Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Introducing the hydrate gel membrane technology for filtration of mine T

tailings
⁎
Di Liua,c, Mansour Edrakia, , Ali Malekizadehb, Peer M. Schenkb, Luke Berryc
a
Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
b
Food and Water Security Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia
c
Kinetic Group Worldwide Pty Ltd, 90 Sippy Downs Dr, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Aluminium hydroxide hydrate membrane technology was recently developed as a novel, simple, and low cost
Tailing gel-based filtration system. Previous work examined the properties of the gel and showed that it has great
Hydrate gel membrane potential to be used as separation means for filtration of suspended solids. In this study, the gel was applied to
Filtration the dewatering of copper mine tailings for the first time. The filtration process efficiency was measured by
Pre-coat
filtration rate, the turbidity of the supernatant liquid, cake thickness and the final cake moisture content. The
Pressure filter
filtration performance was also tested against other filter aids typically used in mining operations. It is evident
that the application of hydrate gel membrane for filtrating copper tailings is encouraging. It was found that the
comparative advantage of the hydrate membrane lies in producing much lower turbidity water than other filter
aids. Although the flux rate of the hydrate gel membrane was a little lower than the three filter aids tested, the
cake moisture and thickness was comparable. Also, the hydrate gel membrane could be easily spread out against
a retaining fabric and worked well at low to no pressure, with optimum flux rates at about 10 psi and acceptable
flux rate at zero pressure. This study suggests that hydrate gel membranes can be applied in the mining industry,
especially where operating and capital costs are a concern and operators are seeking low turbidity water and/or
a cake suitable for stacking or reprocessing. The technology showed great potential to be utilized for filtering
thickener underflow tailings.

1. Introduction 500 km of river course. To avoid catastrophic failures of tailings dams,

With the decreasing grades of ores mined and higher tonnages of
minerals processed each year, the management of mineral processing
tailings and associated water has become increasingly more challenging
(Edraki et al., 2014). The volumes of tailings generated can be more
than 95% of total ore processed (Adiansyah et al., 2015) and, in the
case of copper concentration plants, approximately 40–60% of the total
amount of water is lost to tailings slurries (Gálvez et al., 2014). Gunson
et al (2012) estimated that 4783 m3/h of water is consumed to transport
copper tailings (30% mass solids) from tailings flotation site to the
tailings storage facilities (TSFs). Therefore, the largest water reservoir
in most mines are the TSFs (Gunson et al., 2012). Accumulation of
water within tailings increases the chance of tailings dam failures. For
example, on 5 November 2015 a tailings dam in the Samarco Mine,
state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, collapsed releasing more than 30 million
cubic meters of water and mine waste, and the resulting mudflow
reached the Atlantic coast through the Doce River, along more than
the amount of tailings water accumulated behind the dams needs to be
reduced as much as practical. The dewatering of tailings also helps with
water conservation in water scarce regions. As regulators are making
conditions for tailings storage more stringent, further tailing dewa-
tering is becoming more and more important. The most commonly used
dewatering techniques, prior to surface disposal of tailings, are thick-
ening, and filtration (Williams, 2015). In the thickening process high
molecular weight polymeric flocculants are used to settle tailings in the
thickener tanks. Advantages of moving to thickened tailings include the
ability to reclaim water, process reagents, and energy, maximise the
density of tailings, minimise tailings storage facility footprints, render
tailings suitable for mine backfill, reduce potential for acid drainage (by
removing water available for leaching, decreasing permeability and
oxygen diffusion), and minimise (or eliminate) risks of failure (Mudd
and Boger, 2013). The thickener underflow is either dewatered further
or disposed to TSFs which pose transport and environmental problems
as well as long-term stability problems on TSFs (de Kretser et al., 1997).

