Operate your plant sustainably by delivering effective tailings dewatering
Effective tailings management starts before the tailings reach the storage facility. Variations in feed conditions, solids concentration, water content and settling behavior can affect thickener performance, water recovery, slurry transport and ultimately the properties of the tailings being discharged.
Reliable measurement across the thickener and tailings circuit provides the process visibility needed to optimize water recovery, maintain consistent tailings properties and identify changing conditions before they disrupt operations. This is particularly important because tailings characteristics can change with particle-size distribution, settling behavior, solids composition and rheology.
Expand your measurement knowledge of dewatering operations
A plant dewatering system is interconnected, both tailings and thickening processes are interconnected. The correct instrumentation delivering parameters to deliver clear and accurate insights will allow further optimisation of the entire solution.
Radial thickener
Tailings dam
Transform your thickener into class-leading with the right instrumentation
Reliable measurement is the foundation for moving from simple control loops toward cascade, feed-forward, APC and eventually more advanced optimization in thickener applications. As many parameters inside a thickener are interconnected, visibility across aspects such as feed conditions, particle behaviour and underflow characteristics, plus more, are all important for stable and effective dewatering in thickeners.
- Thickener feed: measure feed flow and slurry density using Promag W 500 with Gammapilot FMG50 or QML51 density measurement, providing the incoming mass flow information required to understand thickener loading and support a reliable mass and water balance model
- Bed/interface level: continuously monitor the interface between clarified water and settled solids using Memosens CUS71E, allowing operators to maintain the required solids inventory, detect changes in settling behavior and better control thickener operation
- Bed mass: measure hydrostatic thickener cone pressure using Cerabar PMC71B pressure measurement, providing an additional indication of solids inventory that complements bed-level measurement and supports more stable thickener control. A retractable assembly can enable maintenance and cleaning of the pressure sensor whilst the thickener is still full, improving plant availability
- Flocculant dosing: accurately measure flocculant flow and quality simultaneously using the Promass I 300, allowing dosing to respond to changing solids loading rather than operating at a fixed rate, helping reduce reagent consumption while maintaining settling performance
- Rake torque: monitor hydraulic pressure using Cerabar PMP51B pressure measurement to identify increasing rake load, restricted underflow or abnormal process conditions, helping protect the rake drive and reduce the risk of thickener bogging
- Overflow clarity: continuously monitor suspended solids/turbidity using Turbimax CUS50D, providing early indication of solids carryover and allowing operators to respond before valuable water recovery or thickener performance deteriorates
- Underflow flow: Measure very abrasive tailings slurry flow using Promag 55S electromagnetic flow measurement, providing visibility of the discharge rate and enabling underflow pumping to be controlled against actual thickener conditions
- Thickener pH: continuously measure pH using an Endress+Hauser Memosens pH sensor, such as the CPF81E, helping maintain suitable chemical conditions for coagulation and flocculation, improve settling performance and support efficient flocculant use
- Rake drive/bearing temperature: Continuously monitor rake bearing or drive temperature using the iTHERM CableLine TST310 Pt100 RTD temperature sensor, helping identify abnormal temperature increases and support condition-based maintenance before mechanical problems contribute to unplanned thickener downtime. The TMR31 compact thermometer is also used for grease or lubrication temperature measurement in the thickener lube and hydraulic circuits.
Tailings transportation, deposition and water recovery
Optimization does not stop at the thickener underflow. Reliable control of the tailings leaving the plant can help maintain transport conditions in the pipeline, improve water management and provide more consistent tailings properties at the deposition point in the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) or dry stacked tailings dump.
- Tailings pipeline flow: continuously measure slurry flow using Promag 55s electromagnetic flowmeters, providing visibility of tailings transport rates, supporting the site mass balance and helping operators detect abnormal transport conditions
- Tailings pressure: monitor pipeline and pump discharge pressure using Cerabar PMC71B pressure measurement, helping operators identify changing hydraulic conditions and provide earlier indication of restrictions or abnormal pumping conditions, avoiding blocked lines
- Recovered water quality: monitor turbidity/TSS and relevant analytical parameters in reclaim water using Liquiline CM4442 and Memosens sensors such as CPS11E and CLS50D, helping operators determine whether water quality remains suitable for reuse and identify unexpected solids carryover
- TSF overall pond or interface level: Continuously monitor water and settled-solids conditions where applicable, providing greater visibility of water recovery and sedimentation. Continuous level sensors like the FMR20B can be used for the dam level for a non contact solution, sensors such as CUS71E can be installed as a solution to measure level from the settled material in areas far from shore
- Tailings water management: consolidate water flow, level and quality measurements using Netilion Water, providing centralized visibility of water movement across the tailings system to help operators monitor return water, identify deviations and improve overall water recovery and reuse. Netilion Water brings distributed measurement data into a common digital environment with dashboards, visualization and reporting, making it particularly relevant for monitoring water across geographically dispersed tailings infrastructure
- Recovered water flow: In conjunction with level measurement, using the Promag W 800, you can transmit measured volumetric flow rates in remote areas with a self powered, cloud connected electromagnetic flowmeter, easily integrated into Netilion Water
Frequently asked questions on tailings dewatering
This section answers key questions about tailings dewatering, including thickener optimization, slurry density and water recovery. It also explains how reliable measurement supports efficient tailings and water management.
