A novel miscible collector DDA–2-octanol–kerosene: Properties and flotation performance

Abstract

A novel combined reagent dodecylamine (DDA)–2-octanol–kerosene was employed to overcome the problems associated with DDA, that is, DDA has a high freezing point and needs to be acidified with hydrochloric or acetic acid when it is used for flotation. The analysis of the basic physical properties of the agent showed that DDA–2-octanol–kerosene had significant advantages in freezing point and dispersibility and its freezing point can be reduced to below 0 °C. From the flotation results of magnetite, it can be seen that DDA–2-octanol–kerosene has a better selectivity. Response Surface Methodology based on a three-level, three-variable Box–Behnken design (BBD) was employed to define the quadratic relationship between the recovery of quartz and the composition of the mixed agent. The results indicated that the recovery of quartz increased with the increase of DDA or 2-octanol dosage, however, kerosene had a marginal positive effect on the recovery of quartz when the amount of kerosene was less than 0.76 times that of DDA and otherwise a negative effect. This study provides a new method and technical support for its industrial application for the reverse flotation of iron ore for the combination of agents in the field of iron ore flotation. And allows for a deeper macro-level understanding of the interaction between the DDA–2-octanol–kerosene ternary mixed agents.