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: m.edraki@cmlr.uq.edu.au (M. Edraki).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2019.02.030
Received 31 January 2018; Received in revised form 16 May 2018; Accepted 13 February 2019
Available online 20 February 2019
0892-6875/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Liu, et al.
Fig. 1. The filtration and cake formation process adapted from (Gadelha and
França, 2015).
Therefore, filters such as belt press filters are commonly used if thick-
ener underflow has to be dewatered further (Lockhart and Veal, 1996).
Filters can operate by gravity, centrifugal force, or through the appli-
cation of pressure or vacuum. The latter two are the most commonly
used filtration types (Abedini et al., 2014; Alamgir et al., 2012;
Aleksandrova et al., 1975; Xu et al., 2008). Filtration processes are
subjected to pressure and are described in Fig. 1 (Gadelha and França,
2015; Lockhart and Veal, 1996). At the beginning, the pulp comes into
contact with filter medium such as filter cloth and is subjected to
pressure drop (stage 1). When pressure is applied, water flow starts
through the filter, beginning the cake formation stage (stage 2). After
the water film on the cake surface disappears, water remains only in the
voids among the aggregate particles in the filter chamber. The filtration
process then continues to dewatering stage where particles experience
maximal packing and further water removal, which relates to the cake
moisture reduction process (stage 3). When there is no free water re-
maining in the pores of the particles, pressured air will be passed
though the solids pores which leads to the end of filtration process. The
structure of the filtering cake changes continuously as more particles
deposit with time. The permeability of the cake depends on the particle
size, shape, thickness (depth) of solids and on the liquid properties,
such as viscosity (Sparks and Chase, 2016).
Despite the widespread applications, there are limitations in current
tailings dewatering technologies. For example, the cake moisture con-
tent generated in a belt press filter is intermediate and the operating
costs are often high due to the frequent requirement for extensive use of
flocculants (Lockhart and Veal, 1996). Also, the filtrate flow usually
depends on the pressure difference of the filter and the cake resistance.
As sludge solids are highly compressible, the sludge dewatering rate is
often hindered by the binding of filtration media and the filter cake.
The efficiency of the overall process is therefore compromised, resulting
in longer compression times or higher pressures required for achieving
high solid contents. As a result, there is a demand in the mining in-
dustry to find fitting alternative technologies to dewater conventional
thickener underflows to a greater extent and in an environmentally
friendly manner (Fiscor, 2010).
Filtration of tailings after thickening by passing the suspension
through a semi-permeable membrane may be a promising alternative to
current practices. The semi-permeable membrane could act as a precoat
and is applied in advance of filtration to protect against the penetration
of unwanted solids and premature blinding of the media for filtration.
In effect the membrane forms a screen. In the early stages of separation
across this membrane the solids deposit is forming a second semi-
permeable medium or cake. These two layers then form the filtering
medium for the remainder of the slurry. The filtration rate is affected by
differential pressure that is applied on the membrane to improve per-
formance. Most filter cakes can be compressed to varying degrees by
pressure, allowing formation of a compact solid mass which can be
transported to a greater distance (Ripperger et al., 2012). The successful
filtration also increases the water recovery from the process for further
use.
2
Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8
Physical conditioners, often known as filter aids based on their role
in dewatering, are often used as a precoat and applied in advance of
filtration to protect against the penetration of unwanted solids and
premature blinding of the medium during the solid-liquid separation
process (Ripperger et al., 2012; Sulpizio, 1999). They are also com-
monly used as pretreament on slurry to reduce the compressibility of
sludge and improve the mechanical strength and permeability of the
sludge solids during the compression process (Qi et al., 2011a). The use
of filter aids and precoat filtration are ubiquitous in a wide range of
industries, including chemical, food processing, pharmaceutical,
mining, municipal (potable) water treatment and waste water treat-
ment. Filter aids are usually inorganic mineral powders or organic fi-
brous materials which are used in combination with filtration hardware
to enhance filtration performance. Commonly encountered filter aids
