Nanobubble generation and its application in froth flotation (part I): nanobubble generation and its effects on properties of microbubble and millimeter scale bubble solutions

A special nanobubble generation system has been developed for evaluating the effect of nanobubble on froth flotation. In this study, an eight-factor five-level Central Composite Experimental Design was conducted for investigating eight important parameters governing the median size and the volume of nanobubbles. These process parameters included surfactant concentration, dissolved oxygen (O2) content, dissolved carbon dioxide gas (CO2) content, pressure drop in cavitation tube nozzle, <50 nm hydrophobic particle concentration, <50 nm hydrophilic particle concentration, slurry temperature and the time interval after nanobubble generation. The properties, stability and uniformity of nanobubbles were investigated. The study of the produced nanobubble’s effects on the characteristics of microbubble solutions and millimeter scale bubble solutions was performed in a 50.8 mm column.

Nanobubble generation and its applications in froth flotation(part Ⅱ):fundamental study and theoretical analysis

Froth flotation is a commonly employed technology to improve the quality of raw coal and minerals.Coal and minerals particle size and surface hydrophobicity are two main parameters that affect three key steps in froth flotation process:particle-bubble collision,adhesion,and detachment.This paper fundamentally investigated the effects of nanobubble on coal and phosphate flotation.It has been found that the presence of nanobubble in flotation pulp could widen the coal and phosphate flotation particle size range,increase the particle surface hydrophobicity,and thus improve the coal and phosphate froth flotation recovery.

Froth flotation of scheelite – A review

Froth flotation of scheelite has regained new focus since the 2010s and research regarding floatability and reagents has made great progress over the years. The main objective was and remains the selective flotation of scheelite from other calcium-bearing minerals, in particular calcite, fluorite and apatite. Due to similar properties, most attempts have limited success or only specific application(linked to a type of ore or a location). This article aims at reviewing all general physical-chemical information on froth flotation of scheelite, including electrokinetic properties, influence of p H and already existing reagents as well as ones still under examination. It appears that chelating or mixed collectors and modified versions of sodium silicate and quebracho hold great promise for scheelite flotation, while the use of said depressants and/or promoters seems inevitable.

Nanobubble generation and its applications in froth flotation(partⅢ):specially designed laboratory scale column flotation of phosphate

Froth flotation is used widely for upgrading raw phosphate.The flotation recovery of coarse phosphate(-1.18+0.425 mm) is much lower than that achieved on the-0.425+0.15 mm size fraction.Enhanced recovery of coarse phosphate particles is of great economic and environmental importance for phosphate industry.In this investigation,four different phosphate samples were aquired,characterized and tested in a specially designed laboratory-scale flotation column.Significant recovery improvement of coarse phosphate flotation was achieved using cavitation-generated nanobubble though its effects differ among the four testing phosphate samples.The laboratory-scale flotation column test results indicate that nanobubble increased P_2O_5 recovery by up to 10%～30%for a given Acid Insoluble(A.I.) rejection,depending on the characteristic of phosphate samples.The improvement effect of nanobubble on the hard-to-float particles was more significant than that on easy-to-float particles,especially at lower collector dosages.Nanobubbles reduced the collector dosage by 1/3 to 1/2.Nanobubbles almost doubled the coarse phosphate flotation rate constant and increased the flotation selectivity index by up to 25%.

Nanobubble generation and its applications in froth flotation(part IV):mechanical cells and specially designed column flotation of coal

Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel.Coal froth flotation is a widely used cleaning process to separate coal from mineral impurities.Flotation of coarse coal particles,ultrafine coal particles and oxidized coal particles is well known to be difficult and complex.In this paper,the nanobubbles' effects on the flotation of the varying particle size,particle density and floatability coal samples were evaluated using a bank of pilot scale flotation cells,a laboratory scale and a pilot scale specially designed flotation column.The parameters evaluated during this study include the flow rate ratio between the nanobubble generator and the conventional size bubble generator,the superficial air velocity,collector dosage,frother concentration,flotation feed rate,feed solids concentration,feed particle size,and the superficial wash water flow rate,etc.The results show that the use of nanobubbles in a bank of mechanical cells flotation and column flotation increased the flotation recovery by 8%～27% at a given product grade.Nanobubbles increased the flotation rate constants of 600～355,355～180,180～75,and 75～0 microns size coal particles by 98.0%,98.4%,50.0% and 41.6%,respectively.The separation selectivity index was increased by up to 34%,depending on the flotation feed characteristics and the flotation conditions.

