1. PAINPOINT DRIVEN OPENING

Are you facing persistent bottlenecks in your gold recovery circuit that cap your plant’s profitability? Operational challenges with gravity concentration and final recovery directly impact your bottom line. Common pain points include:

Inconsistent Fine Gold Capture: Standard sluices and concentrators can lose ultrafine (<30 micron) and flattened flake gold, resulting in a measurable loss of revenue with every ton processed.
High Operational Labor Costs: Manual cleanup of conventional equipment is timeintensive, requiring skilled personnel to be pulled from other critical tasks, increasing labor costs and potential security risks.
Excessive Downtime for Cleanup: Frequent shutdowns to perform cleanouts disrupt continuous processing flow, reducing overall plant availability by hundreds of hours annually.
Water and Chemical Dependency: Many recovery methods rely heavily on large water volumes or complex chemical regimes, escalating operational costs and environmental management complexity.

How do you upgrade your recovery stage to maximize yield without introducing excessive complexity or downtime? The solution requires precision engineering focused on the specific density and mobility characteristics of liberated gold.

2. PRODUCT OVERVIEW: HYBRID KNUDSEN BOWL CENTRIFUGAL CONCENTRATOR

The Hybrid Knudsen Bowl is an advanced centrifugal concentrator engineered for the highefficiency capture of free gold, particularly fine and flour gold. It operates on an enhanced gravitational separation principle within a controlled fluidized bed.

Operational Workflow:
1. Feed Introduction: A slurry feed, typically from a primary concentration stage, is introduced into the rotating bowl.
2. Centrifugal Separation & Fluidization: High rotational forces amplify gravitational pull, settling dense gold particles. Controlled fluidization water maintains a teeter bed, allowing heavy particles to penetrate while ejecting lighter gangue.
3. Continuous Concentration & Bed Management: Gold builds within the concentrate bowl. The system’s design manages bed density to prevent compaction and maintain optimal recovery efficiency throughout the cycle.
4. Automated or Manual Cleanout: After a set operational cycle (typically 412 hours), rotation stops. The concentrated product is easily flushed into a secure container for further processing or direct smelting.

Application Scope & Limitations:
Scope: Ideal for free gold recovery in both alluvial/placer operations and hard rock mill circuits as a rougher or cleaner concentrator. Highly effective on 8 mesh to ultrafine (<10 micron) gold when properly liberated.
Limitations: Not effective on locked or refractory ores requiring chemical treatment. Requires a consistent feed density and particle size distribution for optimal performance. Feed must be screened to remove +8mm material.

3. CORE FEATURES

Automated Fluidization Control | Technical Basis: Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) managing solenoid valves | Operational Benefit: Maintains precise fluidized bed density without operator adjustment, ensuring consistent recovery across varying feed grades | ROI Impact: Eliminates manual tuning errors, improving fine gold recovery consistency by an estimated 1525% versus manual systems.

CorrosionResistant Composite Bowl | Technical Basis: Injectionmolded polyurethane with ceramic wear liners | Operational Benefit: Eliminates metallic contamination of concentrate, reduces maintenance downtime due to abrasion, and simplifies cleaning | ROI Impact: Extends wear life by 3x compared to steel bowls, reducing spare parts inventory and direct replacement costs.

Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) Motor Control | Technical Basis: AC motor with digital speed controller | Operational Benefit: Operators can finetune rotational speed (Gforce) in realtime to match specific feed characteristics (e.g., clay content, gold size) | ROI Impact: Optimizes performance for varying ore types within a single shift, maximizing overall plant recovery without equipment changeover.

LowWashwater Design | Technical Basis: Engineered internal water channels and fluidization jets | Operational Benefit: Operates efficiently with 3050% less washwater than previous generation centrifugal concentrators | ROI Impact: Reduces water pump horsepower requirements and lowers water recycling load, decreasing energy and water handling costs.

Secure, Integrated Concentrate Tray | Technical Basis: Lockable stainless steel catch tray with quickdisconnect fittings | Operational Benefit: Provides secure collection of valuable concentrate directly from the bowl outlet, streamlining material handling and enhancing site security | ROI Impact: Minimizes handling losses and reduces cleanup labor time by approximately 60%.

4. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

| Performance Metric | Industry Standard (Basic Centrifugal Concentrator) | Hybrid Knudsen Bowl Solution | Advantage (% Improvement) |
| : | : | : | : |
| Fine Gold Recovery (<30 micron) | Estimated 7080% capture rate under ideal conditions | Field data shows consistent 9296% capture rate in controlled tests| +20% improvement |
| Average Cleanout Cycle Time| 4560 minutes per unit (manual disassembly & cleanup) | <15 minutes per unit (integrated flush system) | ~75% reduction in downtime |
| Water Consumption per Tonne Processed| ~5 cubic meters per tonne processed average| ~2.8 cubic meters per tonne processed average| 44% reduction |
| Annual Wear Component Cost (Bowl/Liners)| High – frequent replacement due to metal fatigue/abrasion| Low – composite bowl life exceeds 12 months in typical service| ~65% reduction |

5. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Model Designation: HKBC2500i
Processing Capacity: Up to 15 tonnes per hour (slurry dependent; nominal 68 tph for highgrade feeds).
Power Requirements: 7.5 kW main drive motor (400V/50Hz or 480V/60Hz), VFD included.
Water Requirements: 2040 L/min at 200 kPa pressure.
Material Specifications: Mainframe: Powdercoated carbon steel; Bowl Assembly: Reinforced polyurethane with replaceable ceramic inserts; Fluidization System: Stainless steel fittings.
Physical Dimensions (L x W x H): 1.8m x 1.5m x 1.6m; Operating Weight: 420 kg.
Environmental Operating Range: Ambient temperature: 10°C to +45°C; Humidity protected electrical components standard.

6. APPLICATION SCENARIOS

Hard Rock Mill Tailings Scavenging Plant Challenge:

A midtier gold operation was experiencing elevated gravity recoverable gold (GRG) assays in final tailings streams (>0.3 g/t), indicating significant loss postprimary grinding circuit.

Solution:

Two HKBC2500i units were installed in parallel on the combined cyclone underflow stream ahead of leaching as a scavenger circuit.

Results:

Within one quarter, tailings GRG assays were reduced to <0.1 g/t consistently.The circuit recovers an average of 22 kg of additional fine gold monthly,directly impacting cash flow without disrupting core CIL operations.Recovered concentrate purity allows for direct smelting onsite.

Alluvial/Placer Operation Upgrade Challenge:

A largescale placer mine using traditional sluices faced high labor costs for cleanup,frequent grade fluctuations due to inefficient fine gold capture,and security concerns during manual concentrate collection.

Solution:

Replacement of two primary sluice lines with a bank of four HKBC2500i units fed via a centralized distribution manifold.

Results:

Labor dedicated to cleanup was reduced from three operators per shift to one.Security was enhanced via locked collection trays.Plant managers reported a measured increase in overall recovered grade by18%,attributed primarily to superior fine gold retention.The system's consistency smoothed out processing fluctuations from variable feed gravels.

7.COMMERCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Equipment pricing is structured around configuration level:

Base Unit Tier ($85k$110k):
Includes core HKBC concentrator,VFD drive,basic starter panel,and installation manual.Suitable for operations with existing supporting infrastructure(water,pumps,framing).

Optimized Plant Tier ($135k$165k):
Includes Base Unit plus integrated feed distribution module,buffer tank with level control,solenoid washwater package,and PLCbased automation controller.Recommended for new installations or major upgrades seeking maximum operational simplicity.

Optional Features & Packages:

Advanced Instrumentation Package(Level & Pressure sensors)
Mobile SkidMounting Frame
Extended Warranty(3 years parts/labor)
Service Packages:

Commissioning & OnSite Training(5day program)
Annual Performance Audit & Recalibration
Priority Parts Dispatch Program(24/7 support)

Financing Options are available through partnered industrial lenders including operating lease structures,taxefficient finance leases,and projectbased capital equipment loans.Terms typically range from36to60months based on credit profile

8.FAQ

Q:What upstream preparation does my feed slurry require before entering the Hybrid Knudsen Bowl?
A:The unit requires screened feed(removal of+8mm material)and consistent solids density between25%40%.A degritting cyclone or simple classifying screen is often sufficient.Particle liberation must already be achieved upstream

Q:What is the expected payback period for this equipment?
A Based on case study data payback periods range from6to14months depending on feed grade operational scale(labour savings)and current inefficiencies.This calculation should be based on your specific incremental recovered metal value versus operational cost savings

Q Can this unit replace our entire existing gravity circuit?
A It functions most effectively as either a primary concentrator on liberated alluvial feeds or as acleaner/scavenger unitinahardrockcircuit We recommend it as partofasystem often following initial roughing(sluices tables)

Q How does this compare environmentallytochemicalmethods like cyanidation?
A Asa purely physicalgravityseparation device it uses no chemicals significantly less waterand produces no toxic tailings relatedtoreagent use It createsa smeltreadyconcentrate reducing downstream processing complexity

Q What technical supportisavailable during commissioning?
A Standard purchases include detailed installation manualsandremote support The recommended commissioning package providesonsite engineer supportforfive days covering installation calibration operator trainingandinitial performancebaselining