include diatomite, perlite and cellulose (Sulpizio, 1999). Although the
use of filter aids greatly improves filtration efficiency, their application
is restricted due to the high cost.
Membrane filtration has found wide application for waste water
treatment and reuse, but not many studies have focused on using
membranes for dewatering of mine tailings. Membranes usually act as
selective barriers to restrict the passage of pollutants such as organics,
nutrients, turbidity, microorganisms, inorganic metal ions and other
oxygen depleting pollutants, and allow relatively clear water to pass
through (Mulder, 2012). These technologies require no phase changes
and are, therefore, not energy intensive and thus, cost-effective (Tiepel
and Shorr, 1985). The membrane filtration process has been classified
into four broad categories depending on their pore sizes as: micro-
filtration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse
osmosis (RO) (Shon et al., 2013). RO membranes are essentially non-
porous, and they preferentially pass liquids and retain most of the so-
lutes including ions. RO is characterized by high operating pressure
(20–100 bar). NF has pore sizes of 1–5 nm and it can retain ions, and
low molecular weight organics. It has significantly higher water per-
meability than that of RO membranes and operates at lower pressure
(typically 7–30 bar). Similarly, UF membranes have pore sizes of typi-
cally 5–20 nm and retain fine colloids, macromolecules, and micro-
organism. UF operates with a pressure range of 1–10 bar. With the in-
creasing stringency of water quality criteria, membrane filtration
processes become more and more attractive alternatives to the chal-
lenge of quality water supply and water reuse.
Recently, Malekizadeh and Schenk (2017), the co-authors of this
current paper, developed a hydrate gel membrane as a new separation
technology using a gelatinous layer of aluminium hydroxide hydrate
(Malekizadeh and Schenk, 2017). The hydrate membrane comprises
mostly of water molecules that are attracted to the positive and nega-
tive charges of metal hydroxide and are trapped between scaffolds of
hydroxide molecules when forming a crystal-like gelatinous matrix. It
was hypothesized that water molecules can easily exchange through
metal hydroxide hydrates, allowing a flow of water. Images of the
homogenous wet gel structure at nano-scale using Transmission Elec-
tron Microscopy (TEM) window analysis indicate that the gel may
consist of a conglomerate of smaller 1 nm hydrate globules that may
behave similarly to molecules in a liquid but in a more structured
manner (Malekizadeh and Schenk, 2017). Water and small water-so-
luble molecules (e.g. salts, sugars) may therefore pass nearly un-
hindered through this layer through spaces between the 1 nm globules
or by displacing water molecules within the hydrate globules, while
larger molecules are separated by this layer. An underlying porous
nanostructure of the gel allows high unassisted flux rates. It is pressure-
resistant and impenetrable to filtered particles or hydrophobic com-
pounds except water and small water-soluble molecules (salts, alcohols,
sugars, chlorophyll, proteins). The hydrate membrane technology may
therefore be able to remove suspended solids (≥10 nm) from water
during filtration and the non-toxic aluminium hydroxide hydrate gel
membrane may be used for filtering tailings. In this current study, the
properties of the hydrate gel was analysed and an attempt was made to
D. Liu, et al.
access the feasibility and filterability of tailings using a developed hy-
drate membrane as a precoat filtration medium. Copper tailings from a
base metal mine in Queensland, Australia, were tested. Three other
filter aids which are commonly used for filtering tailings were also
selected and compared. This current study provides knowledge to guide
application of hydrate gel membranes for filtering tailings thickener
underflows.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Raw materials
Aluminium hydroxide hydrate membrane was produced by mixing
aluminium sulphate and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solutions
(1) (Malekizadeh and Schenk, 2017). During the reaction, aluminium
hydroxide hydrate quickly formed leading to a gelatinous precipitate
that could be poured onto filter media for filtration purposes. Both
aluminium sulphate and sodium bicarbonate are required for hydrate
filter formation, as direct addition of pre-soaked aluminium hydroxide
did not result in the formation of coherent gelatinous hydrate. The gel
produced is expected to be low cost and not hazardous.
Al2(SO4)3 + 6NaHCO3 → 3Na2SO4 + 2Al(OH)3 + 6CO2
When hydrate was produced by mixing aluminium sulphate and
sodium bicarbonate solutions, the mixture appeared milky and did not
show any initial signs of gelatinousness (coherence of hydrate mole-
cules). However, as the mixture was positioned on top of a holding
