US700972A - Apparatus for lixiviating ores. - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheeis-Shaei l.

Patented May 27, I902.

, P. NAEF. APPARATUS FOR LIXIVIATING ORES.

(Application filed Apr. 2, 1894.)

(No Model.)

1": Moms PETERS co. PuoTa-umm, WASNINETON. o. c.

No. 700,972. Patented May 27, I902.

P. NAEF. APPARATUS FDR LIXIVIATING DRES.

(Application filed Apr. 2, 1894.)

2 SheetsSheot 2.

(No Model.)

THE yonms Fngns co. PNOYO-UTHQ WASHINGTON, a. c.

I Use STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL NAEF, OF ARGENTINE, KANSAS.

APPARATUS FOR LIXIVIATING ORES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,972, dated May 27, 1902- Application filed April 2, 1894. Serial No. 506.108. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PAUL NAEF, a citizen of Switzerland, residing at Argentine, in the county of WVyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Lixiviating Ores; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Heretofore the lixiviation of ores and other pulverulent materials has usually been carried out in tanks fitted with mechanical agitators, the tanks being worked intermittently. Much time is lostin charging and emptying the tanks, and when material of high specific gravity like, for instance,roasted copper ore-is treated in such tanks a large portion settles to the bottom, and the contact of the ore with the liquor is insuiiicient and the lixiviation imperfect. In lieu of mechanical stirrers agitation by means of a current of air has been proposed, but seldom used, and leaching appliances of this latter character which have heretofore been proposed not only possess all the disadvantages enumerated above, but they also require large volumes of air and are specially unsuitable for the treatment of heavy material.

The objects of my invention are to make the lixiviation a continuous operation, thereby effecting a great saving in the time and labor required; to produce a most intimate contact between the liquor and the material to be lixiviated, and thus to save time and obtain a complete lixiviation, and to economize the air or other gas employed by allowing it to act several times consecutively as an agitating medium while passingthrough the leaching solution. I attain these objects by means of a new method of procedure, whereby the comminuted material to be lixiviated is caused to travel downward by gravity through a leaching-tank, and the leaching solution is caused to move in the opposite direction, whereby the contact between the particles of ore or other material treated and the leaching solution is constantly changing and no stagnation or resting of either can take place. The leaching is further assisted by means of a current of gas or air flowing with the leaching solution and through and among the particles of the oppositely-traveling stream of ore, the air or gas current being repeatedly broken up and subdivided for the purpose of agitating the ore and assisting the process of lixiviation.

The invention therefore consists of an apparatus adapted to carry out the process and which comprises a cylinder or column having a series of inclined superimposed and perforated surfaces down which the orc successively slides by gravity, with means for causing the leaching solution to flow upward through the tank or column and along therewith a current of air or gas, thelatter passing through the perforations of the successive inclined plates and through the layers of ore moving downward thereon, thereby, as will be seen, effecting a most intimate and constantly-changing contact between the particles of the ore or other material and the lixiviating agents.

The invention further consists of certain details of construction and operation, all of which will be fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates an apparatus adapted to carry out this process. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the lixiviating column or cylinder; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same, taken on the line w a; of Fig. 2.

The lixiviating column or tank A is composed of a series of superimposed cylinders 10, 11, and 12, having the flanges 13 and bolted together therethrough with gaskets.

13, of rubber or asbestos, in the usual way. The column thus formed rests on a basepiece 1 1, which is provided with a discharge-.

pipe 15 for the sludge, as hereinafter described. The bottom and top cylinder sections 10 and 12 are each provided with a.

ders or ledges 18. Inthe present case each cylinder is provided with two ledges, and

' in the present case, by the downwardly-extending flanges 21, the bottoms of which have the angular shape of the funnel-rings 19 and stand thereon. Each hood has four of these supporting-flanges 21, which meet in an arch beneath the apex, and the diameter of the base of each hood is less than the diameter of the cylinders, so as to have an open channel therebetween. The special method of supporting the hoods is not an im portant feature. The rings 19 and the hoods 20 have numerous perforations 22for the upward passage of air or gas, as hereinafter described, and in the case of the rings, 19 the perforations are preferably confined to the portions'of the rings that come beneath the hoods 20, so that all the air or gas forced intothe column will meet both the hoods and rings in its ascension. The rings and hoods may with advantage be made-ofonecasting They, as well as the sections of the cylinder, are usually castof hard lead, but may be of iron in cases where this metal is not attacked by the lixiviating solution. The ore or other material .is fed into-the column in a steady stream by means of a worm 23 or other automatic feed from a hopper 24, and it is delivered into the funnel-chute 25. 30 is a supply-pipe for the lixiviating solution coupled to the pipe connection 16 of the cylinder 10, through which the liquor flows into the cylinder from a supply-tank or a pump, and 31 is an air or gas supply pipe taking air from acompressor, or gas, and opening into the column at the level of the lowest of the perforated inclined surfaces. In Fig. 2 the air-pipe connection is shown at 26, the same extending in under the edge of the lower hood 20. V

32 is a settling-tank which receives the overflow from the column through the pipe 17;, and

