Flotation of coarse composite particles in mechanical cell vs. the fluidised-bed separator (The HydroFloat™)

Fosu, Shadrack; Awatey, Bellson; Skinner, William; Zanin, Massimiliano

doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2015.03.011

Cited by 50 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…They further showed that tailings contained virtually no particles containing more than 1.5% exposed sulphide grain surface area. Fosu et al [28] concluded that the HF outperformed the CF for the upper particle size of about 500 µm during the flotation of model synthetic composites of quartz in a lead borate matrix with simple and locking texture at laboratory scale. Awatey et al [29] showed that the recovery of coarse sphalerite using the HF increased with increasing bed level, superficial water and gas flow rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Amenability of a PGM-Bearing Ore to Coarse Particle Flotation

et al. 2023

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Coarse particle flotation (CPF) is one of the strategies employed to reduce energy consumption in mineral-processing circuits. HydrofloatTM (HF) technology has been successfully applied in the coarse flotation of industrial minerals and sulphide middlings. However, this technology has not yet been applied in platinum group minerals (PGMs)’ flotation. In this paper, the amenability of platinum group minerals to CPF was investigated. Extensive flotation testwork was conducted to optimise the hydrodynamic parameters, i.e., bed level, air and water flow rates, in the flotation of coarse PGM feed using Hydrofloat. Mineralogical analysis of the feed and selected flotation products was conducted to understand the reasons for the recovery and loss of the valuable minerals. The results showed that the HF separator could upgrade the PGM ore with particles as coarse as +106 − 300 µm. For the optimised test, a reasonable Pt, Pd and Au recovery of 84% was achieved at a grade of 10 g/t and 16.5% mass pull, despite the platinum group minerals being poorly liberated (4.5 vol% fully liberated). The results demonstrated that HF achieved high recovery efficiencies across the 150–300 microns size fraction. The HF was therefore able to substantially increase the upper particle size that can be successfully treated by flotation in PGM operations. It was found that an increase in bed height, water rate and air flow rate resulted in an increase in recovery to a maximum. A further increase in the hydrodynamic parameters resulted in a decline in recovery. Hydrofloat outperformed the conventional Denver flotation machine across the following size fractions: +106 − 150 µm, +150 − 212 µm, +212 − 250 µm and +250 − 300 µm. The practical implications of the findings on the modification of existing circuits and the design of novel flowsheets for the processing of PGM ores with less water and energy consumption are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Amenability of a PGM-Bearing Ore to Coarse Particle Flotation

et al. 2023

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“…However, the lack of testing of some factors and neglect of other important ones resulted in needing more understanding. Compared to those for flotation of finer sizes, the cell hydrodynamic conditions for the flotation of coarse particles are drastically different (Fosu et al, 2015). In addition, the effects of interactions between different variables on the flotation process of coarse particles are not considered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of microbubbles on coarse particle anionic flotation: analysis and optimization

Abbaker,

Aslan

2023

Physicochem. Probl. Miner. Process.

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Since the grinding and chemical reagents required for flotation are expensive, coarse particle flotation reduces grinding costs and makes the subsequent process more accessible and cheaper. Recent studies suggest that the flotation of coarse particles using microbubbles has some advantages. However, a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of various flotation parameters and the impact of their interactions on the recovery of coarse particles in the presence and absence of microbubbles has yet to be fully understood. In the current study, the two-level factorial and Box-Behnken experimental designs were performed to characterize, assess, and optimize the implications of seven numerical (sodium oleate, collector; calcium oxide, activator; MIBC, frother; impeller speed; froth depth; pulp concentration; fine particles) and one categorical (microbubbles) independent parameters on the coarse quartz particles. Characterization revealed that froth depth did not significantly affect the flotation recovery of coarse particles in the mechanical laboratory cell. The effects of the variables in the presence of microbubbles revealed that sodium oleate and impeller speed significantly impacted recovery, followed by calcium oxide and fine particles, both of which had a medium influence, and MIBC and pulp concentration, which had a minimal impact. The recovery of coarse particles increased by 92.714% when microbubbles were used, compared to the estimated maximum recovery under ideal conditions of 62.258% without them. From this, it can be concluded that a high coarse particle flotation recovery is possible by optimizing the hydrodynamic conditions and the chemical environment using microbubbles.

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“…There are many investigations focusing on the application of TBS. For improving the separation efficiency, several measures were taken on the equipment, such as optimization of the feeding structure, installation of inclined plates and introducing of the pulsating water flow and bubbles and thus, a series of new separators were produced [9][10][11][12]. It has been reported that new separators were well applied in mineral sand, low grade iron ore, chromite and coal fines in industry, as well as pyrite, phosphate ore, heavy minerals, electronic waste and hematite in laboratory and pilot plants [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Studies on Teeter Bed Separator for Particle Separation

et al. 2020

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Teeter Bed Separators (TBS) are liquid–solid fluidized beds that are widely used in separation of coarse particles in coal mining industry. The coal particles settle in the self-generating medium bed resulting in separation according to density. Due to the existence of self-generating medium beds, it is difficult to study the sedimentation of particles in TBS through experiments and detection methods. In the present research, a model was built to investigate the bed expansion characteristics with water velocity based on the Euler–Euler approach, and to investigate the settling of foreign particles through bed based on the Euler–Lagrange approach in TBS. Results show that the separation of in TBS should be carried out at low water velocity under the condition of stable fluidized bed. Large particles have a high slip velocity, and they are easily flowing through the bed into the light product leading to a mismatch. The importance of self-generating bed on separation of particle with narrow size ranges are clarified. The model provides a way for investigating the separation of particles in a liquid–solid fluidized bed and provides suggestions for the selection of operation conditions in TBS application.

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Flotation of coarse composite particles in mechanical cell vs. the fluidised-bed separator (The HydroFloat™)

Cited by 50 publications

References 16 publications

Investigating the Amenability of a PGM-Bearing Ore to Coarse Particle Flotation

Investigating the Amenability of a PGM-Bearing Ore to Coarse Particle Flotation

The effect of microbubbles on coarse particle anionic flotation: analysis and optimization

Numerical Studies on Teeter Bed Separator for Particle Separation

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