mesh, where it was allowed to settle, accumulate and compress, alu-
minium hydroxide hydrate molecules then became denser and the ge-
latinousness increased. Gelatinousness further increased as the fresh
hydrate solution was washed to remove excess sodium sulphate pro-
duced by the reaction and the colour changed from milky white to light
grey. Older hydrates (e.g. after 3 months of storage at room tempera-
ture) were also more gelatinous compared to freshly produced hydrates
and were used in this study for filtering tailings.
The copper-lead-zinc ore tailings were obtained from a base metal
mine site in Queensland Australia. The feed slurry was prepared by
mixing a known quantity of tailing sample with an appropriate amount
of tap water using a mechanical stirrer to make a solid percentage of
15 wt% or 40 wt%, which are the typical solid concentrations for tail-
ings thickener underflow, and was used for filtration tests. The size
distribution of the copper tailings from a discharge point was measured
by a Laser Diffraction Malvern Mastersizer (Model No MSX14) and the
results are shown in Fig. 2. Tailing has > 80% particles smaller than
283 µm and has > 50% particles smaller than 28 µm.
Filter aids, Celite 545, Diacel 200, and Harborlite ER 2.2, were
purchased from Filchem Australia Pty Ltd. Three types of filter cloth
with a pore size of 5 µm, 25 µm, and 100 µm were selected for testing
Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of copper tailing used for filtration tests.
Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8
the filterability of tailings using the hydrate gel membrane. Whatman
filter paper 114 with a pore size of about 2–7 µm was also used in the
tests. The clarity of filtrate produced was measured using a Turbidity
meter WP81. Tap water was used in all the tests for diluting tailing
slurries.
2.2. Pore size and surface area analysis of hydrate gel membrane
Aerogels were produced for pore size and surface area analysis. A
total of 5 mL of different gel samples was washed by absolute ethanol in
a Falcon tube equipped with Taffeta fabric at the bottom for one week.
After water molecules were replaced with ethanol, the samples were
put inside an automated tousimis Autosamdri®-815, Series B super-
critical dyer. This equipment replaced the ethanol molecules with su-
percritical CO2. Because supercritical CO2 behaves like gas, no structure
shrinkage due to surface tension of liquids during normal drying oc-
curred. The equipment was run in manual mode for more than 3 h with
more filling and purging periods in order to obtain integrated aerogel.
The filling process was repeated 3 times (each time for 30 min). Four
different gel samples with different pH (0824 (pH = 7.51), 0825
(pH = 7.01), 0829 (pH = 6.38), 0830 (pH = 5.83)) were produced and
washed for pore size and surface area analyses. The 0824 gel without
(1) any pH adjustment was used for the following tailing dewatering tests.
Nitrogen adsorption, which is widely used for the characterization
of a range of porous materials, was used for pore size and surface area
analysis of different dried aerogel samples. Nitrogen sorption experi-
ments were carried out on a Micromeritics TriStar 3020 analyser after
degassing under vacuum on a Micromeritics VacPrep061 at 100 °C for a
minimum of 8 h. The test time was roughly 13 h per sample. The spe-
cific surface areas were calculated from the adsorption isotherms via a
multi-point Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) model.
2.3. Hydraulic conductivity tests
Hydraulic conductivity of the hydrate gel membrane and the three
filter aids was determined using the constant head method (Klute and
Dirksen, 1986). The columns were wet from the bottom using the
deionized water (percolating solution). The same solution was then
applied continuously, while the flow rates were determined using mass
and volume measurements. These flow rates were used to calculate
hydraulic conductivity using Darcy’s law. A pre-coated filter cloth with
a pore size of 100 µm was used with a precoat thickness of 4.1 cm and
maintained for all experiments. During preliminary experiments, this
gradient was determined to be the minimum gradient to enable flow to
occur. The column leaching was continued until a stable flow rate and
thus hydraulic conductivity were achieved. The final stable hydraulic
conductivity was determined by at least 10 consecutive stable flow
rates, with less than 3% change between consecutive measurements
(Mace and Amrhein, 2001).
2.4. Pressure filtration tests
All the filtration experiments were carried out with an Amdel
pressure filtration unit. It consisted of a filter holder with 15.5 cm
diameter and 20 cm height. The filter area was 188.6 cm2. The base of
the filter holder was a perforated plate with a provision to fix the filter
cloth or paper on it. The filter cloth (5 µm, 25 µm or 100 µm) or