.the mud carried over in suspension by the liquor here settles and is drawn off through the valve 33 for subsequent treatment, the liquor overflowing at 34. A settling-tank 40 receives the lixiviating material drawn off at the bottom of the column through the valved discharge-pipe 15. This tank is made with a funnel-bottom having a valved outlet 41 and is provided with a slowly-revolving stirrer 42, which keeps the mud sufficiently agitated to prevent it from settling solid and packing in the conical bottom of the settling-tank. The motion of this stirrer is, however, so gentle as not to prevent the settling out of the lixiviated material from the small amount of liquor that may percolate or ooze out with the sludge through the outlet 15, and, further, the blades of the stirrer do not extend up into the upper portion of the settling-tank, but only operate in the material in the neighborof ore moving downward thereon.

hood of the mouth of the outlet-pipe 41. This is a feature of the invention conducive to the continuous and steady discharge of the pasty sludge from the settling-tank. After leaving the settling'tank the sludge is filtered in the usual way, and if the lixiviated material is heavy this settling-tank may be dispensed with and the sludge run direct to filters. The

liquor from the settling-tank 40 overflows at thence glides down thesuccessive inclined.

planes formed by the conical hoods and the funnel-rings to the bottom of the column. At the same time the lixiviating solution is forced or pumped into the bottom of the column through the. pipe 30 andinlet 16 'in a;

steady stream and flowing upward overflows at 17 into the settling-tank 32, and the air or gas forced in through the pipe '31 and inlet 26 works its way upward through the perforationsin the rings and hoods and the layers particles are thus kept in a state of suspension and are prevented from settling on the inclined surfaces and clogging the apparatus.

It will be observed that the air or gas acts're- The solid peated'ly as an agitating force on the layers V of ore, that the entire current of air has-to pass through the perforations of all ,of the hoods and the larger portion of it through the perforations of allof the rings .before it escapes through the funnel 25 at the top of the column, and that each timeit also has to pass through a layer Of the ore on the ring or hood. Hence a small volume of gas causes a very effective agitation of the pulverized ore in the liquor. the material gets poorer in soluble matter it meetsastronger andless-saturated solution complete lixiviation. Thelower-cylindersection 10 is left without the perforated partitions or inclined surfaces to allow the material to settle and admit of being discharged as a thick sludge. It will be understood that the number of perforated inclined surfaces used can be varied to suit the material treated. The space within the column around the chute 25 and above the upper hood is free from the agitating influences of the aircurrents, and most of the lighter particles held in suspension by the solution settle in this zone of quiet before the saturated liquor flows off at the top of the column. The liquor is afterward cleared by settling in large tanks or by filtration and the small quantity of sediment obtained therefrom, and what is not perfectly lixiviated is treated It will further be observed that as IIO the condition most favorable for securing.

with fresh liquor in a separate tank or may be returned to the apparatus along with the fresh ore.

If materials'of low specific gravity are to be lixiviated in-the apparatus, they are preferably introduced into the column at a lower pointas, for example, through the opening 28a feed-pipe for the pulverulent material being coupled thereto and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. When this pipe connection is not to be used, it is closed or may be omitted in casting the cylinder-section, or the funnel 25 may extend down into the column to the level of the pipe connection 28, as indicated by the dotted lines, Fig. 2, in which case the two upper perforated hoods have central holes for the passage of the pipe 25 therethrough. Some ores produce finelydivided residue when lixiviated, and if such material is charged directly into the top of the column the lighter particles would be carried oif by the liquor without being lixiviated. By introducing such material at a lower level the perforated plates above the point of entrance efiect a thorough mixing of such light matter as is carried upward by the liquor and secures a thorough lixiviation of the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In a lixiviating apparatus, a lixiviatingcolumn adapted to be filled with a leaching solution, and having a series of superimposed and inclined hoods and rings, alternating and presenting oppositely-inclined surfaces for the downward passage of ore thereover, the said hoods and rings being numerously perforated to permit the upward passage of gas therethrough, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a lixiviating apparatus, a lixiviatingcolumn having a series of superimposed and inclined surfaces with means for feeding the ore in at the top and withdrawing the sludge at the bottom, the said inclined surfaces having numerous perforations adapted to permit the upward flow of gas therethrough, together with an inflow for the liquor at the bottom and its discharge at the top, and an air or gas injecting device admitting air or gas to the column below the perforated surfaces,

whereby there is a down feed of the ore over the perforated and inclined surfaces within the leaching solution, and an uprising of the air or gas through the perforations of the inclined surfaces and a successive passage of the same through the several layers of ore within the leaching solution. 7

3. In a liXiviating-column a funnel-shaped ring in combination with a conical hood supported in line with the ring, and with an open passage between the hood and the ring and down through the center of the latter, the said hood and ring having numerous perforations adapted to permit the upward passage of gas therethrough, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a lixiviating-column, a numerouslyperforated funnel-shaped ringin contact with the column-wall, in combination with a conical numerouslyperforated hood, and connecting parts therefor, all integral, the'hood section being centrally located with respect to the opening through the ring-section, and with an open channel between the hood and the ring and down through the center of the latter, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A lixiviating-column having aseries of perforated and inclined surfaces or partitions located in the middle or lower part thereof and an upper section without such partitions, in combination with means for the inflow of the liquor at the bottom and its discharge atthe top, together with means for the injection of air or gas into the bottom of the column,

and a conducting-pipe for said air or gas into the bottom of the column, and a conducting

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