of an equally wide apron Feeder.
Both storage bins are located in a building. To minimize dusting, prior to discharging material into a truck, a Kamengo loading deck with a shroud lowers from the Kamengo Feeder over the truck bed. A dust control system holds the area within the shroud at a slight negative pressure. Air in the truck bed that is displaced by the falling filter cake is circulated first through self-cleaning filters, then through HEPA filters before being expelled into the building. Once the Feeder has completed a set number of strokes, equating the target discharge volume, the loading deck automatically raises.
Learn More
To learn more about the physics of storage bin and feeder design as well as the root causes of bin plugging, please download our white paper entitled: The Design of Reliable Storage Bins and Feeders for the Mining Industry.