Whatman filter paper was used throughout the filtration studies. When
the hydrate gel was applied as a precoat for filtration, 50 mL of gel
(0824 pH = 7.51) manufactured in 3 months earlier as mixed with
500 mL water and added to the pressure filter unit. 10 psi pressure was
applied for about 5 s allowing gel settling and resulting in a hard but
porous and consistent settled 1 mm gel layer. Other filter aids, such as
Celite 545, Diacel 200, Harborlite ER 2.2, were also used as precoat in
filtration tests and compared with the performance of hydrate gel.
500 mL tailing slurry with a solid weight percentage of 15% or 40% was
3
D. Liu, et al.
Fig. 3. Laboratory pressure filtration set-up.
then poured into the filter holder for filtration to occur under a desired
pressure difference (10 psi) applied by pressure. The selection of 10 psi
was based on our preliminary work which showed optimum flux rate
without affecting the mechanical integrity of the hydrate gel mem-
brane. The volume of filtrate (water) collected in the beaker was re-
corded at regular time intervals. Total pressure fill time was 5 min
(dewatering time for all tests were set at 5 min). These data were used
to calculate the filtration rate. At the end of drying, the filter cake was
removed and the net weight and cake thickness were recorded. The
sample was then dried and weighed to determine cake moisture con-
tent. At the end of the filtration test, the filtrate liquid was collected and
submitted to a turbidity assay. The clarity of filtrate produced was
measured using Turbidity meter WP81. The laboratory filtration set up
is shown in Fig. 3.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Pore size and surface area analysis of the hydrate gel membrane
Fig. 4 shows the pore size distribution of the dried aerogels of dif-
ferent gel samples, while Table 1 shows the porosity and surface area
results of the gel samples. The gel sampled had a high porosity with the
Fig. 4. Pore size distribution of the dried aerogels of different aluminium hy-
droxide hydrate gel samples.
4
Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8
Table 1
Porosity and surface area of dried aerogels of different gel samples.
Sample Surface area, Porosity Total Porosity
m2/g < 150 nm porosity > 150 nm
0824 123 61% 78% 17%
0825 389 87% 84% −3%
0829 445 85% 85% 0%
0830 405 86% 90% 4%
smallest pore size below 20 nm. As the pH of gel samples decreases, the
porosity and surface areas of their corresponding aerogels increase. For
gel 0830, the porosity reached 90% with a surface area of 405 m2/g.
The high porosity and surface area may allow a good water flux rate for
hydrate gel membranes. Hydrate membranes were further applied for
filtering mine tailings in this study. The performance of the hydrate
membrane in filtering copper tailings is discussed below.
3.2. Hydraulic conductivity
Before the tailing filtration tests, hydraulic conductivity tests were
performed on the hydrate gel membranes and three filter aids for
comparing the head permeability. The results are reported in Table 2.
As shown, Celite demonstrated the fastest permeability with an average
hydraulic conductivity of 1.14 × 10−5 m/s among the filter aids tested.
The hydrate gel membrane performed fourth with an average hydraulic
conductivity of 1.49 × 10−5 m/s, which is a little slower than Diacel
and Harborlite with average hydraulic conductivities of 4.57 × 10−5
m/s and 2.27 × 10−5 m/s, respectively. The hydrate gel membrane
showed sufficient hydraulic conductivity to ensure continuous filtra-
tion.
3.3. Filtration performance
The filtrate volume of 40% of tailings as a function of time using
different filter medium is shown in Fig. 5. As indicated in Fig. 5(a), in
the presence of 100 µm filter cloth, without the precoat of hydrate gel
membrane or filter aids, the tailing produced a fast filtration rate of
495 L m−2 h−1. However, the filtration rate with the 1 mm thick of gel
was slightly reduced to 362 L m−2 h−1. The higher the precoat thick-
ness of the gel, the slower the filtration rate. The application of 2 mm
thick of gel reduced the filtration rate to 295 L m−2 h−1. The decrease
in filtration rate in the presence of the gel could be attributed to
blinding of the filter media caused by precipitation of the gel and tailing
solids. On the contrary, the application of other filter aids of Celite,
Diacel and Harbolite as precoat for filtration all achieved a high fil-
tration rate which was equal to or higher than the baseline level
without any precoat materials. To be specific, the precoat of 1 mm thick
of Celite, Diacel and Harborlite resulted in a fast filtration rate of 591,
495, and 495 L m−2 h−1, respectively, while increase the thickness of
Celite to 2 mm yielded an even faster filtration rate of 610 L m−2 h−1.
The filtration results of 40 wt% tailing using filter cloth of 25 µm
and filter paper of 2–7 µm showed a similar trend to that filtered using
