Effect of degree of substitution of carboxymethyl starch on diaspore depression in reverse flotation

Carboxymethyl starchs（CMS） with low and high degrees of substitution（CMSL and CMSH in short,respectively） were employed as depressants of diaspore in cationic reverse flotation using dodecylamine（DDA） as collector.The effect of degree of substitution of CMS on its depression performance was examined and the interaction mode and behavior were investigated in a comparative manner.Micro-flotation test showed that CMSL exhibited better performance in depressing diaspore than CMSH in a broad pH range.The adsorption of CMS on diaspore was studied by adsorption test,zeta potential measurement,and atomic force microscopy.It was found that CMSH corresponds to lower adsorption amount,thinner adsorption layer,and more negative charge than CMSL,resulting from the more chelating sites brought by the high degree of substitution.The surface tension measurement and DDA adsorption test further revealed that CMSL/DDA system gives a better depressing performance benefiting from the trapping effect by enveloping some DDA molecules inside the loop chains,while CMSH/DDA system is likely considered a quasi-surfactant.

Flotation and adsorption of quaternary ammonium cationic collectors on diaspore and kaolinite

The flotation and adsorption behaviors of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride（DTAC） and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride（CTAC） on diaspore and kaolinite were studied.Solution depletion methods were used to determine adsorption isotherms.Fluorescence probe test along with Zeta potential measurement was also conducted for further investigation into the adsorption of quaternary amines at the mineral-water interface.The results show that the flotation recovery of kaolinite decreases with an increase in pH when DTAC and CTAC are used as collectors,while diaspore is on the contrary.As the carbon chain length of the collectors increases,the flotation recoveries of minerals increase.However,the increment rate of kaolinite is significantly lower than that of diaspore.In the low surfactant concentration range,the cationic surfactants adsorb readily on diaspore surfaces just due to electrostatic interactions.As for kaolinite surfaces,ion exchange process also exists.With a further increase in surfactant concentration,the adsorption was ascribed to the hydrophobic association of chain-chain interactions.Micro-polarity of mineral surfaces study shows that CTAC has a better hydrophobic characteristic than DTAC.Larger aggregates are formed with CTAC on diaspore than on kaolinite in the same solution concentration.The results also indicate that the chain length of cationic surfactants has a greater influence on the adsorption of diaspore than on kaolinite,which is consistent with the flotation result.

Effect of metallic ions on dispersibility of fine diaspore

Dispersion experiments were conducted to study the influence of metallic cations on the dispersibility of diaspore. The reaction mechanisms were investigated based on the analysis of zeta （ξ） potential and calculations of solution chemistry and DLVO theory. The results show that the valence of cations, instead of the cation type, plays an important role in the dispersibility of diaspore The impact of multivalent metallic cations is greater than that of monovalent cations. In the presence of Ca^2＋ and Mg^2＋, the dispersion of diaspore doesn＇t change in the range of pH value below 10. However, Ca^2＋ and Mg^2＋ may induce strong coagulation of particles when pH value is higher than 10. The adsorption of species of calcium and magnesium ions on diaspore can cause the compression of electric double layer, the decrease of the absolute value of zeta potential and the repulsion force between diaspore particles. The new IEP （isoelectric point） appeared at pH value of 11 may attribute to the adsorption of Mg（OH）2（s）.

Kinetics of AlOOH dissolving in caustic solution studied by high-pressure DSC

Mechanism functions and kinetic parameters of AlOOH（boehmite or diaspore） dissolving in sodium hydroxide solution were researched.The mixture of boehmite or diaspore and caustic solution was scanned by high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） instrument with heating rate of 10 ℃/min,and differential equation method was used to analyse the DSC curves,combining with iterative method and linear least square method.The most probable mechanism functions for both boehmite or diaspore and caustic solution reactions were logically selected from 30 types of non-isothermal kinetics differential equations,according to the calculated results obtained by Matlab program.The most probable differential mechanism function of boehmite dissolving in caustic solution is f（α）=1-α,which reveals the first-order reaction with apparent activation energy of 79.178 kJ/mol and the preexponential constant 1.031×108 s-1.The function,f（α）=2（1-α）3/2,can describe the dissolution of diaspore sample in sodium hydroxide solution.The calculated results of kinetic parameters are apparent activation energy of 73.858 kJ/mol,preexponential constant of 5.752×107 s-1 and reaction order of 1.5.

