Abstract
Collophane is difficult to upgrade by reverse flotation of quartz with amine collector alone due to its low grade, complex structure, fine dissemination grain size, etc. This investigation was conducted to explore the synergistic effect of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as a surfactant with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the collector on the separation of quartz from collophane by means of micro-flotation tests, surface tension and aggregate size measurements, and froth water mass fraction/recovery characterization. It was found that DBP reduced the surface tension of the reagent solution and enhanced the collision probability between bubbles and quartz particles by increasing the size of aggregates through increased hydrophobic interaction between the quartz particles and DBP droplets. The addition of DBP reduced the entrainment of fine collophane particles as a result of improved defoaming and increased the flotation recovery of quartz without resulting in any flotation of collophane at dosages lower than 200 mg/L. Flotation test results with the binary artificial mineral mixture showed that DBP improved the P2O5 recovery, SiO2 rejection, and P2O5 grade by up to 7%, 12%, and 1%, respectively.
Highlights
Phosphate rock plays an important role in China’s national economy and collophane accounts for about 75% of the world’s total phosphate rock reserves [1]
The phosphorus in collophane mainly exists in the form of ultrafine fluorapatite, which is a colloidal fine aggregate and is closely associated with gangue minerals such as dolomite and quartz, etc
With the continuous exploitation and utilization of phosphate rock resources, collophane ores have nowadays been characterized by low grade, complex structure, fine dissemination grain size and difficult dissociation [5], which makes fine grinding necessary to liberate gangue minerals from the phosphate matrix
Summary
Phosphate rock plays an important role in China’s national economy and collophane accounts for about 75% of the world’s total phosphate rock reserves [1]. Sedimentary collophane accounts for more than 80% of the total phosphate reserve and siliceous and magnesian collophane accounts for about half of the total with the majority being low and middle grade ore [3]. Lowand middle-grade siliceous and magnesian collophane is the main object of research in the field of phosphate rock separation in China. With the continuous exploitation and utilization of phosphate rock resources, collophane ores have nowadays been characterized by low grade, complex structure, fine dissemination grain size and difficult dissociation [5], which makes fine grinding necessary to liberate gangue minerals from the phosphate matrix.
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