Abstract Most backfill used in South African gold mines is prepared by desliming metallurgical plant tailings with hydrocyclones. The behaviour and quality of the backfill produced is a sensitive function of its moisture content and particle size distribution. In order to prepare backfill of adequate quality it is necessary to predict the performance of hydrocyclones reliably. A number of mathematical models are available with the potential for doing this. The most popular model is the one developed by Plitt. This paper is concerned with the refinement of Plitt's model for backfilling applications. Tests were undertaken to recalculate the parameters of this model for hydrocyclones 250mm in diameter operated in primary and secondary modes. Major changes in the parameters of the flow split equation had to be made before agreement between the predictions of the model and the test data was achieved. The corrected model was successfully validated with data from further tests done over a wide range of conditions on hydrocyclones with diameters of 100mm, 127mm and 165mm. Implementation schemes and applications of the improved model are discussed in the paper.
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