Cost-efficient clean flotation of amorphous graphite using water-in-oil kerosene emulsion as a novel collector

Abstract

• A water-in-oil kerosene emulsion was prepared using non-ionic surfactants Span-80 and Tween-80 as the emulsifiers. • The emulsified kerosene outperformed pristine kerosene as a collector in amorphous graphite flotation. • The emulsified kerosene increased the flotation recovery of amorphous graphite by 5.96%, with 52% lesser total kerosene consumption. • Cryo-SEM was employed to visualize the in-situ microstructure of the kerosene emulsion. Kerosene is one of the most used collectors in graphite flotation, while its consumption undergoes an enormous increase, especially in amorphous graphite flotation, imposing heavy economic burdens and raising environmental concerns. In this work, a novel water-in-oil type kerosene emulsion was prepared, and its flotation performance as a collector on an amorphous graphite ore was examined and compared to pristine kerosene. An optimized emulsification process was developed based on the roughing flotation test. Particle size distribution analysis, optical microscope, and Cryo-SEM studies indicated homogenous and fine emulsified kerosene droplets in aqueous. More importantly, the open circuit flotation test proved emulsified kerosene as a superior collector to pristine kerosene in terms of enhancing the clean flotation efficiency of amorphous graphite.