Abstract
A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of nine different frother types when used in a three-phase, continuously operating froth flotation system. The frothers included several that are commonly used in the industry (e.g., MIBC, 2EH, and F-1) as well as unique frother types (e.g., F-3). The tests were conducted in a 5-cm diameter laboratory flotation column that provided near plug-flow mixing conditions due to a length-to-diameter ratio of around 50:1. Test results indicate that F-1, MIBC, and MPC (in order of decreasing effectiveness) provided the weakest performance in terms of combustible recovery while F-2, MAC, and 2EH were the top three generating the highest separation efficiencies. When processing ultrafine coal, the ash content of the flotation concentrate ranged from 10% to 15% while recovering over 80% of the combustible material. F-3, F-4, and DIBC provided over 80% recovery of combustibles at the expense in the amount of hydraulic entrainment. The flotation performances were also closely examined in accordance with the fundamental properties of the nine tested frothers, and their correlations were addressed in detail.
Highlights
The froth flotation process commonly requires the use of a multitude of chemical reagents including collectors, frothers, surface modifiers, and pH-regulators
The results of our study showed that MPC and MIBC produced the poorest performance among all the nine frother types evaluated due to their weak froth properties
F-2 and MAC were proven to be excellent frother types providing optimum separation performances at the mass and volumetric feed flow rates utilized in the test program. 2EH provided a comparable performance as F-2 and MAC at a concentration of 10 ppm
Summary
The froth flotation process commonly requires the use of a multitude of chemical reagents including collectors, frothers, surface modifiers, and pH-regulators. Frothers play an essential role in determining the bubble size distribution as well as the stability and mobility of the froth phase [1,2]. In a review paper authored by Khoshdast and Sam [1] on the properties of frothers, it was concluded that bubble size, and stability and mobility of the froth phase play a significant role in the kinetic viability of the process. The particle size, shape, and surface hydrophobicity have been reported to greatly affect the performance of a froth flotation process [27,28,29,30,31,32]. Fundamental properties of the frothers including surface tension and frothing abilities were measured and correlated with their molecular weights and HLB values along with the findings of the flotation tests, which were obtained as a function of frother concentration. Optimum flotation performances were identified for each frother type as a function of recovery, concentrate quality, and process selectivity
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