Efficient separation of alumina and silica in reduction-roasted kaolin by alkali leaching

Alkali leaching was employed to investigate the separation of alumina and silica in roasted kaolin obtained by roasting kaolin alone in air at 1273 K for 60 min and in clinker prepared by roasting the mixed raw meal of kaolin,ferric oxide and coal powder with Fe2O3/Al2O3/C molar ratio of 1.2:2.0:1.2 in reducing atmosphere at 1373 K for 60 min.The thermodynamic analyses and alkali leaching results show that the composition of the Al-Si spinel in roasted kaolin is close to that of 3Al2O3·2SiO2 and the spinel is dissolved with increasing leaching time,resulting in difficulty in deeply separating alumina and silica in kaolin by the traditional roasting-leaching process.On the contrary,the efficient separation of alumina and silica in kaolin can be reached by fully converting kaolinite into insoluble hercynite and soluble free silica,namely quartz solid solution and cristobalite solid solution,during reduction roasting,followed by alkali leaching of the obtained clinker.Furthermore,experimental results from treating high-silica diasporic bauxite indicate that the reduction roasting-alkali leaching process is potential to separate silica and alumina in aluminosilicates.

Mineralogical and sink-float studies of Jajarm low-grade bauxite

Jajarm＇s bauxite deposits are mainly diasporic, and they have a low mass ratio of Al2O3/SiO2. It is necessary to increase the run-of-mine mass ratio before feeding the material to the Bayer process. Chemical analysis indicated that the low-grade bauxite sample from Jajarm contained 43.9wt% Al2O3 and 13.35wt% SiO2, resulting in a mass ratio of 3.29. According to mineralogical studies, the presence of aluminosilicate minerals such as kaolinite, illite, and quartz was the main reason for the decrease of the mass ratio. Microscopic observations revealed that, with the size reduction from -1000＋710 to -38 μm, the liberation degree of diaspore increased from 10% to 60%, and that of aluminosilicates increased from 20% to 85%. Heavy liquids with the densities of 2.8, 3.0, 3.2, and 3.4 g/cm3 were used to evaluate the heavy media separation in three sizes, i.e., -3350＋710, -710＋212, and -212＋125 μm. Laboratory studies confirm that the density of 3.2 g/cm3 can produce the concentrates （in sunk fractions） with recoveries of 89.09%, 91.24%, and 84.68% with the Al2O3/SiO2 mass ratios of 5.03, 5.16, and 5.15 for the -3350＋710, -710＋212, and -212＋ 125 μ m sizes, respectively.

Interactions between bubble and particles of key minerals of diasporic bauxite through the extended DLVO theory

The flotation of diasporic bauxite is to separate diaspore(valuable mineral)from aluminosilicate minerals(gangue minerals,mainly including kaolinite,illite and pyrophyllite),and the microscopic interaction force between the two types of minerals and air bubbles determines the separation efficiency.In this paper,based on the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek(DLVO)theory,the van der Waals,electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction between particles of the four minerals mentioned above and air bubbles in collectorless solution were calculated first,and then diaspore and kaolinite were taken as examples to analyze the influence of various factors such as electrolyte concentration,mineral particle size,air bubble size,collector type(dodecylamine hydrochloride(DAH)and sodium oleate(NaOL))and concentration,and pulp pH on the interactions between the particles of valuable mineral and gangue minerals and air bubbles.The results showed that the total extended DLVO interactions between the four minerals and air bubbles were repulsive in most cases in collectorless solution.The increase in electrolyte concentration reduced the interaction force or even changed the direction of the force under certain circumstances.The addition of DAH and NaOL can reduce the adhesion energy barrier of kaolinitebubble and diaspore-bubble respectively.Each type of minerals exhibited a specific interface interaction response with air bubbles in each collector with different pH values.The research results have theoretical guiding significance for the optimization and directional control of diasporic bauxite flotation conditions.

