Fluidizer: Will it work?

[Capt Nemo]

I was thinking about fluid bed sluicing and here's what I came up with. It would be 3" PVC with a 3/4" tube running down the center. Pump would be either a 800 or 1200 GPH bilge pump run recirc.

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

Should work. You might want to have the outlet adjustable for height, but other than that, it will do OK. You'll probably have to do some experimentation on the hole locations, etc.
Jim

 

[Capt Nemo]

I figured that some experimentation would be needed. Just wanted to run it by those with more experience to look for potential problems.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I recall seeing something like that in an old gov't publication from 80-120 years ago. I think the "Quicksand" piece of equipment used that idea. I like yours better. I like the heavies trap and the fact you have holes for the water to enter instead of just flowing in at the bottom. And it looks like once you get the holes arranged you can adjust the water flow to fine-tune it.

Thanks for sharing; looks great so far!

 

[arizau]

Material below the water outlets will be a dead bed so no exchange will take place there. Other areas will be somewhat active and will probably function best if all the feed material is of equal size.
You might want to take a look here for some ideas Gold Cyclone - Gold Concentrator | Super Concentrator for Placer Gold Miners

Good luck

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Material below the water outlets will be a dead bed so no exchange will take place there. Other areas will be somewhat active and will probably function best if all the feed material is of equal size.
You might want to take a look here for some ideas Gold Cyclone - Gold Concentrator | Super Concentrator for Placer Gold Miners

Good luck

You are right about the dead zone. That means unless some water flow comes from below, you will have to classify and carefully feed it so the lighter material never has a chance to sink to the bottom. That means everything has to be dialed in just right. Hmmm, easier to have some water flow from the bottom in addition to what you already have.

 

[Capt Nemo]

There would be jets on the bottom of the tube as well. These would stir the bottom, and also aid in cleanout. Just hard to draw.

I found a place selling clear PVC pipe and fittings. They're expensive, but the bottom 3" pipe section would benefit being clear.

Off to the men's mall!

 

[benny]

This might be of help.

http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM44/AM44_886.pdf

 

[GoldpannerDave]

This might be of help.

http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM44/AM44_886.pdf

Yes, that is the sort of older paper I was talking about that the gov't used to publish. Your reference is not the same one, but some of the references may be. This one was a US Geologic Survey paper that referenced papers from the 1920's, 30's and 40's from the US Bureau of Mines and others. Used to quite a bit of useful stuff like that available but today many of the various School of Mines have closed in the US; there are only 14 schools that now have ABET accredited programs.

 

[arizau]

The use of such a device has a lot to do with hydraulic equivalence as well as the settling velocity for various sized and shaped particles not to mention the specific gravity of the particles themselves. These are why the device will work best with close classification.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[bobw53]

The use of such a device has a lot to do with hydraulic equivalence as well as the settling velocity for various sized and shaped particles not to mention the specific gravity of the particles themselves. These are why the device will work best with close classification.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Gold hog video on that, I found it kind of interesting.

 

[polekaat]

Fine Gold Recovery from the Quicksand Concentrator
these guys sell a "quicksand concentrator"
there was also a couple of threads about this same thing on the Alaska gold forum here is one of them Alaska Gold Forum :: Alaska Prospecting Forum :: Quicksand Concentrator?

 

[arizau]

Gold hog video on that, I found it kind of interesting.

Yep, that was what first came to mind and there are several scientific studies where he probably gained his knowledge. Those are interesting to me but may not be to most reading this forum. I obviously spend too much time studying gold recovery and not enough time finding it.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

My idea was based on laminar flow fountains. Using a laminar flow filter (think a large handfull of straws) interrupt the flow into the straws with something like a rotating sipiral. As the flow from that line of streams is interrupted, material settles. Drop material in middle and every rotation causes settling.