Abstract
Flotation is the most often employed process to achieve the selective removal of contaminants from the raw materials used in the manufacturing of phosphate fertilizer. However, sodium oleate (NaOL), as a typical collector, is ineffective because of its low collecting ability under low temperature. As a result, developing and implementing feasible alternatives is critical for the long-term output of mines. In this study, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), a low-cost and freely soluble reagent under low temperature was used to examine its collecting ability and selectivity in a fluorapatite-dolomite system by means of single and artificially mixed minerals flotation. The adsorption mechanism was evaluated with the help of XPS analyses. The flotation results demonstrate that SDBS could float both fluorapatite and dolomite, but show a higher affinity towards fluorapatite instead of dolomite. Moreover, SDBS could preferred adsorb onto fluorapatite surface when fluorapatite and dolomite coexist. SDBS is more suitable than NaOL for satisfactory recovery of fluorapatite under low temperature in terms of the higher recovery obtained. The XPS analyses results demonstrate that the adsorption of SDBS on fluorapatite surface was more intensively as opposed to that on dolomite surface and Ca active sites on fluorapatite surface are supposed to be the main location for SDBS attachment.
Highlights
Since China is an agricultural country with a vast population, agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy
The results demonstrate that when sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) was applied as a collector, both dolomite and fluorapatite could float
It should be noted that SDBS still exhibited high collecting ability even at low temperature, demonstrating that it could be employed as the potential alternative for effective fluorapatite recovery in hard area
Summary
Since China is an agricultural country with a vast population, agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy. Chemical fertilizer has long been a vital component in food production. It is crucial for China’s food supply, which feeds over one billion people. As the world’s population grows and phosphate demand rises, high-grade phosphate ores with low impurity are becoming scarce. Since they have a low P2 O5 grade and typically contain a variety of gangue minerals, such as quartz, mica, feldspar, dolomite, calcite, clays, and so on, most phosphate ores are not appropriate for direct use in the acidulation process. The phosphate beneficiation sector has a significant challenge: how to economically and efficiently use these low-grade phosphate ores [4]
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