On the optimization of froth flotation by the use of an artificial neural network

A multi layered, feed forward Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to study the effect of feed mean size, collector dosage and impeller speed on flotation recovery and grade. The results of 30 flotation experiments conducted on Jordanian siliceous phosphate were used for training the network while another 10 experiments were used for validation. Simulation results showed that a four layer network with a [9 11 5 9 2] architecture was the one that gave the least mean squared error (MSE). Using this ANN to optimize the flotation process showed that the optimum flotation parameters were 321.28 μm for the feed mean size, 0.7354 kg/TOF for the collector dosage and 1225.25 RPM for the impeller speed. Studying the effect of these parameters on flotation recovery and grade was done by analysis of variance, ANOVA. The results showed that grade was more sensitive to changes in flotation parameters than was recovery. They also showed that changes in collector dosage had a more significant effect on flotation grade and recovery than did changes in feed mean size or impeller speed.

Froth flotation of refuse coal fines and process optimization using 2D surface plots

Refuse coal fines of size <500 μm was collected from a metallurgical coal preparation plant located in the eastern coalfield region of India. The coal was beneficiated using froth flotation technique to recover clean coal with ash content of about 20% with the highest possible yield. Diesel oil as collector and pine oil as frother were used. Box-Behnken statistical design was followed for analyzing the performance at varying pulp density, collector and frother dosage. Results were discussed using 2D surface plots. Response function predictions determined by the regression analysis show coefficient of correlation(R^2) for yield and the ash content as 0.72 and 0.86, respectively. The highest yield of 45.79% is obtained at pulp density 10%, collector dose 2 kg/t and frother dose 1.5 kg/t. The lowest ash content of 18.9% is obtained at pulp density 10%, collector dose 1 kg/t and frother dose 1 kg/t.

Kinetic approach to the study of froth flotation applied to a lepidolite ore

The number of published studies related to the optimization of lithium extraction from low-grade ores has increased as the demand for lithium has grown. However, no study related to the kinetics of the concentration stage of lithium-containing minerals by froth flotation has yet been reported. To establish a factorial design of batch flotation experiments, we conducted a set of kinetic tests to determine the most selective alternative collector, define a range of pulp p H values, and estimate a near-optimum flotation time. Both collectors（Aeromine 3000 C and Armeen 12D） provided the required flotation selectivity, although this selectivity was lost in the case of pulp p H values outside the range between 2 and 4. Cumulative mineral recovery curves were used to adjust a classical kinetic model that was modified with a non-negative parameter representing a delay time. The computation of the near-optimum flotation time as the maximizer of a separation efficiency（SE） function must be performed with caution. We instead propose to define the near-optimum flotation time as the time interval required to achieve 95%–99% of the maximum value of the SE function.

Separation of azodicarbonamide from surface of diatomite by froth flotation

The separation of azodicarbonamide(AC)from the surface of diatomite by froth flotation is investigated in this research.Pure samples of diatomite,AC and1:1mixtures of the two were floated in a lab-scale flotation cell withcollector dosage,frother type and dosage,and pH varied to determine the optimum experimental conditions.The diatomite sample and products from flotation tests were characterized using scanning electron microscopy(SEM)equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX).The results of the flotation tests indicate that there is less AC on the surface of diatomite after flotation compared to the feed,while the AC present in diatomite pores remains unchanged.Additionally,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR)was employed to study the mechanism of interaction between reagents and minerals.

