Lithium Carbonate Precipitate Dryer Metering Bin
When a new Lithium mine located in South America purchased a metering bin to feed lithium carbonate precipitate from its centrifuge discharge to deliver an even feed to its dryer, the mine chose Kamengo to design and deliver both the storage bin and Kamengo Feeder. Kamengo has a long history of designing storage and feed equipment handling cohesive materials.
The formula for designing a reliable metering bin handling a cohesive material is to pair a correctly designed storage bin with a feeder that withdraws material evenly from its entire opening. The storage bin geometry, including bin shape and angle of sloping walls, must be chosen such that the stored material will discharge in a mass flow or a first-in, first-out discharge pattern. Further, the storage bin should discharge via a sufficiently wide and long opening, such that the material cannot bridge over the feeder. Finally, the feeder must withdraw material evenly from the full length and width of the bin discharge opening otherwise the whole bin/feeder arrangement will be susceptible to chronic rat holing.
Kamengo’s Approach and Solution
Prior to starting equipment design, Kamengo conducted material flow testing using a sample of the lithium carbonate precipitate. The testing includes a series of bench-scale tests that are used to derive the minimum geometry required to reliably discharge the bulk solid as well as make decisions on the internal geometry of the Kamengo Feeder. The standard that Kamengo uses, is that if the feeder were removed from the storage bin, it should completely self-empty with only the aid of gravity. If it cannot self-empty, then there is something wrong with the geometry of the storage bin.
In total Kamengo’s scope of supply included the hopper, Kamengo Feeder and discharge chute. The strength of the Kamengo Feeder is that it withdraws material evenly from the entire width and length of the bin discharge opening. This is necessary when handling a difficult flowing material. A second advantage of the Kamengo Feeder is that it delivers a very consistent feed which is necessary when feeding a bulk solid into a dryer.
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.