DETERMINATION OF THE DEPENDENCE OF THE SIZE OF THE FLOATED PARTICLES ON THEIR PROPERTIES AND THE HYDRODYNAMICS OF THE FLOTATION CHAMBER

It is noted that medium-sized particles have the highest flotation rate. Grains of the boundary classes of the size range have a reduced floatability, and they account for more than 50% of all losses of extracted minerals during flotation. The stability conditions of the particle - bubble flotation unit in the chamber of the foam flotation machine are considered. The effect of perturbations of the bubble surface on the size of the floated particles is studied. The amplitude of the initial deformation of the surface and the amplitude of the initial deformation rate of the bubble surface were determined depending on the energy of the turbulent pulsations of the environmental liquid. It is established that the rate of energy dissipation in the chamber of the flotation machine has a moderate effect on the size of the extracted grains. The influence of the surface properties of mineral particles and their mass on the upper value of the particle size range is studied. It is shown that the hydrophobicity of the surface has a significant effect on the size of the mineral particles that remain in contact with the gas phase. The main parameter that characterizes the effect of the hydrophobicity of the surface of the floated particles on the value of the separation force can be the value of the advancing contact angle.

Modification of the synchronization algorithm for the flotation machine video filming with position of the foam extinguisher

The problem of determining the position of foam extinguisher when processing a video stream from potash flotation machines is described. The impossibility of using the previously developed algorithms for synchronizing shooting with foam extinguisher rotation is shown. A simple algorithm in contrast to the previous ones based on determining the most darkened frame is proposed. When testing the algorithm using data from 14 surveys, the average synchronization error was only 2 %. Keywords potash industry; flotation machine; technical vision; synchronization

Influence of the Impeller Diameter and Off-Bottom Clearance on the Flow Velocity Distribution Characteristics Near the Bottom inside a Flotation Machine

The solid particle suspension inside a flotation machine is significantly dependent on the flow field, particularly the flow hydrodynamics characteristics near the bottom of the flotation machine. In this study, a laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) was utilized to investigate the influence of the impeller diameter and the impeller off-bottom clearance of a flotation machine on the flow velocity distribution characteristics near its bottom. The results showed that centripetal, centrifugal, and transitional spiral ascending vortexes were generated for different cases of the impeller variables. The impeller diameter and the off-bottom clearance were found to have a significant and interactive influence on the flow pattern, radial and axial velocities, velocity vector distribution, and axial fluctuating root mean square (RMS) velocity characteristics. When the centripetal flow was generated with a large impeller diameter and a small off-bottom clearance, the vortex stability was improved, the low-velocity distribution area was reduced near the bottom center, and the high axial RMS velocity distribution area was extended and became more consistent. The latter provided an advantageous condition for the momentum transfer between the liquid flow and the solid particles, as well as the airflow. However, the axial RMS velocity in the centrifugal flow formed in other cases of the impeller variables was less than that in the centripetal flow. Although the increase in the impeller off-bottom clearance contributed to increasing the velocity magnitude, this is certainly disadvantageous to the service life of the impeller blades, as expected from the high-velocity area extension. These results may provide a reference for the impeller design and optimization of a KYF (Kuang Yuan Flotation) flotation machine, as well as a basis for further investigation on the behavior of the dispersed phases inside a flow field.