Minimalization of Ash from Iranian Gilsonite by Froth Flotation

Gilsonite is a natural, brittle, and glisten tar hydrocarbon, which widely uses in the chemical, paint, and oil industry, besides asphalt production and thermal insulation. Major gangues of Gilsonite are gypsum, pyrite, silica, dolomite, calcite, and shale which are known as ash. Due to the fine liberation degree of gangue minerals from Gilsonite, most of the physical mineral processing methods are not applicable. Gilsonite has partially a behavior like coal in flotation due to its high carbon content and the similar composition of ash. As a result, flotation is one of the best methods to decrease the ash content of Gilsonite. In this study, four factors i.e. the dosage of collector, frother, and depressant, and solid to liquid ratio in three levels were examined in flotation to reduce the ash content and increase the recovery of Gilsonite. These tests were designed with the Taguchi method by Design-Expert software. Our results showed the lowest ash content of 5.2% was obtained in the condition which 200 g/t Gasoil as collector, 100 g/t MIBC as a frother, 300 g/t sodium silicate as a depressant, and pulp density was 5% solid to liquid weight ratio.

A froth velocity measurement method based on improved U-Net++semantic segmentation in flotation process

During flotation,the features of the froth image are highly correlated with the concentrate grade and the corresponding working conditions.The static features such as color and size of the bubbles and the dynamic features such as velocity have obvious differences between different working conditions.The extraction of these features is typically relied on the outcomes of image segmentation at the froth edge,making the segmentation of froth image the basis for studying its visual information.Meanwhile,the absence of scientifically reliable training data with label and the necessity to manually construct dataset and label make the study difficult in the mineral flotation.To solve this problem,this paper constructs a tungsten concentrate froth image dataset,and proposes a data augmentation network based on Conditional Generative Adversarial Nets(cGAN)and a U-Net++-based edge segmentation network.The performance of this algorithm is also evaluated and contrasted with other algorithms in this paper.On the results of semantic segmentation,a phase-correlationbased velocity extraction method is finally suggested.

Analysis of Texture of Froth Image in Coal Flotation

Froth image features of coal flotation have been extracted and studied by neighboring grey level dependence matrix, spatial grey level dependence matrix and grey level histogram. In this paper, a basic algorithm of unsupervised learning pattern classification is presented, and coal flotation froth images are classified by means of self organizing map (SOM). By extracting features from 51 flotation froth images with laboratory column, four types of froth images are classified. The correct rate of SOM cluster is satisfactory. And a good relationship of froth type with average ash content is also observed.

STUDIES ON THE FROTH CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPOSITE COLLECTORS IN NONMETALLIC MINERAL FLOTATION

The flotation results of a phosphate ore are improved by replacing the conventional collectors of fatty acids with composite collectors. The synergistic effect on the froth characteristics in systems using composite collectors has then been studied, and the concept of 'mixed hemimicellae' has been proposed in the adsorption of composite collectors at the air/solution interfaces.

Effect and mechanism of siderite on reverse anionic flotation of quartz from hematite

Reverse flotation technology is one of the most efficient ways to improve the quality and reduce impurity of iron concentrate. Mineral processors dealing with hematite face a challenge that the flotation results of reverse flotation of hematite are poor in presence of siderite using fatty acid as collector, starch as depressant of iron minerals and calcium ion as activator of quartz at strong alkaline pH. In this work, the effect of siderite on reverse anionic flotation of quartz from hematite was investigated. The effect mechanism of siderite on reverse flotation of hematite was studied by solution chemistry, ultraviolet spectrophotometry(UV) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). It was observed that siderite had strong depressive effect on quartz in flotation using sodium oleate as collector, corn starch as depressant of iron minerals and calcium chloride as activator of quartz at strong alkaline pH. The starch was adsorbed onto calcium carbonate by chemical reaction which was formed by CO^(2-)_3 from siderite dissolution and Ca^(2+) from calcium chloride as activator of quartz and precipitated on the surface of quartz, which resulted in improving the hydrophilic ability of quartz.

Flotation of indium-beard marmatite from multi-metallic ore

Flotation of indium-beard marmatite from Dulong multi-metallic ore in Yunnan Province of China was studied to improve the grades and recoveries of zinc and indium of the zinc concentrate in Dulong concentration plant. The experimental results indicated that copper sulfate mixed with a chemical reagent X- 1 as the activator in the marmatite flotation produced a much better beneficiation than copper sulfate alone, increasing the zinc and indium recoveries of 10% and 6%, respectively, while the concentrate grades remained unchanged. Also, the new activator acted well around pH 10, allowing large savings on lime consumption in the marmatite flotation. In addition, it has been found that a sufficient activated time of activator with ore slurry in the flotation is needed to achieve good beneficiation of the marmatite ore.

