Patent ID: 7824553

Claim:
A process for dewatering a mineral slurry concentrate and increasing the production of the resulting filter cake consisting essentially of: mixing an aqueous mineral slurry concentrate with an effective amount of a nonionic surfactant and an effective amount of a cationic polymer to form a nonionic surfactant and cationic polymer treated aqueous mineral slurry concentrate ,wherein said nonionic surfactant is an alkyl ethoxylate alcohol having the chemical formula R—(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x OH wherein x is an integer from about 1 to 15, inclusive, and R is a linear or branched aliphatic radical comprising from about 6 to about 24 carbon atoms, inclusive, in the alkyl moiety, and having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance number from about 1 to about 15, inclusive, an amine ethoxylate having the chemical formula R—N—((CH 2 CH 2 O) x — H) 2 wherein x is an integer from about 1 to about 15, inclusive, and R is a linear or branched aliphatic radical comprising from about 6 to about 24 carbon atoms, inclusive, in the alkyl moiety, or a mixture of the alkyl ethoxylate alcohol and amine ethoxylate, and wherein said cationic polymer is a Mannich condensation polymer or a polymer derived from at least one cationic monomer selected from the group consisting of acryloyloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, acryloyloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium methosulfate, aminomethylatedpolyacrylamide, methacrylamidopropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, acrylamidopropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, methacryloyloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, methacryloyloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium methosulfate, diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride, diallyldiethyl ammonium chloride, diallyldimethyl ammonium bromide, and diallyldiethyl ammonium bromide; and subjecting said nonionic surfactant and cationic polymer treated aqueous mineral slurry concentrate to a liquid water removal process for dewatering said treated aqueous mineral slurry and producing a filter cake, wherein said amounts are effective in decreasing a moisture content and for increasing a production of the resulting filter cake of the dewatered mineral slurry compared to use of the nonionic surfactant alone.