Ultrasonic attenuation model for measuring particle size and inverse calculation of particle size distribution in mineral slurries

Abstract

Based on various ultrasonic loss mechanisms, the formula of the cumulative mass percentage of minerals with different particle sizes was given, with which the particle size distribution was integrated into an ultrasonic attenuation model. And then the correlations between the ultrasonic attenuation and the pulp density, and the particle size were obtained. The derived model was combined with the experiment and the analysis of experimental data to determine the inverse model relating ultrasonic attenuation coefficient with size distribution. Finally, an optimization method of inverse parameter, genetic algorithm was applied for particle size distribution. The results of inverse calculation show that the precision of measurement was high.

Keywords

ultrasonic attenuation / particle size distribution / mineral slurry / modeling / genetic algorithm

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