The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of chemical filter aids on the formation and dewatering of cakes of fine iron ore products. A weakly anionic flocculant and two anionic surfactants were utilized. The filtration apparatus employed includes a balance interfaced with a microcomputer. The surface tension was measured by means of a tensiometer, using the plate method. The addition of flocculant caused a significant reduction of the cake formation time, an aspect of major relevance for industrial operation, but a slight increase in the final cake moisture was observed. Both surfactants decreased the values of the surface tension, however the expected significant decrease of the final cake moisture was not achieved.
Surface tension; filtration; iron ore
