Gold standard sparging

A

(CSIRO) designed gas liquid nozzle is making gold production more efficient by reducing the amount of oxygen wasted during processing.

Trials at Victoria's Stawell Gold Mine, Australia have already shown the nozzle can cut oxygen use by up to 25 per cent compared to previous methods.

Dr Jie Wu, who has led the research team developing the technology at CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology, says the nozzle technology was developed after problems were identified with 'sparging' gases into liquids - forcibly blowing gases such as oxygen or nitrogen into a liquid, where some of the gas dissolves.

He says sparging is a common, but not particularly efficient technique for dissolving gas into liquids within many industries, including gold production, mineral sands processing, pharmaceuticals manufacturing and brewing.

“When the gas goes through a liquid, only a small amount of the gas is dissolved. Most of the bubbles just rise to the surface and go into the air as waste,” Dr Wu says.