Feasibility of using spectral techniques in potash mining and processing

在钾盐开采和加工中使用光谱技术的可行性

• 批准号: 460935-2013
• 负责人: Noble, Scott
• 金额: $ 4.27万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=576629
• 关键词: Feasibility; using; spectral; techniques; potash

Potash (KCl) production is a large and economically significant industry in Saskatchewan. Along with KCl, potash ore contains large quantities of Halite (NaCl). The chemical and physical similarity between these two minerals make them difficult to distinguish from each other in the ore. This leads to problems maintaining a consistent feedstock to the mill. A similar problem arises in determining the relative concentrations of KCl and NaCl in solution. The current state of the art is to use the radioactive decay of the naturally occurring K40 isotope, or off-line X-ray techniques. The equipment required for these approaches is expensive and not conducive for on-line monitoring and process control. UV-Visible-NIR spectroscopy and imaging have not been thoroughly investigated for distinguishing between these two minerals. In the solid phase, the visible and near-infrared spectra of pure KCl and NaCl are virtually indistinguishable. However, anecdotal evidence from miners suggests visual differences between minerals in the ore formation. In solution, it has been established that total Cl ion concentration may be determined using spectroscopy by analysis of side-effects on water absorption bands. Limited work has been done on speciation of the salts in solution. This work proposes to systematically study whether spectroscopic and imaging techniques can be applied in two scenarios in the potash industry. Techniques will be developed to measure absorption spectra of high-temperature solutions, and the spectral characteristics of single and multiple-species solutions investigated. Exploratory work will be conducted on using machine vision and imaging spectroscopy techniques for ore grading. These investigations will create new knowledge in the area of spectroscopy, and support the development of industrially viable on-line assessment tools.

钾肥（KCl）生产是萨斯喀彻温省的一个大型经济产业。钾碱矿石中沿着有大量的氯化钠。这两种矿物在化学和物理上的相似性使它们在矿石中很难区分。这导致维持磨机的一致进料的问题。在确定溶液中KCl和NaCl的相对浓度时也会出现类似的问题。现有技术是使用天然存在的K40同位素的放射性衰变或离线X射线技术。这些方法所需的设备是昂贵的，不利于在线监测和过程控制。 紫外-可见-近红外光谱和成像尚未彻底研究这两种矿物之间的区别。在固相中，纯KCl和NaCl的可见光和近红外光谱几乎无法区分。然而，来自矿工的轶事证据表明，矿石形成中的矿物之间存在视觉差异。在溶液中，已经确定可以使用光谱法通过分析对水吸收带的副作用来确定总Cl离子浓度。关于溶液中盐的形态分析，人们所做的工作有限。 本工作提出系统地研究光谱和成像技术是否可以应用于钾肥工业的两种情况。将开发技术来测量高温溶液的吸收光谱，并研究单组分和多组分溶液的光谱特性。将对使用机器视觉和成像光谱技术进行矿石分级进行探索性工作。这些研究将在光谱学领域创造新的知识，并支持开发工业上可行的在线评估工具。