Nano-microbubble flotation of fine and ultrafine chalcopyrite particles

As is well known to mineral processing scientists and engineers, fine and ultrafine particles are difficult to float mainly due to the low bubble-particle collision efficiencies. Though many efforts have been made to improve flotation performance of fine and ultrafine particles, there is still much more to be done. In this paper, the effects of nano-microbubbles （nanobuhbles and microbubbles） on the flotation of fine （-38 ＋ 14.36 μm） and ultrafine （-14.36 ＋ 5μm） chalcopyrite particles were investigated in a laboratory scale Denver flotation cell. Nano-microbubbles were generated using a specially-designed nano- microbubble generator based on the cavitation phenomenon in Venturi tubes. In order to better under- stand the mechanisms of nano-microbubble enhanced froth flotation of fine and ultrafine chalcopyrite particles, the nano-microbubble size distribution, stability and the effect of frother concentration on nano- bubble size were also studied by a laser diffraction method. Comparative flotation tests were performed in the presence and absence of nano-microbubbles to evaluate their impact on the fine and ultrafine chalcopyrite particle flotation recovery. According to the results, the mean size of nano-microbubbles increased over time, and decreased with increase of frother concentration. The laboratory-scale flotation test results indicated that flotation recovery of chalcopyrite fine and ultrafine particles increased by approximately 16-21% in the presence of nano-microbubbles, depending on operating conditions of the process. The presence of nano-microbubbles increased the recovery of ultrafine particles （-14.36 ＋ 5 μm） more than that of fine particles （-38 ＋ 14.36 μm）. Another major advantage is that the use of nano-microbubbles reduced the collector and frother consumptions by up to 75% and 50%, respectively.

Collision and attachment behavior between fine cassiterite particles and H_2 bubbles

Particle-bubble interaction during electro-flotation of cassiterite was investigated by determining the recovery of cassiterite and the collision mechanism of cassiterite particle and H2 bubble. Flotation tests at different conditions were conducted in a single bubble flotation cell. The recovery of cassiterite was found to be affected by cassiterite particle and bubble size. A matching range, in which the best recovery can be obtained, was found between particle and bubble size. Collision, attachment, and detachment of the particle-bubble were observed and captured by a high-speed camera. Particle-bubble collision and attachment were analyzed with the use of particle-bubble interaction theory to obtain the experimental results. An attachment model was introduced and verified through the photos captured by the high-speed camera. A bridge role was observed between the bubbles and particles. Particle-bubble interaction was found to be affected by bubble size and particle size, which significantly influenced not only the collision and attachment behavior of the particles and bubbles but also the flotation recovery of fine cassiterite particles.

Electro-flotation and collision-attachment mechanism of fine cassiterite

In order to discuss the particle-bubble interaction during the electro-flotation of cassiterite,the recovery of cassiterite with different particle sizes was investigated,and the collision mechanism between the cassiterite particles and H2 bubbles was explored.The flotation tests were carried out in a single bubble flotation cell.The results show that cassiterite particles 10 μm,10-20 μm,20？38 μm and 38-74 μm match with bubbles with size of 50-150 μm,about 250 μm,74 μm and 74 μm,respectively,and a better recovery can be obtained.It is demonstrated that the recovery of cassiterite is influenced by the size of cassiterite particles and bubbles.Furthermore,the probabilities of collision,adhesion,detachment and collection were calculated using the collision,attachment and collection models.Theoretical calculation results show that the collision probability decreases sharply with decreasing particle size and increasing bubble size（below 150 μm）.The attachment probability would increase from the effective collision,leading to the increase of recovery.