Abstract
Bubble loading is the ratio of the weight of the solid particles to the bubble’s surface, and it has an effective role in the flotation efficiency. This paper investigates bubble loading an industrial processing circuit through considering the important role of the bubble diameter in calculating bubble loading, and the effect of the aeration rate and frother dosage on the bubble diameter. The ratio of the weight of solid particles to the bubble volume was estimated to be in the range of 8 to 24 g/L. Although increasing the aeration could result in increasing the weight of the particles attached to the bubbles, the bubble loading was reduced by increasing the aeration rate due to its impact on the bubble diameter and the percentage of bubble surface coverage. For example, when the aeration rate was increased from 45 to 146 m3/h, the bubble loading decreased from 23 to 12 g/L. By increasing the frother dosage from 70 to 150 mL/min, the bubble loading increased from 16 to 19 g/L.
Highlights
The structure and stability of the froth can greatly affect the concentrate grade and recovery in the flotation process [1]
It has been reported that bubble diameter, particle size, particle density, particle shape, and the geometric arrangement of particles have the greatest impact on the bubble loading [10]
Based on the(ρ test the bubble loading bubblesurface diameter, particle diameter(K), p ) conditions, the mass of solid particles carried by a bubble
Summary
The structure and stability of the froth can greatly affect the concentrate grade and recovery in the flotation process [1]. Parameters such as hydrophobicity, particle size distribution, amount and type of frother and collector, temperature, pH, and soluble ions affect the structure and stability of the froth [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. If the size and shape of particles are assumed to be similar and spherical, the maximum number of particles (nmax ) that can be connected to a bubble is calculated by Equation (1): nmax = π( db 2 ) dp (1).
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