Flotation techniques for separation of diaspore from bauxite using Gemini collector and starch depressant

The floatability of diaspore and three kinds of silicate minerals,including kaolinite,illite and pyrophyllite,by a cationic Gemini surfactant as collector and starch as depressant was investigated as function of reagents concentration and pulp pH.Further studies of artificially mixed minerals and bauxite ore were also detailedly conducted.At last,the pre-desliming reverse flotation separation process was adopted.It can be concluded that the combinational use of a Gemini cationic collector and the starch depressant is effective.The concentrates with Al2O3 to SiO2 mass ratio of 9.66 and the recovery of Al2O3 of 71.73% are obtained from natural bauxite ore(A/S=5.70) at pH value of around 10.

Effect of modified starches on depression of diaspore

Four modified starches with selected charge characteristics including cationic starch(CAS),carboxymethyl starch(CMS),amphoteric starch(AMS) and soluble starch(SS) were investigated as depressants for diaspore in reverse flotation test using cationic collector(dodecylamine).Adsorption examination,Zeta potential measurement and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy were used to clarify the role of the surface charge characteristics of starches in determining the adsorption behavior and depression performance as well as the mineral-starch interaction.Results show that the positively charged starches(CAS and AMS) display higher adsorption amounts and also better depression performance compared with the non-ionic(SS) and anionic starch(CMS),benefiting from the favorable electrostatic attraction with diaspore and also electrostatic repulsion with collector.FTIR spectroscopy proves the presence of hydrogen bonds and chemical complexation between mineral and starches in an integrated manner.

Flotation of kaolinite and diaspore with hexadecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride

Tertiary amine was synthesized from fatty amine and formaldehyde. And then the synthesized tertiary amine was used to react with benzyl chloride to synthesize hexadecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (1627) at ambient pressure. Using the synthesized 1627 as collector,the flotation properties of diaspore and kaolinite were investigated by single mineral and mixed mineral test. The flotation mechanism of diaspore,kaolinite and 1627 was discussed based on FTIR spectra. The results show that the mass ratio of aluminum to silicate achieves 15.02 and the recovery of alumina in concentrate is 43.07% using 1627 as a collector. The 1627 is found to be a more effective and a promising collector for reverse flotation to remove aluminum-silicate minerals from bauxite.

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.

A novel depressor useful for flotation separation of diaspore and kaolinite

The floatation of the minerals diaspore and kaolinite was investigated using dodecylamine as the collector.Separating diaspore and kaolinite in a neutral pH pulp is difficult since they then have similar floatability.A depressor consisting of an AlCl3/Na2SiO3 mixture is demonstrated to solve this problem.Diaspore sinking may be seen when the ratio of AlCl3 to Na2SiO3 is 3:1.We refer to this mixture as ATNO.The influence of Al/Si ratio in the feedstock and the grain size of fed minerals on separation was examined.An Al/Si ratio in the concentrate greater than 11 may be obtained when the Al/Si ratio of the feed is between 2.53 and 4.96.However,the grain size of the diaspore greatly influences the concentrate grade.Finer grain size of the diaspore(<40 μm) in pulp makes the flotation separation less than ideal,no matter what the kaolinite grain size.

Mineralogy, liberation and leaching characteristics of iron oxide phases in an Indian diaspore sample

The removal of iron from an Indian diaspore sample was studied using magnetic separation and leaching techniques aided by an in-depth mineralogical characterization study involving quantitative mineralogical evaluation by scanning electron microscope（QEMSCAN）, electron probe micro-analyzer（EPMA） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）. The characterization studies indicate that extremely fine-sized hematite grains are associated with several other mineral phases in a complex manner with around 60% of the hematite not liberated even below the size of 38 μm limiting the scope of physical separation processes to remove the iron. Wet high intensity magnetic separation（WHIMS） studies reveal that only 49% of iron can be removed. Further, leaching studies using oxalic acid suggest that around 76% of the iron can be removed under conditions such as a solid to liquid ratio of 0.05：1, a temperature of 90 ℃ a time period of 120 min and an acid concentration of 1 mol/L. The dissolution of iron in oxalic acid is found to be controlled by chemical reaction and the activation energy is calculated as 35.15 k J/mol.

