INFLUENCE OF PULP PULSATION ON THE BATCH FLOTATION OF GALENA

An experimental investigation into the effect of pulp pulsation on the flotation of an artificial mixture of galena and quartz has been conducted. Laboratory experiments have shown that the recovery and kinetics of lead flotation can be improved significantly by pulsating the pulp, while the grade and selectivity of the lead remained virtually unchanged. Pulsation of the pulp led to structural change of bubbles. An increase in the number of bubbles and a decrease in the bubble size resulted in an increase in the gas holdup in the pulp and a likely increase in the bubble-particle collision rate. Likewise, the viscosity of the slurry could be decreased by means of pulp vibration, enhancing mass transfer between the slurry phase and froth phase. At the same time, the energy input by pulp pulsation could help to lower the energy barrier for bubble-particle attachment by lowering the induction time of the attachment. In addition, non-selectively attached particles could be stripped off the bubble surface by the inertial forces acting on the particles during pulsation of the pulp. Image analysis of the froth showed that pulsation resulted in a more stable froth, with more numerous, smaller bubbles with higher loadings.     

Removal of Resin from Mechanical Pulps by Selective Flotation: Mechanisms of Resin Flotation and Yield Loss of Fibers

Abstract

The amount of wood resin in mechanical pulp suspensions could be decreased using a selective flotation process. In selective flotation air‐bubbles are dispersed into low consistency pulp suspensions mechanically by an impeller or by injectors. Resin particles attach to the air‐bubbles and are lifted to the top of the pulp suspension from where they are removed, along with the flotation froth. The very small size of the resin particles (average diameter <1.0 micron) suggests that they are driven toward the air‐bubbles mainly by Brownian diffusion and that attachment of the resin particles to the air‐bubbles takes place through colloidal interactions. The resin flotation followed approximate first‐order kinetics. The mechanism of yield loss of fibers was entrainment, whereby they were hydraulically transported into the froth along with the water.     

An experimental study of copper sulfide flotation in a packed cyclonic–static microbubble flotation column

A method using a cyclonic–static microbubble flotation column packed with fluid guiding media was proposed for improving flotation efficiency of copper sulfide. The installation of packed fluid guiding media in a cyclonic–static microbubble flotation column was for changing flow pattern in 10 the column by avoiding strong cyclonic flow in the upper region of the column, which can cause bubble-particle detachment. Therefore, the attached particles can be more likely to enter the froth zone instead of swirling in the column. The flow rectification contributed to a smaller bubble size in the column and significantly reduced the number of big bubbles with diameter above 1 mm. This scenario was caused by the damping of swirling liquid motion where bubbles tended to 15 concentrate and coalescence in the center of an eddy. The packed fluid guiding media changed the hydrodynamics in the upper column from a cyclonic flow to a gentle flow and as a result improve the column separation. The application of packed fluid guiding media can decrease the bubble-particle detachment and the flotation recovery of copper sulfide could constantly improve with the installation of packed fluid guiding media in the FCSMC column.     

Double-sensor conductivity probe applied in a flotation system

This study proposed a new approach for measuring bubble size distribution, bubble mean diameter, Sauter mean bubble diameter, and gas holdup using a double-sensor conductivity probe in an air/water two-phase system bubble column. The results for the two-phase system were compared and calibrated using analyses from bubble images taken by a digital camera from the side of the column wall. Good agreement was observed between the two techniques. The same double-sensor conductivity was used in an air/water/solids three-phase system. The conductivity probe captured the change in bubble dynamic behaviour inside the pulp phase; however, the presence of the solids made it more challenging to measure. As a result, the VisioFroth commercial package, using images taken from the top of the froth layer, could be used in conjunction with the double-sensor conductivity probe to show the dynamic evolution of mineralized bubbles from the pulp zone to the froth zone in a flotation process.     

