Swirl Flow: Increase production and reduce 
tank maintenance costs 

Swirl Flow enhances the agitation process in minerals processing by improving reliability. It 
has significantly lower capital and operating costs compared to traditional agitation systems, 
cutting installation costs by up to a third. 

Business problem – Production loss due to 
tank downtime

Long-shaft cantilever agitator systems operating in slurry with 
air sparging, common in the gold industry today, can be costly 
to fix when unexpected stoppages or system failures take 
place. 

Problems with tanks often arise from mechanical failure of an 
agitator, such as the breakage of blades, shaft and gearbox, 
wear of impeller blades, bogging of the agitator due to 
sediment and scale build-up in the tank. 

Delays due to maintenance and repair can go on for weeks, 
causing significant losses in production. 

The solution – Swirl Flow 

Swirl Flow enhances the agitation process by mixing liquids 
and suspended solids to create a tornado-like vortex in a tank. 
The solution uses a motor, gearbox and a specially-designed 
radial impeller with a short shaft near the top of the tank. It is 
simple and inexpensive to retrofit to existing tanks. 

The system improves agitator reliability, resulting in reduced 
maintenance and shutdowns. Due to higher and more uniform 
wall velocities, the scale formation rate is also reduced. 

The benefits – Lower capital and improved 
performance 

Swirl Flow can increase tank on-line time to lower maintenance 
and equipment replacement costs.

Swirl Flow has been designed for slurry tanks:

• as a short-shaft system to reduce the mechanical failure risks 
common in conventional agitator systems
• as a low-weight, lower cost replacement or new agitator 
system for gold carbon-in-pulp (CIP) leach and process tanks
• where downstream pumps are starved of feed due to 
sedimentation blockage of the pump inlet pipe
• to address build-up of inventory, scale or sediment that 
reduces tank on-line time, or results in a premature stoppage 
of the tanks.


Flow down 
afterwall

Swirling flow 
up centre

Solids 
suspended 
in liquor



In operation today 

LKAB Iron Ore in Sweden retrofitted their iron ore slurry surge 
tanks with Swirl Flow leading to improved mixing of additives, 
achieving about a 50 per cent increase in surge capacity

Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) retrofitted their 
desilication holding tank with Swirl Flow, which reduced 
bogging and increased on-line time by three to four months 
over a 12 month period. 

How you can work with us

Prepare for the future. Are you 
looking looking to capitalise on future 
opportunities or plan for potential threats? 

Through our research and breakthrough science, we are 
uniquely positioned to add value to your operation. Our 
process improvements span assessment, modelling, design 
and deployment of new technology. We can solve your 
mixing challenges to optimise your operations.

Energy Resources of Australia retrofitted a leach tank with 
Swirl Flow at their Ranger Uranium Mine operation. Removal of 
baffles improved tank structural integrity by reducing rubber 
lining damage risks and tank lining costs.

[Our] surge tank has been running without baffles 
since 2012. Swirl Flow has improved mixing and 
surge capacity from about 60 or 70 per cent to 100 
per cent. This has reduced dependency (stoppages) 
between our concentrating and pelletising plant.

DANIEL MARJAVAARA, TECHNOLOGY AND 
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, LKAB.

Leaching Tank 3 is running without baffles. As 
an indirect measure of the mixing efficiency, the 
extraction is good.
FRANK JIA, SUPERINTENDENT OPERATIONS 
TECHNICAL, ENERGY RESOURCES OF 
AUSTRALIA. 

The application of Swirl Flow in QAL has increased 
the operating factor, increasing both plant yield 
and capacity.
TOM CONNOR, PRODUCTION ANALYST, QAL.

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