Interaction and flotation of diaspore with alkylamine hydrochlorides

Electrokinetics and flotation of diaspore in solutions of different alkylamine hydrochlorides (with 12,14 and 16 carbon atoms) were studied. The point of zero charge (PZC) of diaspore was determined by measuring zeta potential (streaming potential method) as a function of pH. Dodecyl , tetradecyl and hexadecylamine hydrochloride ions seem to be strongly adsorbed on the interface because they make the zeta potential more positive as the concentration increases. The PZC of diaspore is determined at pH 5.7. Flotation of diaspore was studied and shown to be influenced by the chain length of collectors and both collector and hydrogen ion concentration. The optimal experimental flotation conditions as pH and concentrations agreed well with that predicted from solution chemistry calculations, and the floatability of diaspore is poor while the pH value of flotation system is too high or low. The results of calculation also predict a wide pH range of effective flotation with increasing collector concentration.[

Breakage Distribution Estimation of Bauxite Based on Piecewise Linearized Breakage Rate

Laboratory tests were carried out to study the breakage kinetics of diasporic bauxite and determine its breakage distribution function. Non-first order breakage with different deceleration rates for different size intervals is found, which is most probably caused by the heterogeneity of the ore. Piecewise linearization method is proposed to describe the non-first order breakage according to its characteristics. In the method, grinding time is divided into several intervals and breakage is assumed to be first order in each interval. So, the breakage rates are calculated by taking the product of the last interval as feed and then established as a function of particle size and grinding time. Based on the predetermined breakage rate function, the breakage distribution of the ore is back-calculated from the experimental data using the population balance model (PBM). Finally, the obtained breakage parameters are validated and the simulated data are in good agreement with the experimental data. The obtained breakage distribution and the method for breakage rate description are both significant for modeling the full scale ball milling process of bauxite.

Separation of diaspore from bauxite by selective flocculation using hydrolyzed polyacrylamide

Selective flocculation is a new method to solve the problem of China's bauxite de-silication besides flotation and reverse flotation. The method of selective flocculation of bauxite using hydrolyzed polyacrylamide as flocculant was experimented and evaluated. The results of diaspore and kaolinite single mineral settling tests show that the difference between settlement yield of kaolinite(settling 15 min) and diaspore(settling 3 min) increases from 16% to 60% by adding flocculant at pH=7. Results of selective flocculation experiment of bauxite show that the higher concentrate grade(65.75) and Al-Si ratio(7.34) could be obtained with sodium carbonate as dispersant compared with sodium hexametaphosphate; under the action of flocculating agent, the concentrate grade and Al-Si ratio increase to 67.99 and 9.01. These results could meet the requirements of Bayer production, and the simpler process was expected to cost far less than traditional flotation method and a promising de-silication method of bauxite.

Reaction behavior of silicon-rich diasporic bauxite with ammonium sulfate during roasting

The separation of Al from the silicon-rich diasporic bauxite is of great significance in alumina production.Herein,we proposed a low-temperature ammonium sulfate roasting-water leaching process to extract aluminum from silicon-rich diasporic bauxite.Parameters including roasting temperature,dosage of ammonium sulfate,roasting time,and particle size of ore were investigated.Under the condition of roasting temperature of 400℃,roasting time of 5 h,ammonium sulfate dosage of 2.5 times of the theoretical value and ore particle size of 80−96μm,more than 98%leaching rate of aluminum was obtained.The phase transformation and mechanism during the roasting process were revealed by using X-ray diffraction,thermogravimetric analysis,differential thermal analysis,and scanning electron microscope methods.The diaspore and kaolinite phases in the silicon-rich diasporic bauxite could react with ammonium sulfate to form corresponding sulfates(NH_(4))_(3)Al(SO_(4))_(3) Al(SO_(4))_(2) and Al_(2)(SO_(4))_(3).The proposed technology could provide an effective method for the direct and separation of aluminum from silicon-rich diasporic bauxite.

