**4. CSIRO slurry research facilities**

CSIRO Mineral Resources has a 100-mm diameter pipe rig in several versions which has been equipped with ERT since 2002. The rig also is equipped with conventional instrumentation including a magnetic flow meter and pressure transducers as shown in the schematic diagram in **Figure 2**. This rig can also be inclined if required as shown in **Figure 3**. Transparent sections allowed for visualization. The sampling point shown allows for carrier fluid/slurry to be taken off the top of the flow in

#### **Figure 2.** *Schematic diagram of CSIRO mineral resources pipe rig.*

**Figure 3.** *View of ERT sensors on pipe rig when pipe is in the vertical orientation.*

**Figure 4.**

*Photographs of a 1-m diameter tank equipped with ERT electrodes. Two different impeller configurations shown: Baffled and unbaffled.*

laminar flow to allow for rheology measurements as well as conductivity measurements without having to fully screen the complete slurry samples. Further rig details are given in [14].

The slurry mixing tanks at CSIRO typically include impeller torque and speed measurement capability and are made from transparent acrylic to allow for flow visualization, particularly in order to examine particle suspension behavior. Selected tanks have recently been equipped with ERT electrode sets to allow for imaging of concentration distributions and particularly to explore solids concentration variations within the tank which cannot be discerned from video recordings or other means. **Figure 4** shows photographs of two tank configurations used at CSIRO for slurry research.

CSIRO Mineral Resources primarily uses ITS ERT equipment including 2x ITS P2000 and 1x p2+ instruments together with the data acquisition and reconstruction software provided with these instruments. The P2000 was the primary instrument for the pipe rig and was placed in a remote weatherproof box on the rig to minimize the analog signal cable lengths. Similarly, the ERT electrode rings and cables were weather-proofed.