Separation of unburned carbon from fly ash using a concurrent flotation column

In this study, a new concurrent flotation column that simulates the plug flow reactor was designed with the use of a static mixer, a froth separator column and an optional additional bubble generator for fly ash beneficiation. The objective was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of unburned carbon removal from fly ash by minimizing energy costs. Cleaning tests were performed with and without the additional bubble genarator. Without the additional bubble generator unburned carbon in the ash product could be reduced to only 2.53%. Incidental loss of carbon particles and insufficient bubble generation were the main causes of poor carbon separation performance. By turning on the additional bubble generator it was aimed to assist bubble generation, to compensate bubble rupture and to recapture the detached or free carbon particles leaving the froth phase. With the additional bubble generator and under optimized conditions a froth product with 95% carbon recovery and a cleaned ash product with less than 1% unburned carbon was obtained. The separation process through the static mixer (feeder) and the separator column and the energy consumption of the unit were analyzed. It was seen that around 80% energy could be saved with the concurrent flotation column compared to conventional flotation.     

Effect of frothers on removal of unburned carbon from coal-fired power plant fly ash by froth flotation

The effect of single frothers and their blends on bubble size, froth stability, and unburned carbon (UC) flotation performance was studied. Methyl isobutyl carbinol that produces smaller bubbles is efficient in floating ultrafine particles and producing concentrate. DF-250 that gives higher froth stability is effective for recovering coarse particles and improving recovery. The presence of DF-250 in the blend increases bubble size and significantly enhances froth stability, and hence the optimal flotation performance is achieved with 75% DF-250. It indicates that the frother giving high froth stability is better in UC flotation due to the little effect of UC on froth stability.     

Improvement of the Flotation Selectivity in a Mechanical Flotation Cell by Ultrasound

In this study, the effect of ultrasound on froth and pulp phases has been investigated in the flotation of two different ore samples, namely barite and chalcopyrite. In order to determine the overall flotation rate constants at various froth depths, incremental recoveries obtained from the flotation tests with and without ultrasound were fitted to a first-order rate equation. Thus, the recoveries of froth and pulp phases were calculated.

The use of ultrasound speeded up the bubble coalescence and therefore reduced the froth phase recovery in the ultrasonic flotation of both barite and chalcopyrite. In addition, the results indicate that there is a considerable effect of ultrasound on the pulp phase recovery in the chalcopyrite flotation whereas no significant differences in the separation performance were obtained from the ultrasonic flotation of barite with and without ultrasound. The results also indicate that a pronounced selectivity effect was obtained from the ultrasonic flotation of both barite and chalcopyrite. The use of ultrasound in the froth remarkably improves the quality of the chalcopyrite concentrate, especially at the shallow froths. Therefore, either effective pulp volume can be increased without sacrificing the separation selectivity or the pulp density can be decreased to obtain better product quality at shallow froths in the ultrasonic flotation of chalcopyrite.     

Hot water process development for Utah tar sands

The hot water process for Utah tar sands differs significantly from that used for Canadian tar sands due to the inherent differences in the respective bitumen viscosities and the nature of sand-bitumen association. Specifically, the high viscosity of Utah bitumen and the direct bonding to sand particles necessitates phase disengagement by hot water digestion in a high shear force field under appropriate conditions of pulp density and solution alkalinity. Interestingly, phase separation is accompanied by a modified froth flotation technique inasmuch as the dispersed bitumen droplets which are collected in the froth phase are not hydrophobic but, nevertheless, entrap air bubbles and are recovered in the bitumen concentrate.     

Modeling the Relationship between Froth Bubble Size and Flotation Performance Using Image Analysis and Neural Networks

Machine vision technology now offers a viable means of monitoring and control of froth flotation systems. In this study the relationship between process conditions and the surface bubble size as well as the process performance in the batch flotation of a copper sulfide ore is discussed and modeled by neural networks. Flotation experiments are conducted at a wide range of process conditions (i.e., gas flow rate, slurry solids %, frother/collector dosage, and pH) and the froth mean bubble size along with the metallurgical parameters are determined for each run. An adaptive marker based watershed algorithm is successfully developed for segmentation of the froth images and measurement of the bubble size at different conditions. The results show that there is a strong correlation between process conditions and the froth mean bubble size, which is of great importance for control purposes. Even though the metallurgical parameters can be estimated from the froth mean bubble size alone, other froth features (i.e., froth velocity, color, and stability) are required to be measured in order to achieve more accurate predictions of the process performance.     