100 µm filter cloth as shown in Fig. 5(b) and (c), respectively. It is noted
that the application of hydrate gel membrane all promotes a reduction
in the filtration rate. To be specific, the application of no gel, 1 mm
thick of gel, Celite, Diacel, and Harborlite showed a filtration rate of
895, 381, 800, 610, 476 L m−2 h−1, respectively in the presence of filter
cloth of 25 µm. Besides, the application of no gel, 1 mm thick of gel,
Celite, Diacel, and Harborlite showed a filtration rate of 591, 305, 552,
610, 552 L m−2 h−1, respectively in the presence of filter paper of
2–7 µm. It is believed that the application of hydrate gel membrane
generated a higher cake resistance than other filter aids, leading to a
relatively lower tailing filterability and therefore a lower filtration rate.
Besides, the filtration performance of cake moisture, cake thickness,
and filtrate turbidity of 40 wt% tailings using the filter cloth of 100 µm,
D. Liu, et al.
Table 2
Constant head permeability (hydraulic conductivity) tests of hydrate gel membrane and three filter aids (with deionized water).
Filter aids Hydrate gel membrane
−6
Average hydraulic conductivity K (m/s) 1.49 × 10
Median hydraulic conductivity K (m/s) 1.54 × 10−6
25 µm, and the filter paper of 2–7 µm is summarized in Table 3. As
shown in Table. 3, in the presence of the 100 µm filter cloth, without
the precoat of hydrate gel membrane or filter aids, the cake moisture
content was 15.3% with a cake thickness of 5 mm. However, the tur-
bidity of filtrate was poor with a value of 566 NTU. Because the tailing
was quite fine, a large number of fine tailings particles was likely
passing through the filter cloth, causing the contamination of filtrate
water quality and resulting in poor separation of tailings solids and
water.
By using 1 mm thick gel as a precoat, it was found that the water
clarity of filtrate after pressure filtration improved significantly with a
turbidity value of only 7.1 NTU. As indicated in Fig. 6 which shows the
clarity difference of the filtrate filtered in the absence and presence of
the hydrate gel membrane, the filtrate water obtained was visibly clear
and transparent after the treatment of the gel. It is also noted that when
increasing the hydrate gel membrane thickness from 1 mm to 2 mm, the
filtrate turbidity and cake moisture content also increased. The increase
in filtrate turbidity may have resulted from the partial passing of the
fine gel as it was noted that the filtrate colour was milky instead of
dark.
The filtration performance of the hydrate gel membrane was also
compared with three filter aids under identical testing conditions. As
shown in Table 3, the application of Celite, Diacel and Harbolite as
precoat for filtration all resulted in very high turbidity of filtrate. The
filtrate turbidity values in the presence of Celite, Diacel, and Harborlite
Fig. 5. Filtrate volume of 40% of tailings as a function of time filtered with and without the hydrate gel membrane and other filter aids in the presence of filter cloth
or paper of (a) 100 µm, (b) 25 µm, and (c) 2–7 µm.
5
Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8
Celite Diacel Harborlite
−5 −6
1.14 × 10 4.57 × 10 2.72 × 10−6
1.15 × 10−5 4.60 × 10−6 2.74 × 10−6
were 454, 185, and 280 NTU, respectively. Obviously, despite the rapid
filtration rate, the use of filter aids as precoat failed to remove fine
tailing particles, leading to poor separation results. By contrast, al-
though the filtration rate with the gel was reduced, the water clarity
was greatly improved with the cake moisture content still comparable
to the other filter aids.
Similarly, by using a finer filter cloth of 25 µm, the presence of
hydrate gel membrane also generated a lowest filtrate turbidity value of
37.4 NTU and similar moisture content with the other precoated filter
aids. It is interesting to find that the filtrate turbidity in the presence of
the hydrate gel membrane using 25 µm cloth (37.4 NTU) increased
compared to that using 100 µm cloth (7.1 NTU). As investigated by a
light microscope, the pore size of the 100 µm cloth was randomly dis-
tributed with the biggest size around 100 µm and also much smaller
pores present at the same time. However, 25 µm cloth had an evenly
distributed 25 µm pore size, which may more easily facilitate the pas-
sing of fine particles and therefore a higher filtrate turbidity.
The filtration results of 40 wt% tailing using 2–7 µm filter paper as a
supporting material are also listed in Table 3. It was shown that the
selection of finer sized filter media improved the overall filtrate tur-
bidity. The use of hydrate membrane still generated the best filtrate
water clarity.
On the other hand, the filtrate volume of 15% of tailings as a
function of time using different filter medium is shown in Fig. 7. As
shown from Fig. 7, the overall filtration rates increased compared to
D. Liu, et al. Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8

