A novel cationic collector for silicon removal from collophane using reverse flotation under acidic conditions

We analyzed a novel cationic collector using chemical plant byproducts,such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB)and dibutyl phthalate(DBP).Our aim is to establish a highly effective and economical process for the removal of quartz from collophane.A microflotation test with a 25 mg·L^(−1)collector at pH value of 6-10 demonstrates a considerable difference in the floatability of pure quartz and fluorapatite.Flotation tests for a collophane sample subjected to the first reverse flotation for magnesium removal demonstrates that a rough flotation process(using a 0.4 kg·t−1 new collector at pH=6)results in a collophane concentrate with 29.33wt%P_(2)O_(5)grade and 12.66wt%SiO2 at a 79.69wt%P_(2)O_(5)recovery,providing desirable results.Mechanism studies using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,zeta potential,and contact angle measurements show that the adsorption capacity of the new collector for quartz is higher than that for fluorapatite.The synergistic effect of DBP increases the difference in hydrophobicity between quartz and fluorapatite.The maximum defoaming rate of the novel cationic collector reaches 142.8 mL·min−1.This is considerably higher than that of a conventional cationic collector.

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.

Effect of hydroxamic acid polymers on reverse flotation of bauxite

The effect of hydroxamic acid starch (HAS) and hydroxamic acid polyacrylamide (HPAM) on the flotation of diaspore and kaolinite was investigated by flotation test. It is found that HAS depresses diaspore but activates kaolinite in acidic pulp,while HPAM activates both diaspore and kaolinite in the pH range of 2.010.5. The measurement of zeta potential shows that both HAS and HPAM can increase zeta potential of negatively charged diaspore, which indicates the existence of chemical bonding or hydrogen bonding between the reagents and diaspore. By covering the collector dodecyl amine(DDA) on diaspore surface,HAS increases the hydrophilicity of minerals and depresses the flotation of diaspore,however HPAM activates the flotation of diaspore by increasing the adsorption of DDA on diaspore surface.

Effect and mechanism of siderite on reverse flotation of hematite

The effects of siderite on reverse flotation of hematite were investigated using micro flotation, adsorption tests, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The flotation results show that interactions between siderite and quartz are the main reasons that siderite significantly influences the floatability. The interactions are attributed to dissolved siderite species and fine siderite particles. The interaction due to the dissolved species is, however, dominant. Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek（DLVO） theoretical calculations reveal that adhesion on quartz increases when the siderite particle size decreases and that fine particles partly influence quartz floatability. Chemical solution calculations indicate that the dissolved species of siderite might convert the surface of active quartz to CaCO_3 precipitates that can be depressed by starch. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with the results of adsorption tests and FTIR spectroscopy and explain the reasons why siderite significantly influences reverse flotation of hematite.

Flotation of low-grade bauxite using organosilicon cationic collector and starch depressant

The flotation of diaspore and three kinds of silicate minerals, including kaolinite, illite and pyrophyllite, using an organosilicon cationic surfactant (TAS101) as collector and starch as depressant was investigated. The results show that both diaspore and aluminosilicate minerals float readily with organosilicon cationic collector TAS101 at pH values of 4 to 10. Starch has a strong depression effect for diaspore in the alkaline pH region but has little influence on the flotation of aluminosilicate minerals. It is possible to separate diaspore from aluminosilicate minerals using the organosilicon cationic collector and starch depressant. Further studies of bauxite ore flotation were also conducted, and the reverse flotation separation process was adopted. The concentrates with the mass ratio of Al2O3 to SiO2 of 9.58 and Al2O3 recovery of 83.34% are obtained from natural bauxite ore with the mass ratio of Al2O3 to SiO2 of 6.1 at pH value of 11 using the organosilicon cationic collector and starch depressant.

Comparative studies on flotation of aluminosilicate minerals with Gemini cationic surfactants BDDA and EDDA

Gemini quaternary ammonium salt surfactants, butane-a, co-bis（dimethyl dodeculammonium bromide） （BDDA） ethane-a, fl-bis（dimethyl dodeculammonium bromide） （EDDA） were adopted to comparatively study the flotation behaviors of kaolinite, pyrophyllite and illite. It was found that three silicate minerals all exhibited good floatability with Gemini cationic surfactants as collectors over a wide pH range, while BDDA showed a stronger collecting power than EDDA. FTIR spectra and zeta potential analysis indicated that the mechanism of adsorption of Gemini collector molecules on three silicate minerals surfaces was almost identical for the electronic attraction and hydrogen bonds effect. The theoretically obtained results of density functional theory （DFT） at B3LYP/6-31G （d） level demonstrated the stronger collecting power of BDDA presented in the floatation test and zeta potential measurement.

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.

Two-step flotation recovery of iron concentrate from Donganshan carbonaceous iron ore

The flotation of pure and natural carbonaceous iron ore samples in the oleate flotation system was investigated.Starch can depress hematite effectively in a wide pH range,but cannot depress siderite efficiently in neutral conditions.The flotation recovery of pure hematite,siderite,and quartz in the oleate-starch-CaCl2 system is significantly different when the slurry pH varies from 4 to 12.A novel two-step flotation process was developed for the separation of iron concentrate from Donganshan carbonaceous iron ore through which the siderite concentrate is first recovered and the high quality hematite concentrates with relative high iron recovery can be obtained in the second step flotation.The siderite concentrate may be utilized directly or undergo further concentration steps to increase iron grade.

