From: null@void.com   
      
   Hello again all.   
      
   Wherever I have got with the rod-mill / rod-milling and sieve-analysis   
   quantifiying that comminution is good enough for now.   
   [I have another test-milled comminute where have the sub-150micron to   
   sieve to +75micron and -75micron, plus the very-very-fines I separated   
   by sedimentation (I stirred the comminute in a trug of water, left it   
   a settling time in the seconds range then ladled-out from the   
   near-surface the water there - which although barely-transluscent,   
   mostly opaque, pours straight through the 75micron sieve) to dry, then   
   weigh and plot the mass-fraction at size distribution graph].   
   The experiences along this path are the enough for now.   
      
   Rod-mill now - updated   
   https://youtube.com/shorts/pEAhv19OkkQ?si=LoNvtbvVL2VKpuwX   
   "Rod-mill with new end-cover working well"   
   New end-cover presenting plane end-face (idler-wheel could prevent   
   axial motion) and good metal-to-metal contact (gasket should make   
   fluid-sealed).  Cover held in place with 6 studs and nuts.   
      
   I've already used "Stokes' Law" for the "sedimentation" trick.   
   Which gives by removing the very-very-fines   
   * expecially the fractured silica, which is hazardous, absent from the   
     dried everything else   
   * leaves gritty/"sandy" particles which sieve readily no "clogging"   
      
   If using sedimentation, elutriation, or "just" to classify comminute   
   if I form a circuit in processing minerals, it looks like I need to   
   use hydrocyclone(s).   
   Plastic ones are readily available in the small size range for   
   removing very-fines to the underflow (very few 10's of mm diameter and   
   very few hundreds of mm long).   
      
   Pumping?   
      
   My guess is   
   * centrifugal pump (would tolerate the fines)   
   * 3-phase motor, controlling speed with a VFD (Variable Frequency   
     Drive) [as already used on the rod-mill] to give target pressure   
     into the hydrocylone   
      
   What would you really do?   
      
   The first intent, by the way, is to recover the water for re-use   
   immediately.   
   Thus, a simplification in specifying the hydrocyclone is maximum   
   solids to the underflow, minumum solids to the overflow; thus no   
   target split on size, for what that's worth.   
      
   Thanks in advance.   
      
   Rich Smith   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)