Reducing the entrainment of clay minerals in flotation using tap and saline water

Liu, Di; Peng, Yongjun

doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2013.11.019

Cited by 104 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Due to the natural interleaving of mica with the flake graphite, it is not possible to produce grades of over 95% by flotation. The entrainment of sericite also leads to a poor flotation selectivity of the microcrystalline graphite ore [9,10]. Depressants such as starch and carboxylethyl cellulose have been reported to depress clay minerals thereby increase the grade of concentrate [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the Entrainment of Gangue Fines in Low Grade Microcrystalline Graphite Ore Flotation Using Multi-Stage Grinding-Flotation Process

Weng

Song

et al. 2017

Minerals

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Abstract:A suitable grinding fineness and flow-sheet could potentially reduce the mechanical entrainment of gangue minerals in the flotation process of microcrystalline graphite. In this study, the suitable grinding fineness of a commercial graphite ore was estimated by mineralogy analysis and laboratory grind-flotation tests. The target grind size of this ore should be 92% passing 74 µm based on the mineralogical evaluation and the flotation performance. A comparison of a single-stage and a three-stage grinding circuit was conducted. Experimental results demonstrated that the three-stage grinding circuit could effectively improve the separation effect, which was attributed to the reduction of slimes. In the end, a more desirable beneficiation result was obtained with the application of three-stage grinding-flotation process by minimizing gangue entrainment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the Entrainment of Gangue Fines in Low Grade Microcrystalline Graphite Ore Flotation Using Multi-Stage Grinding-Flotation Process

Weng

Song

et al. 2017

Minerals

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“…Brisbane tap water was used throughout the tests. The composition of this water is shown in Table 3-2 (Liu and Peng, 2014). …”

Section: Reagentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entrainment of fine particles in froth flotation

Wang¹

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Entrainment has become a significant issue nowadays with fine grinding being used to liberate valuable minerals from low grade and complex ores to increase "true flotation". Entrainment results in large amounts of fine gangue materials reporting to flotation concentrates along with recovered valuable minerals and reduces the final product quality. In froth flotation, entrainment is the dominant recovery mechanism for fine gangue mineral particles, and it is influenced by a number of factors in both the pulp and froth phase, including particle properties (e.g. particle size and density) and flotation operational variables (e.g. gas flowrate, froth depth, impeller speed and reagent dosage).A number of models incorporating different factors have been developed to estimate entrainment recovery. Most of these models relate entrainment recovery to two parameters: the water recovery to concentrate, and the degree of entrainment, a classification factor to account for the degree of drainage of entrained particles with respect to the water in the pulp and froth phases of a flotation cell. However, there are still significant barriers to be overcome before they can be applied for routine estimation of entrainment in industrial applications. There is no consensus as to the variables which significantly affect the entrainment process and should therefore be included in the model as well as to the mechanisms involved.This thesis investigated the effect of flotation operational factors and particle properties on the entrainment parameters (i.e. degree of entrainment and water recovery) and the mechanisms underpinning the observed effects. The objective of the thesis was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the key operating conditions and particle attributes influencing the entrainment of gangue minerals in flotation, which should enable the development of a more sophisticated predictive entrainment model by more accurately predicting the degree of entrainment and water recovery.A two level factorial experimental program was adopted to investigate the effect of impeller speed, gas flowrate, froth height and specific gravity of gangue minerals on the degree of entrainment.Batch flotation experiments were performed in a 3.5 L conventional Agitair flotation cell using a feed which was a mixture of liberated chalcopyrite and one of two liberated gangue minerals, quartz and hematite. Results show that there was no direct correlation between the degree of entrainment and water recovery, indicating that the key drivers of water recovery were not the same as those that affected the degree of entrainment.ii The degree of entrainment was significantly influenced by particle size, particle density, frother and the interaction between gas flowrate and froth height. The mechanisms underpinning the effect of these significant influencing factors were investigated. Results suggest that the classification of gangue mineral particles mainly occurs at the pulp/froth interface region. Whether a particle moves upward into the frot...