Flotation behavior of four dodecyl tertiary amines as collectors of diaspore and kaolinite

The flotation of diaspore and kaolinite by one of a series of tertiary amines（DRN,DEN,DPN and DBN） was investigated.The tertiary amines show better floating recovery for kaolinite compared to diaspore.The maximum recovery D-value is 45%over a pH range from 3 to 8.FT-IR spectra confirm the presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface of kaolinite and diaspore.Zeta potential measurements show that the mineral surfaces are negatively charged over a wide pH range.Ionization of hydroxyl groups mainly accounts for the surface charging mechanism.The adsorption of tertiary amines onto the mineral surface is due mainly to electrostatic effects and the difference in electrostatic effect between a collector and the two minerals can explain the flotation separation.Inductive electronic and steric effects from the substituent groups result in different collecting powers for the four tertiary amines.

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.

Coordinated optimization setting of reagent dosages in roughing-scavenging process of antimony flotation

Considering the influence of reagent adjustment in different flotation bank on the final production index and the difficulty of establishing an effective mathematical model,a coordinated optimization method for dosage reagent based on key characteristics variation tendency and case-based reasoning is proposed.On the basis of the expert reagent regulation method in antimony flotation process,the reagent dosage pre-setting model of the roughing–scavenging bank is constructed based on case-based reasoning.Then,the sensitivity index is used to calculate the key features of reagent dosage.The reagent dosage compensation model is constructed based on the variation tendency of the key features in the roughing and scavenging process.At last,the prediction model is used to finish the classification and discriminant analysis.The simulation results and industrial experiment in antimony flotation process show that the proposed method reduces fluctuation of the tailings indicators and the cost of reagent dosage.It can lay a foundation for optimizing the whole process of flotation.

An effective approach for improving flotation recovery of molybdenite fines from a finely-disseminated molybdenum ore

An effective flotation approach is proposed for improving the recovery of molybdenite fines from a finely-disseminated molybdenum ore. To maximize the flotation recovery of molybdenum, process mineralogy of raw ore, contrast tests, optimization of operation conditions and particle size analysis were systematically investigated. Process mineralogy suggests that in the raw ore, 61.63% of molybdenite particles distribute in the 〈20 pm size fraction, and intergrow with muscovite and pyrite as the contained and disseminated type. Contrast tests indicate that conventional flotation responds to poor collection efficiency for particles less than 25 pm. Oil agglomerate flotation （OAF） process demonstrates an obvious superiority in improving the flotation recovery of molybdenite fines. Furthermore, the flotation results of OAF process reveal that the dosage of transformer oil plays a critical role on the average size of collected mineral particles （d（0）, agglomerates （d^0） and the molybdenum recovery. In addition, industrial tests illustrate that compared with the Mo-S bulk flotation approach, OAF process not only increases Mo recovery and grade of molybdenum concentrate by 22.75% and 17.47% respectively, but also achieves a sulfur concentrate with a superior grade of 38.92%.

Flotation studies on low grade graphite ore from eastern India

A low grade graphite ore from eastern India was beneficiated by flotation to improve its quality. The ore was composed of 87.80%ash and 8.59%fixed carbon. Primary coarse wet grinding （d80：186 μm） followed by rougher flotation in Denver flotation cell using diesel as collector and pine oil as frother yielded a rougher concentrate. Regrinding （d80：144 μm） of this rougher concentrate was opted for further libera-tion of graphite. It was followed by cleaning in laboratory flotation column. This combined process of relatively coarse primary grinding followed by regrinding and cleaning in flotation column resulted in final concentrate of 7.44% yield with 89.65% fixed carbon and 6.00% ash. This approach of two-stage grinding to recover the flake graphite at the coarsest possible grind can help to minimize grinding energy costs. A conceptual flow sheet which is cost effective was developed based on this methodology.