Table 3
Filtration performance of 40 wt% tailings, using different size of filter cloth and filter paper under 10 psi pressure.
Filter cloth or No gel 1 mm thick gel 1 mm thick Celite 1 mm thick 1 mm thick Harborlite 2 mm thick Celite 2 mm thick gel
paper 545 Diacel 545

Cake moisture 100 µm 15.3% 22.4% 23.3% 24.7% 24.5% 25.1% 26.2%
25 µm 21.1% 24.1% 22.8% 23.1% 25.7% NT* NT*
2–7 µm 4.8% 26.7% 25.4% 26.7% 26.8% NT* NT*

Cake thickness 100 µm 5 mm 6 mm 6 mm 5 mm 6 mm 6 mm 6.5 mm

25 µm 5 mm 6.5 mm 6 mm 6 mm 6 mm NT* NT*
2–7 µm 5 mm 6 mm 5 mm 6 mm 6 mm NT* NT*

Filtrate turbidity (NTU) 100 µm 566 7.1 454 183 280 524 71.4
25 µm 1332 37.4 1278 457 837 NT* NT*
2–7 µm 216 8.8 28 17.1 15.9 NT* NT*

NT*: not tested.

thickness of the gel from 1 mm to 0.5 mm using the filter cloth of 25 µm

Fig. 6. Comparison of filtrate clarity of 40% tailings filtered in the absence
(left) and presence (right) of hydrate membrane using filter cloth of 100 µm.
40 wt% of tailings. By using the gel, filtration rate decreased compared
with other filter aids and without the presence of the gel. To be specific,
the baseline filtration rates of 15% tailings without any precoat of
materials in the presence of 100 µm, 25 µm, and 5 µm filter cloth are
1638, 1848, and 1486 L m−2 h−1, respectively. The precoat of 1 mm
thick of gel, Celite, Diacel, and Harborlite in the presence of 100 µm
resulted in filtration rates of 857, 1124, 3067, and 1791 L m−2 h−1,
respectively (Fig. 7a), while the precoat of 1 mm thick of gel, Celite,
Diacel, and Harborlite in the presence of 25 µm led to filtration rates of
705, 2419, 1638, and 1810 L m−2 h−1, respectively (Fig. 7b). In addi-
tion, in the presence of 5 µm filter cloth, the filtration rate was de-
creased to 610 L m−2 h−1 when 1 mm thick of hydrate gel membrane
was present (Fig. 7c).
Besides, the filtration results of cake moisture, cake thickness, and
filtrate turbidity of diluted tailing of 15 wt% using filter cloth of
100 µm, 25 µm, and 5 µm are summarized in Table 4. It is suggested
that the hydrate gel membrane performed significantly better than the
filter aids in producing low turbidity. Although the filtration rate of the
hydrate gel membrane was lower than the three filter aids, the cake
moisture and thickness were comparable with the three filter aids.
The hydrate gel membrane was deployed best at no more than 1 mm
thickness, performing comparatively better than 2 mm gel in terms of
flux rate and turbidity (refer to Tables 3 and 4). The flux rate of the
hydrate membrane could be increased significantly by reducing the
thickness of the precoat. For example, Fig. 7 shows that reducing the
increased the flux rate from 705 to 1182 L m−2 h−1. However, the fil-
trate clarity also reduced with the corresponding turbidity value in-
creased from 12.5 NTU to 489 NTU as shown in Table 4. This may be
caused by disrupting of the thin gel layer when tailings was added. If
the addition of the slurry can be carefully controlled to prevent it dis-
rupting the gel (e.g. by designing the filter to reduce slurry turbulence
or covering the gel with a small head of water), then thinner gels may
work well for filtration of tailings.
In addition, it is known that charactering and predicting of cake
compression dynamics in the presence of the gel and other filter aids are
important and critical for achieving higher solids content and further
water removal in filtration process. Cake compressibility measures the
