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    Flotation Process

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    nomanhaimour
    Flotation Process One of the most employed methods for concentrating minerals is the flotation process. Finely ground ore is mixed with water and air bubbles to carry valuable minerals to the surface, forming a froth that can be skimmed. Chemical reagents make valuable minerals hydrophobic so they attach to bubbles. Tests in small laboratory cells help optimize reagent dosages and conditions for industrial flotation machines, which use either pneumatic or mechanical designs to separate minerals into concentrates.

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    Flotation Process

    Uploaded by

    nomanhaimour
    128 views1 page
    Flotation Process One of the most employed methods for concentrating minerals is the flotation process. Finely ground ore is mixed with water and air bubbles to carry valuable minerals to the surface, forming a froth that can be skimmed. Chemical reagents make valuable minerals hydrophobic so they attach to bubbles. Tests in small laboratory cells help optimize reagent dosages and conditions for industrial flotation machines, which use either pneumatic or mechanical designs to separate minerals into concentrates.

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    Flotation Process One of the most employed methods for concentrating minerals is the flotation process. Finely ground ore is mixed with water and air bubbles to carry valuable minerals to the surface, forming a froth that can be skimmed. Chemical reagents make valuable minerals hydrophobic so they attach to bubbles. Tests in small laboratory cells help optimize reagent dosages and conditions for industrial flotation machines, which use either pneumatic or mechanical designs to separate minerals into concentrates.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    128 views1 page

    Flotation Process

    Uploaded by

    nomanhaimour
    Flotation Process One of the most employed methods for concentrating minerals is the flotation process. Finely ground ore is mixed with water and air bubbles to carry valuable minerals to the surface, forming a froth that can be skimmed. Chemical reagents make valuable minerals hydrophobic so they attach to bubbles. Tests in small laboratory cells help optimize reagent dosages and conditions for industrial flotation machines, which use either pneumatic or mechanical designs to separate minerals into concentrates.

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    Flotation Process

    One of the most employed methods for concentrating minerals is the called flotation process which makes a physiochemical separation whereby an ore is ground to produce slurry which is then subjected to mixing and very fine bubbles of air are formed into the slurry in order to carry the valuable minerals. It is possible that precious minerals which have been liberated from non-precious metals during the grinding step attach to the bubbles and rise to the surface to form a rich froth that can be skimmed to form a product called concentrate. The possibility of separating various substances by using a flotation process is opened up due to the several changes which can be done on the surfaces minerals with the assistance of chemical reagents which make the valuable particles hydrophobic. These are called collectors. Through physiochemical adsorption they are attached with the ends of the molecules at the surface. The adsorption of the collector could be influenced by adding other reagents which can be either supportive or inhibitive in effect. In these cases is common to make reference to activators and depressants. Air is added to move the hydrophobic particles to the surface of the slurry under agitation. Further reagents must be added in order to facilitate the adherence of particles to the bubbles and which hold in a layer of froth the particles which have displaced to the water-air interface. These reagents are called frother and can be natural or synthetic. The flotation is done by following several steps: conditioning of the slurry with appropriate reagents, injection of finely disseminated air bubbles through the slurry, collection of valuable particles on the bubble surfaces and inert rock remaining in suspension, and removal of the mineralized froth and discharge of the unwanted mineral. Analysis of flotation process is best approach through consideration of the overall process first, and then of its components. An ideal system would be a circuit in a steady state, supplied at a constant rate with ore having constant initial properties, a fixed optimum size distribution and its mineral surfaces pretreated to yield optimum floatability. The feed would flow through machines and circuits selected, designed, and adjusted to give an optimum separation, resulting in production of concentrates at a fixed rate and grade, and with an associated recovery. In order to do reality a flotation process is necessary to carry out flotation tests at the lab. Also, the tests are a powerful tool for improving an existent process and do a primary evaluation about some possible changes such as reagents, aeration, cleaning steps and regrinding. Most of tests are done in laboratory flotation cells with 500 to 4000 grams of ore. All the data obtained can be used in optimizing the dosage of reagents and retention times in industrial cells. In the basic research is common use small cells such as Hallimond tube and micro flotation cell. Industrial flotation is practiced in the called flotation machines. Although many different machines are currently being manufactured and many more have been developed and discarded in the past, it is fair to state that two distinct groups have arisen; pneumatic and mechanical machines. The type of machine is the great importance in designing a flotation plant and is frequently the characteristic causing most debate.

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