Enrichment of Silica Sand Ore by Cyclojet Flotation Cell

Cyclojet flotation is an alternative technique of jet flotation. It essentially has a mechanism for bubble formation with pulp jet spouting from the apex of hydrocyclone. The size of the bubbles formed with pulp jet in the cyclojet cell is very small, and the quantity of bubbles produced also limits its potential to produce high bubble-particle collision. This is particularly efficient in beneficiation of fine-grained ores. In this study, the performance of the cyclojet flotation cell was tested for removing iron-oxides from silica sand ore. Whether it can be used as an alternative to conventional mechanical cells was studied. The findings obtained from the cyclojet cell were compared with findings obtained from the conventional cell. It was seen that the cyclojet cell produced slightly better results than the conventional cell. Under the best conditions, while the cyclojet cell reduced the iron-oxide content in silica sand from 0.41% to 0.08%, the conventional cell reduced it to 0.10%. While iron removal efficiency was 80.49% for the cyclojet flotation, it was calculated as 75.61% for the conventional cell. These findings showed that cyclojet flotation can be used as an alternative method to conventional flotation for the removal of iron oxides from silica sand.     

Effect on surface charges of bubbles and fine particles on air flotation process

The adhesion of fine particles onto bubbles in flotation was studied on the basis of surface charge measurements of the bubbles and particles. The surface charges of the bubbles were measured by the use of a micro-electropheresis apparatus devised in our previous study and the mechanism of the bubble charging was studied under various experimental conditions. In distilled water, the bubbles were negatively charged and the iso-electric point appeared at pH = 2.5. The surface charges of the bubbles in the surfactant solution were determined by the surfactant molecules adsorbed at the surface and depend strongly on the values of pH. The flotation efficiency of latex particles (0.923 μm) was found to be strongly influenced by the surface charges of both the particles and the bubbles. The force between the particle and the bubble was estimated from the observation of the particle attachment to the bubble surface, and a simple equation including the effects of the hydrodynamic and surface charge interactions was proposed to determine the floatability limit.     

Yoon-Luttrell collision and attachment models analysis in flotation and their application on general flotation kinetic model

We theoretically used the models of Yoon and Luttrell for collision and attachment efficiencies to show the effect of fluid flow condition, the effect of bubble size and velocity and particle surface hydrophobicity in flotation system, and in order to demonstrate the effect of particle density on the attachment behavior we incorporate the correct expression for the maximum collision angle developed by Dukhin collision model in the Yoon-Luttrell attachment efficiency applied for two minerals species such as the quartz and chalcopyrite. Then we used the expression of the analytical model that enables the calculation of the flotation rate constant of particles derived by Pyke et al., developed under turbulent condition and with including the efficiency of collision using the generalized Sutherland equation (GSE), the attachment efficiency using modified Dobby-Finch model, and stability of bubble-particle aggregate includes the various forces acting between the bubble and the attached particle. Some results are obtained revealing the positive inertial effect for the quartz and galena particles under defined flotation data conditions by incorporating in the flotation rate constant mentioned above, the collision and attachment efficiency models of Yoon-Luttrell developed for potential flow condition with assuming that the bubble surface is completely mobile and the particle inertia is ignored. The results show also the influence of the increasing of the bubble velocity to determine the particle size range between the models considering the inertial effect and those who ignored the particle Inertia.     

Formation dynamics and size prediction of bubbles for slurry system in T-shape microchannel

The bubble formation dynamics and size manipulation in the slurry of polystyrene microspheres in the microfluidic T-junction were visually investigated by a high-speed camera. Based on the evolution of the bubble neck with time, the formation process of bubbles is divided into three stages: filling, squeezing and pinch-off. The particle concentration has an obvious effect on the squeezing stage, while less impact on the filling and pinch-off stages. In the squeezing stage, the evolution of the dimensionless minimum neck width of bubbles with time could be described by a power-law relationship. The increase of the particle concentration or continuous phase flow rate could lead to the increase of body flow of the continuous phase and the enhancement of the squeezing force acted on the bubble neck, correspondingly, the power-law index α in the squeezing stage enlarges. Moreover, the bubble size increases with the increase of the gas phase flow rate and the decrease of the particle concentration and continuous phase flow rate. However, the effect of the particle concentration on the bubble size weakens with the increase of the continuous phase flow rate. In addition, a new prediction correlation of the bubble size for the slurry system in a T-shape microchannel was proposed with good prediction accuracy.     