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“…Brisbane tap water with minor ion concentrations was used throughout the flotation process, because it did not have any negative effect on mineral flotation. The composition of Brisbane tap water is list in Table 4.5, as described elsewhere (Liu and Peng, 2014). Sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium chloride (KCl), magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) of analytical grade were used to make saline water of different strengths.…”

Section: Reagentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The camera was set up directly above the flotation cell and connected to a laptop device. The camera recorded the froth stability every 5 s automatically with the software (Liu and Peng, 2014). The average froth stability values were calculated after each set of tests.…”

Section: Froth Image and Stability Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Figure 5.7 the froth stability increased when kaolinite content was increased. Both high froth stability and smaller bubble size are typical characteristics of entrainment (Liu and Peng, 2014;Subrahmanyam and Forssberg, 1988;Wang and Peng, 2013;Wang et al, 2015a). Therefore, the decrease of copper grade with the increase of kaolinite proportion is also likely to be due to mechanical entrainment by which kaolinite minerals suspended in water due to their fine size, move upwards, enter the flotation froth and finally leave with the concentrate.…”

Section: Effect Of Clay Minerals On Froth Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Mitigating the deleterious effect of clay minerals on copper flotation

Wang¹

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Clay minerals have a deleterious effect on the mineral flotation process. Generally, two major phenomena are observed in industry when processing high clay ores: no froth formed on the top of the pulp phase and few valuable minerals loaded on the top of froth. This is an ARC Linkage project with support from Pionera, a reagent company manufacturing biopolymers.The objective of the project is to define the different effects of clay minerals on copper flotation, and then to mitigate the deleterious effects of specific clay minerals in copper flotation by biopolymers and other means.In this research, two types of clay minerals, swelling bentonite with a 2:1 structure and nonswelling kaolinite Q38 with a 1:1 structure, were chosen to represent two typical kinds of clay minerals often seen in industrial flotation plants. The influence of bentonite and kaolinite on copper flotation was investigated. It was found that bentonite and kaolinite affected the copper flotation in a different way. Increasing the proportion of bentonite increased the pulp viscosity that reduced the amount of froth on the top of slurry and decreased flotation rate, resulting in a lower copper recovery. On the other hand, increasing the kaolinite content mainly decreased the copper grade by entrainment that is characterised by smaller bubble size and higher froth stability. The different roles of bentonite and kaolinite in the flotation were associated with their unique structure properties. Also, the collector and frother dosage plays an important role in specifying the different effect of bentonite and kaolinite on copper flotation performance.To mitigate the deleterious effect of kaolinite, three lignosulfonate biopolymers from Pionera, DP-1775, DP-1777 and DP-1778 with different structures, were examined. While rheological measurements indicated that these biopolymers dispersed the kaolinite aggregates, a beneficial effect of biopolymers on copper flotation in the presence of kaolinite was not observed. Instead, interactions of biopolymers with the frother appeared to enhance the froth stability and therefore further reduced copper grade by mechanical entrainment. Two-phase foam characterization revealed that the foam height increased in the blends of biopolymers with the frother. The dispersing and foaming abilities of biopolymers were governed by their structure features such as the content of functional groups, the molecular weight and counterions.The three biopolymers, DP-1775, DP-1777 and DP-1778, were also tested to reduce the negative effect of bentonite in copper flotation. Rheological measurements indicated that all of II the three biopolymers could not significantly reduce the pulp viscosity which was dictated by bentonite. This is consistent with the observation that none of the three biopolymers could enhance the copper recovery effectively. Electrolytes were then used to mitigate the deleterious effect of bentonite on copper flotation through reducing the high pulp viscosity.

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Reducing the entrainment of clay minerals in flotation using tap and saline water

Cited by 104 publications

References 40 publications

Reducing the Entrainment of Gangue Fines in Low Grade Microcrystalline Graphite Ore Flotation Using Multi-Stage Grinding-Flotation Process

Reducing the Entrainment of Gangue Fines in Low Grade Microcrystalline Graphite Ore Flotation Using Multi-Stage Grinding-Flotation Process

Entrainment of fine particles in froth flotation

Mitigating the deleterious effect of clay minerals on copper flotation

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