the figures illustrate two embodiments of the method and apparatus for separating solid and liquor components of a process slurry produced in a bayer process in accordance with the present invention . the embodiments are described hereinafter in the context of a process slurry that is produced in digestion units of bayer process plants for producing alumina . as is indicated above , the present invention is not limited to bayer process slurries . the process slurry comprises ( i ) a liquor containing sodium aluminate in solution and ( ii ) solid material , typically in the form of fine particulate material . the embodiments are based on the addition of small amounts of a flocculent under agitated conditions in a pre - treatment step upstream of one or more than one tank , such as a decanter , for allowing separation of solids and liquor of the process slurry . the embodiments are two of a number of possible embodiments of the method and the apparatus of the present invention . with reference to fig1 , a process slurry from a digestion unit 3 is flash - cooled to ambient temperature and pressure in a series of flash tanks 5 and then pumped by means of a pump 7 to a pre - treatment apparatus generally identified by the numeral 9 . a flocculent is added to the process slurry via a flocculent addition system as it flows through the pre - treatment apparatus 9 . typically , the residence time of the process slurry in the pretreatment apparatus 9 is 1 - 5 minutes . the flocculent may be any suitable flocculent . for bayer slurries , the flocculent may be a polyacrylate or an hydroxamate . the resultant mixture of the process slurry and flocculent is transferred via a line 21 to a decanter 23 . the solid and liquor components of the mixture separate in the decanter 23 to produce ( i ) a clarified liquor and ( ii ) solids with some entrained liquor . the pre - treatment apparatus 9 comprises three pre - treatment tanks arranged in series , with process slurry inlets in upper sections of the tanks and process liquor outlets in lower sections of the tanks . the process slurry flows serially through the tanks so that 100 % of the process slurry flows through each of the tanks 11 . the tanks 11 are fitted with stirrers 13 that have variable drives that make it possible to rotate the stirrers at different rates in each tank and at different rates within a tank depending on the process requirements . the flocculent is pumped to each of the tanks 11 from a flocculent preparation station 15 via a line 17 . the arrangement is such that it is possible to vary the dosage rate of the flocculent to each tank 11 and within a tank depending on the process requirements . in one operating set - up tested by the applicant , the first tank 11 ( i . e . the one most upstream of the decanter 23 ) receives 60 % of the flocculent , the second tank 11 receives 30 % of the flocculent , and the third tank 11 receives 10 % a of the flocculent . it is emphasised that the present invention is not confined to these amounts and , moreover , the present invention extends to varying these amounts in each tank 11 during the course of the process , for example to accommodate changes in characteristics of the process slurry . in general terms , 25 - 70 % of the total amount of the flocculent is added in the first tank 11 , 15 - 35 % of the flocculent is added in the second tank 11 , and 10 - 60 % of the flocculent is added in the third tank 11 . the first tank 11 has a higher level of agitation compared to the other tanks 11 . the second and third tanks 11 have progressively lower levels of agitation compared to the first tank 11 . again , the present invention extends to varying the amounts of agitation in each tank 11 during the course of the process . to the overall objective of the selection of the dosage rates and mixing rates in accordance with the present invention is to achieve high levels of contact of the flocculent and the solid material in the process slurry and to maintain a dispersion , preferably a homogeneous dispersion , of the solid material , including any aggregates of solid material that form , in the process slurry to minimise settling out of the solid material in the tanks 11 and to allow aggregates to grow to a size suitable to facilitate separation of solid material from the liquor in the decanter 23 . in the course of experimental work in relation to the fig1 embodiment , the applicant observed ( a ) good flocculation with this arrangement of tanks 11 and this selection of mixing and dosage rates for the tanks 11 and ( b ) significantly greater clarity of overflow liquor than with conventional arrangements that did not include pre - treatment of the process liquor upstream of the decanter 23 and relied on addition of the flocculent in the decanter 23 . the process flow sheet shown in fig2 is basically the same as that of fig1 and the same reference numerals are used to describe the same features in both figures . the main difference between the two embodiments is the way in which the flocculent is added and mixed to the process slurry . specifically , the pre - treatment apparatus 9 in the fig2 embodiment is in the form of an in - line mixer 27 having a flocculent addition system ( described below ). the in - line mixer 27 is in the form of a tube 35 having an inlet 29 for the process slurry and an outlet 31 for the mixture of the process slurry and the flocculent . in addition , the tube 35 has multiple injection points 39 for supplying the flocculent to the process slurry flowing through the tube 35 . the multiple injection points 39 shown in fig2 comprise the inlet 29 and at least three locations spaced equi - distantly along the length of the tube 35 . it is emphasised that the present invention is not confined to this arrangement and extends to any suitable number and location of injection points 39 in the tube 35 . these multiple injection points 39 form part of the flocculent addition system , along with the flocculent preparation station 15 and the distribution line 17 . in one operating set - up tested by the applicant , the flocculent is supplied to the tube 35 with progressively lower dosage rates along the length of the tube from the inlet 29 to the outlet 31 . the in - line mixer 27 further comprises a series of baffles ( not shown ) along the length of the tube 35 that minimise laminar flow along the side wall of the tube . in the course of experimental work in relation to the fig2 embodiment , the applicant observed ( a ) good flocculation and ( b ) significantly greater clarity of overflow liquor than with conventional arrangements that did not include pre - treatment of the process liquor upstream of the decanter 23 and relied on addition of the flocculent in the decanter 23 . as mentioned above , the applicant has carried out experimental work on the arrangements shown in fig1 and 2 and conventional arrangements that did not include pre - treatment of the process liquor upstream of the settling decanters 23 and relied solely on addition of the flocculent in the decanters 23 . the experimental work produced overflow clarities from the decanters 23 of less than 10 ppm for both embodiments . this is a significant improvement in performance compared to overflow clarities of 100 - 250 ppm and sometime as high as 500 ppm from the decanters 23 of the conventional arrangements . it is noted that clarity was measured by filtering a known volume ( typically 100 ml ) of overflow slurry on a 0 . 45 micron micropore filter . the filter was washed and dried in an oven overnight . the weight of the solid residue on the paper was used to compute the ppm of solids . many modifications may be made to the embodiments of the present invention described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .