Versatility for mines Johan Bieseman, managing director of Aquaplan SA, explains what makes Aquaplan’s solutions more locally relevant and sitespecific than its competitors’. What solutions does Aquaplan SA offer for mining applications? JB Since water treatment requirements on mine sites are diverse, we offer an equally diverse range of solutions, including project management, engineering design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance services. These systems cover a full range of mining needs, from potable water preparation and sewage treatment to reverse osmosis technology, ion exchange, ultrafiltration and much more. What are some of your less conventional solutions for these environments and when are they most needed? Due to our extensive in-house engineering expertise, we can tailor solutions to meet the unique needs of individual mines. Some of the less conventional projects we’ve taken on in the past have included vertically stacked, skid-mounted lamella clarification units with full coagulation and flocculation capabilities all in a stacked arrangement, as well as energyefficient venturi pump assemblies for long-distance hydraulic conveying systems. Conversely, what have been some of your most popular mining solutions and why? The hydraulic eductor is certainly one of the most successful products in the Aquaplan range. Our local design and precise, yet robust, engineering techniques have seen the use of venturi eductors expand into a wider application area, being used in almost any water treatment process. We design, manufacture, test and install venturi eductors as hydraulic conveying systems in the following areas: • ion-exchange (IX) processes for resin transfer • acid and alkali chemical injection systems for IX resin regeneration • sand- and grit-conveying systems • mixing, agitation and stirring • sludge recirculation systems • coagulation and flocculation systems • air-injection and dissolved air-flotation systems • cold and hot lime-softening processes • lime and lime slurry conveying. Our eductors are not injection moulded. They are carefully designed, optimised and machined to suit individual process requirements. During the design phase, the energy consumption is optimised to create effective conveying conditions, after which every eductor is machined by hand. Our dissolved air flotation units, have been very successful over the last few years. We have installed five separate units, which all make use of non-mechanical scum removal systems.
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