A Systematic Review of Decanter Centrifuges in the Mining Sector

Recent advances in tailings management practices and technologies have expanded the range of available solutions and equipment. Although decanter centrifuges are well established in other industrial applications, their use across the mining sector has not yet been systematically reviewed. This systematic review, conducted following PRISMA 2020 (Scopus search to June 2026, verified in Web of Science and complemented by citation searching; retrospectively registered on OSF), synthesizes 26 studies (20 primary studies and six reviews) on decanter centrifuges in mineral processing and tailings management, published between 2001 and 2026. Reporting quality was appraised against four criteria, and the evidence was synthesized narratively. Among the primary studies, research efforts primarily address coal tailings (35%) and calcium carbonate as a model suspension for numerical validation (20%), alongside kaolin, oil sands tailings, and bauxite tailings (10% each). Bowl speed, differential speed, pool depth, and solids loading are the most investigated parameters, while the capture of ultrafine particles and the dewatering of clay-rich tailings remain the main bottlenecks. Experimental studies were conducted at the laboratory or pilot scale; industrial-scale data appeared only as validation of process models, and the included literature reports no full-scale performance data. The technology is promising for the feeds tested, but its performance at full scale and for other commodities remains to be documented.