Froth flotation performance evaluation: a schematic illustration and a numerical separation index

Water scarcity necessitates the recycling of process water within mineral processing practices. This may however come with its disadvantages for unit operations such as froth flotation as this process is water intensive and sensitive to water chemistry. It is therefore important to monitor the water chemistry of the recycle stream of process water and any other water source to flotation. Monitoring the concentrations of the anions in recycled process water is therefore important to consider as these are speculated to impact flotation performance. Batch flotation tests were conducted using synthetically prepared plant water (3 SPW) with a TDS of 3069 mg/L as the baseline experiment. 3 SPW contained 528 mg/LNO3− and 720 mg/L SO42−, other anions and cations, and no S2O32−. Upon spiking 3 SPW with selected anions, viz, NO3−, SO42− and S2O32−, it was noted that NO3− and SO42− exhibited threshold concentrations while S2O32− did not show a threshold concentration for both copper and nickel grade. Spiking 3 SPW with 352 mg/L more of NO3− to a total 880 mg/L NO3− concentration resulted in the highest copper and nickel grade compared to 3 SPW while increasing the S2O32− from 60 to 78 mg/L increased nickel and copper grade. 720 to 1200 mg/L SO42− and 528 to 880 mg/L NO3− were deemed the concentration boundaries within which lies the threshold concentration above which flotation performance declines with respect to metal grades, while for S2O32− the threshold concentration lies outside the range considered for this study. Anion distribution between the pulp and the froth did not seem to impact the recovery of copper or nickel. Notably, the correlation between the concentrate grades and anion distribution between the froth and the pulp seemed to be ion dependent.

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Synthesis and Flotation Performance Evaluation of Polypropylene Glycol Grafted Poly N ‐[(3‐dimethylamino)propyl]methacrylamide Copolymer

ChemistrySelect ◽

10.1002/slct.202102709 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (44) ◽

pp. 12309-12315

Author(s):

Xiaoyue Zhang ◽

Qingqing Tang ◽

Yang Liao ◽

Hui Gong ◽

Shenwen Fang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Polypropylene Glycol ◽

Flotation Performance

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Zinc Recovery from Wulagen Sulfide Flotation Plant Tail by Applying Ether Amine Organic Collectors

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26175365 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (17) ◽

pp. 5365

Author(s):

Zilong Ma ◽

Lei Wang ◽

Xiao Ni ◽

Yinfei Liao ◽

Zhian Liang

Keyword(s):

Froth Flotation ◽

Hydrocarbon Chain ◽

Low Grade ◽

Zinc Recovery ◽

Flotation Tailings ◽

Sulfide Flotation ◽

Flotation Tailing ◽

Flotation Performance ◽

The Difference ◽

Amine Adsorption

Separating oxidized zinc minerals from flotation tailings is always a challenge. In this study, a flotation tailing from Wulagen zinc mine in China (Zn grade < 1%) was processed using froth flotation with combinations of amines (OPA 10, OPA 1214, OPA 13, DDA) and Na2S to study the effects of these amines on the zinc recovery as well as their interactions with other reagents, aiming to screen out a proper reagent scheme to improve zinc separation from extremely low-grade zinc flotation tailings. The results show that different amines led to different flotation performance, and the collectors were ranked as OPA 1214, OPA 13, OPA 10 and DDA in a decreasing order based on flotation collectivity and selectivity. An increase in the concentration of each collector increased the zinc recovery but reduced the concentrate zinc grade. Interactions were also observed between different amines and Na2S and Na2SiO3, and OPA 1214 outdid the others in saving the usage of both the Na2S and Na2SiO3. The measured adsorption of collector onto smithsonite was found to correlate well with flotation test results. It was concluded that hydrocarbon chains can be held accountable for the difference in the flotation performance with different amines. The longer the hydrocarbon chain, the stronger the hydrophobic association ability of amine, which is conducive to the selective amine adsorption onto sulfurized smithsonite particles and hence the smithsonite flotation.

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A Rational Interpretation of the Role of Turbulence in Particle-Bubble Interactions

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min11091006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 1006

Author(s):

Ning Yao ◽

Jingting Liu ◽

Xun Sun ◽

Yan Liu ◽

Songying Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Science ◽

Future Development ◽

Coal Particle ◽

Froth Flotation ◽

Chemical Processes ◽

Operating Parameters ◽

Bubble Interactions ◽

Turbulence Effects ◽

Flotation Performance

Interactions between particles and bubbles have been cornerstone for the successful applications of froth flotation to the beneficiations of minerals or coal. Particle-bubble interactions are highly physio-chemical processes on the basis of surface science and hydrodynamics. Though these two aspects are deeply interwoven, we focus on the discussions of the effects of turbulence on the interactions between particles and bubbles, i.e., collision, attachment and detachment. It has to be mentioned this effect is not working in one direction and can affect flotation performance in a complicated way. Only when turbulence effects are well understood, flotation processes can be optimised by suitably changing equipment structure or operating parameters. The aim of this paper is to review the most recent progresses in this aspect and to identify the future development in successfully considering turbulence effects on flotation processes.

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