Development of a flotation simulator that can predict grade vs. Recovery curves from mineral liberation data

Abstract

Flotation is a kinetic process designed to separate mineral fines by control of hydrophobicity . In general, both the recovery and selectivity of a flotation process increase with contact angle. It is difficult, however, to model flotation kinetics using the thermodynamic parameter. In the present work, we consider flotation as heterocoagulation so that the bubble-particle interactions occurring in the pulp phase of a flotation cell can be modeled using the hydrophobic force as a kinetic parameter that can represent the role of contact angles in flotation. The pulp-phase model developed in this manner has been combined with a froth-phase model developed earlier by considering the effect of particles in film thinning kinetics and bubble coarsening (Park et al, 2018). The combined model has been used to develop a flotation simulator that can be used to construct grade vs . recovery curves from feed characteristics ( e.g ., mineral liberation and particle size) and various operating parameters. The simulator has been tested successfully against a set of bench-scale continuous flotation test results reported in the literature (dos Santos and Galery, 2018).