Tracking of Particles in Froth Using Neutron Imaging

The movement of hydrophobic particles in a rising froth column is investigated. Gadolinium particles are hydrophobized and floated by means of small air bubbles. The generated froth is investigated by neutron imaging. Particles are identified by correlating the resulting radiographs with an artificial template of a typical particle and subsequent scanning for local maxima. The movement of the particles in the froth was analyzed for different froth stabilities, which resulted from various concentrations of the frother sodium oleate. Decreasing froth stability leads to lower superficial vertical particle velocity and to higher horizontal diffusion of particles due to bubble rupture.     

Recovery of ink particles in a concurrent column flotation

Deinked pulp is made from recycled paper in an industrial process called deinking. In this process, printing ink is removed from paper fibres. This research demonstrates the deinking process and discusses factors associated with the collection of released ink particles by bubbles. Flotation is introduced as a technology for the creation of ink‐laden bubbles and for the removal of the ink‐concentrated froth. A downward concurrent column reactor has been designed, manufactured, and used in a series of two‐phase flow experiments. The objective is to measure the liquid and gas retention time to highlight the most effective features associated with bubble particle attachment/detachment. A residence time of <10 s in the downcomer and 20 s in total was found to be sufficient for the collection and recovery of ink particles. It has been concluded that concurrent column reactors are potentially efficient for removing ink from paper fibres.     

旋流气浮中气泡-颗粒碰撞效率影响因素理论分析

在旋流气浮接触区碰撞模型基础上,通过理论计算考察了物性、运行和结构参数对分散相颗粒/油滴与气泡碰撞效率的影响. 结果表明,物性参数中的分散相粒径与密度、运行参数中气泡直径与切向速度和结构参数中等效旋流直径对碰撞效率影响较大. 在旋流气浮工艺中,碰撞效率随分散相粒径增大而增大,但随气泡直径和分散相颗粒/油滴密度增大而减小;分散相粒径小于0.02 mm时,碰撞效率随切向速度增大而减小、随等效旋流直径增大而增大;分散相颗粒/油滴大于0.02 mm时,碰撞效率随切向速度增大而增大、随等效旋流直径增大而减小. 旋流气浮去除的主要是油滴大于0.02 mm的非溶解性油,因此,设备紧凑可提高气泡与分散相颗粒的碰撞效率,达到高效分离目的.     

Solids motion in flowing froths

Flotation is a widely used process within the minerals processing industry, as well as being used for water treatment and de-inking of recycled paper. The froth phase and its role in the separation achieved is as yet ill understood. A fundamentally based model of the behaviour of solids within a flowing froth allows for a fuller understanding of the froth phase of flotation vessels and process optimisation.This paper outlines a model for the motion of solids within a flowing froth. It builds on earlier work on the modelling of bubble and liquid motion within a flowing froth and includes all the effects of same phenomena that effect liquid motion, as well as including the effect of solids concentrations on liquid motion.The solids are divided into two classes for the purposes of modelling, namely the attached material, which follows the bubbles, and the unattached material, which mainly follows the liquid, but can move relative to the water by means of hindered settling and geometric and Plateau border dispersion. The attached material consists of hydrophobic particles, while the unattached material can consist of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles. Attached particles can become unattached due to coalescence or bursting.Results from simulations are shown to illustrate the movement and concentration of the solids from the pulp-froth interface to the upper, bursting surface and overflowing the weir.     

双流态微泡浮选机气液两相流测试结果分析

介绍了双流态微泡浮选机的特点,采用激光粒子动态分析仪测量了该浮选机矿化器内微泡发生器段和矿化管部分以及浮选槽内的微泡时均速度、脉动速度和粒径分布情况,分析了不同充气量与药剂量对微泡的影响;对比表明,该机在宏观流态、紊动特性以及形成的微气泡尺寸、粒径分布和浓度等方面为微细粒煤泥浮选创造了最佳的流体动力学环境。     

Bubbly flow with particle attachment and detachment – A multi-phase CFD study

The available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for multi-phase bubble column ignore the effects of attached particles on the dynamics of the bubbles. Bubbles become heavier with the attachment of solid particles which has significant impact on their buoyancy, and hence their flow dynamics. The present paper endeavours to simulate multi-phase slurry bubble column accounting for the effect of bubble–particle aggregate density on the flow dynamics in a multi-phase slurry bubble column. A CFD model was developed and validated against air–paraffin oil data at ambient conditions to understand the hydrodynamics of a three-phase slurry bubble column.