Development of A New Lime Adding Technology in Two-Stream Digestion Process of Diasporic Bauxite

Indirect heating and intensified digestion technology can be applied to reduce greatly the energy consumption in Bayer process of diasporic bauxite. A great advantage of two-stream process is to avoid or reduce efficiently serious scaling problem of bauxite slurry on indirect heating surface, which certainly happens in the single stream process and brings about great troubles to the indirect heating. As a result of a great number of experiments and the theoretical analysis, a new lime adding technology for the two-stream digestion process is developed in this paper that lime is added into spent liquor stream instead of bauxite slurry, which is more suitable to the two-stream process of diasporic bauxite. The influences of the new lime addition technology on preheating and digestion process were discussed. It was deduced that the new technology can be used efficiently in the two-stream process of non-diasporic bauxite.

Study on the accelerant to the sodium oleate during bauxite flotation

The conventional collector for diaspore mineral is oleic acid （OLA）, which is highly insoluble and must be used in high dosage in bauxite flotation. Firstly flotation experiments with every reagent （sodium oleate, tween-20）were carried out and it was shown that sodium oleate was an effective diaspore collector, whereas nonionic surfactant tween-20 showed little collectivity. Then experiments were carried out with sodium oleate as the main collector with the addition of tween-20 to study the influences of potentiator on diaspore flotation. It could be seen from the experiments that potentiator had a marked influence on the recovery of diaspore, which was raised by more than 12 % and that addition sequence also affected the flotation behavior. It gave the best results with the reagents mixed thoroughly before added and the best ratio of collector oleic acid and potentiator tween-20 slLood at 10： 1. From the calculation of the ingredients in the sodium oleate solution, at the pH 9, sodium oleate acted with surface of the mineral with the acid-soap polymer [ HOL ~ OL- ]. Zeta potential test showed that the potentiator promoted the absorption of collector on the mineral surface, which lowered zeta potential. As could be seen from surface tension experiments, the addition of potentiator tween-20 lowered the CMC （ critical micelle concentration） value of oleic acid solution, which was equivalent to raise the power of the agents. By the adsorptive capability tests, with the addition of tween-20, the adsorption of oleic acid on diaspore got more.

Diaspore characteristics and ecological adaptation of Bromus tectorum L.from different distribution regions

The invasion of nonnative plants is considered one of the main threats to the structure and function of North American ecosystems. Moreover, they can alter ecosystem processes and reduce biodiversity. In arid and semi-arid region of North America, the species of European annual grass Bromus tectorum L. is an outstanding example of these problems, which not only increase the fire density and change the fire regime, but replace native communities. Therefore, there are amount of researches on B. tectorum, including resource acquisition, water use efficiency and growth. Whereas the relevant research on the morphology of diaspore is scare. Diaspores have a fundamental role in seed germination and seedling establishment. Besides, as an important link between different generations, diaspores have a vital significance on individual reproduction and population extension. Hence, dias- pores under selection for studying have an important implication. This study compares differences in seed mor- phology for Bromus tectorum collected from the United States, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang of China. The following indices of B. tectorum diaspores were analyzed： size, thickness of covering layers, and micromorphological char- acteristics of the base, middle and transition area of diaspores as well as of the awn. Micromorphology of the lemma and the cross-section of the diaspore were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that thick- ness of the lemma and the palea of diaspores from B. tectorum-infested grasslands in the United States were re- duced （P〈0.05）, likely because of environmental influences. This reduction facilitated the germination of diaspores and lowered the resistance of B. tectorum to adverse environmental conditions. The length of the awn also in- creased significantly （P〈0.05）, which helped in dispersal and anchoring of diaspores. Therefore, B. tectorum adapted ecologically to its new environment in the United States by strengthening its establishment ability. However, the defense capability of B. tectorum decreased. These results fit the evolution of increased competitive ability hy- pothesis （EICA） of invasive species. Analysis of various cells on the lemma revealed that prickle densities and col- lapsed, long epidermal cells were easily influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and moisture because of the physiologic function of these structures on silicon accumulation. However, the form and the position of silica cells, which were not greatly influenced by environmental factors, might be genetically controlled. Studying these structures at the microscopic level helps define the relationship between the diaspore and its environment. This study has a reference value for future studies on B. tectorum.