ability to compact the sludge when a normal stress or pressure is ap-
plied (Qi et al., 2011b) The cake compressibility is a factor related to
cake porosity, particle size distribution, shapes and so on (Bourcier
et al., 2016; Tarleton and Wakeman, 2006). It is hypothesized that the
application of the gel may cause a small reduction in cake compressi-
bility. Cake compressibility is known to affect the filtrate clarity. In
general, fine particles are more easily captured by less compressible or
more rigid cake layer. It strongly suggests that a small reduction in cake
compressibility could yield much clearer filtrate (Suh et al., 1997). The
application of the gel leads to a greatly improved filtrate clarity, which
may suggest a reduced cake compressibility with the gel over other
filter aids. The cake consolidation process of the gel and other filter aids
will be further investigated in future work.
Overall, the hydrate membrane works well at low pressures, with
optimum flux rates at about 10 psi but acceptable flux rates without
externally applied pressure. Hydrate gel filtration appears to be a
simple, low-cost, and non-hazardous technology that can easily be ap-
plied. It is noted that the gel can be spread out easily against a retaining
fabric by forming a homogenous gel layer. Therefore the application
can be expected to be simple and flexible. The comparative advantage
of the hydrate membrane lies in producing much lower turbidity water
under low pressure or zero pressure conditions (based on its pore size of
∼10 nm). Thus it could be used where low cost and capex are a concern
and operators are seeking low turbidity water and/or a cake suitable for
stacking or reprocessing. Potential uses of the hydrate membrane could
also include treatment of tailings from various types of mining opera-
tions to increase water reuse, opening the potential for tailings re-
processing, pre-treatment of water prior to reverse osmosis, separating
oil from water in oil sands; and in tailing dams to prevent turbid water
entering ground water.
4. Conclusions
The hydrate membrane technology is a simple, low-cost, non-ha-
zardous gel-based separation device, which was recently developed for
removing suspended solids from water. The gel was applied for filtering
mine tailings in this study for the first time and showed promising

6
D. Liu, et al. Minerals Engineering 135 (2019) 1–8

Fig. 7. Filtrate volume of 15% of tailings as a function of time filtered with and without the hydrate gel membrane and other filter aids in the presence of filter cloth
of (a) 100 µm, (b) 25 µm, and (c) 5 µm.

Table 4
Filtration performance of 15 wt% tailings using different size of filter cloth under 10 psi pressure.
Filter cloth No gel 0.5 mm thick gel 1 mm thick gel 1 mm thick Celite 545 1 mm thick Diacel 1 mm thick Harborlite

Cake moisture 100 µm 29.6% NT* 26.2% 36.3% 29.4% 28.2%

25 µm 27.4% 26.8% 28.3% 27.3% 28.7% 29.2%
5 µm 27.1% NT* 29.6% NT* NT* NT*

Cake thickness 100 µm 2 mm NT* 3 mm 2.5 mm 3 mm 3 mm

25 µm 2 mm 2 mm 2.5 mm 3 mm 3 mm 3 mm
5 µm 2 mm NT* 3 mm NT* NT* NT*

Filtrate turbidity (NTU) 100 µm 1145 NT* 12.8 287 632 546
25 µm 1383 489 12.5 1268 1235 1152
5 µm 110 NT* 10.2 NT* NT* NT*

NT*: not tested.

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Acknowledgements
The authors greatly appreciate financial support from Kinetic Group
Worldwide Pty Ltd.
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