Electrostatic concentration of phosphate flotation concentrate

The concentration of phosphate flotation concentrate with P2O5 grade lower than the commercially acceptable phosphate quality was upgraded in the use of tribo-electrostatic technique. The concentration of the flotation concentrate stream was conducted under both triboelectrification and inductive charging mechanism. Mineralogical analysis reveals that the phosphate ore utilized was dominated mainly by fluorapatite, crandallite, wavellite, and with quartz as the major gangue mineral. Flotations concentrate of about 28.87% P2O5 was obtained from the reverse flotation technique, after conditioning the phosphate ore at 80% passing 150 lm under Lilafloat. Constant parameters such as à6 kV charging voltage, 25 kV separating voltage, inlet air, different charger rotary speed and splitter distances were investigated. Commercially accepted grade of 35.50% P2O5 was attained after the second stage of separation with a recovery of 12.26%, another phosphate product of 34.02% P2O5 and 85.19% was also recovered under the same condition. Single stage of separation also shows a significant increase in the grade of the product obtained, with 33.41% P2O5 and 84.07% recovery achievable. The practicability of tribo-electrostatic separation technique for upgrading flotation concentrates resulted in a significant increase in grade for <150 lm product that do not meet the viable grade.

Synthesis of N,N-diethyl dodecyl amine and its flotation properties on bauxite

N, N-diethyl dodecyl amine（DEN12） was synthesized from dodecyl amine, formic acid and acetic aldehyde. The collecting property of DENI2 on diaspore, kaolinite and illite was investigated by flotation test and infrared spectrum. The results show that in the presence of 2.0× 10^-4 mol/L DEN12, the recoveries of kaolinite and illite are all higher than 78% and the recovery of diaspore is 50% in the pH range of 5.5-6.0. The mass ratio of A1203 to SiO2 in concentrate obtained from separation artificial mixture is higher than 10, suggesting that DEN12 can be used as a collector to separate the aluminosilicates from diaspore in bauxite ores at the pulp pH below 8. The measurements of the infrared spectrum approve that the action between aluminosilicates and tertiary amine collector is strong electrostatic adsorption and that of diaspore is weak electrostatic adsorption.

Separation behavior and mechanism of hematite and collophane in the presence of collector RFP-138

The reverse flotation separation performance and mechanism of hematite and cellophane in the presence of RFP-138, a newly synthesized dephosphorization collector, were studied. Reverse flotation tests on monominerals and artificially mixed minerals of hematite and collophanite show that, this anionic collector performs excellently in reducing the phosphorus content in hematite. It can decrease the content of P in artificially mixed minerals from 1.05% to 0.12% and achieve the TFe recovery rate of 91.30%. The chemical behavior of solution and infrared spectra of RFP-138 were investigated to explore the selective collecting mechanism of RFP-138 to these two minerals.

Benzohydroxamic acid to improve iron removal from potash feldspar ores

The technological mineralogy of the potash feldspar was investigated and a new collector named Yb105 was adopted to remove iron from potash feldspar ores.The technological mineralogy results indicate that the main components of the ore were feldspar,sericite,quartz and kaolinite,and iron mainly existed in limonite and hematite,most of which can be removed by beneficiation.The results show the benzohydroxamic acid can not only increase the recovery of iron and reduce the consumption of oleic acid collector,but also enhance the collecting performance of oleic acid at low temperature,which can realize the flotation of the ores at a low temperature and play an important role in saving energy to some extent.Compared with oleic oil,the benzohydroxamic acid had a great advantage in removing iron from potash feldspar,a potash feldspar concentrate with Fe grade of 0.23%,K2O grade of 12.59%and Na2O grade of 0.26%was obtained by flotation with Yb105 as collector,and the yield of the concentrate was 82.55%.

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.

Selective separation of silica from a siliceous-calcareous phosphate rock

Selective separation of silica from a siliceous-calcareous phosphate ore that had been sieved into different size fractions is investigated by a combination of chemical analysis,zeta potential measurement and FTIR and XPS techniques.Scrubbing is a better choice than flotation for removing silica from the coarse fractions.The P_2O_5 grade of the coarse fractions is increased to about 30%by scrubbing and the product yields are higher than those obtained by flotation.The silica in the fine fraction is separated by reverse flotation.An alkyl amine salt(DAH)is an effective collector and the P_2O_5 grade of the fine fraction can be increased by 7%to beyond 30%under acidic conditions.The higher zeta potential obtained using DAH suggests that it is more strongly absorbed onto the ore particles than the other cationic collectors. FTIR and XPS results confirm physical absorption of the cationic collector onto the ore surface.They also indicate that calcite is dissolved at low pH values,which increases the Si concentration on the ore surface.

Complexation of starch with dodecylamine

The chemical nature of the interaction of starch and dodecylamine （DDA）, which generally act as depressant and collector, respectively, in the reverse flotation of bauxite, was investigated using starch-iodine tests. The results obtained from the blue-value measurements for starch＋DDA＋iodine system indicate the formation of the inclusion complex for amylose-DDA system at low DDA concentration （〈2 retool/L）. However, it is less likely for amylopectin-DDA system with short helix. UV-Vis spectra of starch-iodine complexes show that each helix of amylose can accommodate two DDA molecules locating separately at its two ends, and in the helical cavity there is room available for the upcoming iodine. When concentrated DDA is tested, amylose-DDA system exhibits no characteristic starch-iodine color, owing to the presence of a compact coating of DDA molecules on starch via hydroxyl/amine hydrogen bonding. ^1H NMR spectroscopy and surface tension determination help to clarify the interaction mechanism of amylose with DDA.