Flotation of Fine-Grained Minerals

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 April 2024 | Viewed by 2536

Special Issue Editors

School of Resources & Safety Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: flotation of particle fines; flotation reagent; mineral colloids and interface chemistry; flotation theory
School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Interests: Efficient beneficiation of low quality mineral resources
National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: flotation enhancement of fine minerals; utilization of solid waste resources

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Flotation is used as the principal method for concentrating minerals, which accounts for more than half of world’s production. Flotation performance deteriorates rapidly when operating in particle fines due to the complicated interface phenomenon and unfavored hydrodynamics. Flotation of particle fines could also cause problems such as high reagent consumption, non-selective reagent adsorption, excessive forth stability, and mechanical entrainment. To the overcome the disadvantages of conventional flotation of particle fines, many techniques have recently been developed to deal with the flotation of minerals fines, such as dissolved air flotation, floc-flotation, and nano-bubble flotation. The aim of this issue is to publish recent progress in the flotation of minerals fines to a promote better understanding of flotation of particle fines. Research related to interaction between reagent, bubble, and minerals surface, hydrodynamics and interface phenomenon in the flotation of minerals fines is welcome in this issue.

Dr. Bingqiao Yang
Prof. Dr. Weijun Peng
Dr. Shulei Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • flotation of mineral fines
  • interface phenomenon
  • interaction
  • hydrodynamics

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 10488 KiB  
Article
Hydrodynamic Study of a Hybrid Electro-Flotation Column
by Polyxeni K. Tsave, Margaritis Kostoglou, Nikolaos K. Lazaridis and Thodoris D. Karapantsios
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 344; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040344 - 26 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Bubble columns are used in the mining industry for mineral recovery but are also widely utilized in the chemical and petrochemical industry. The hydrodynamic characteristics of their performance is a field of interest with a number of points, which are nonetheless poorly understood, [...] Read more.
Bubble columns are used in the mining industry for mineral recovery but are also widely utilized in the chemical and petrochemical industry. The hydrodynamic characteristics of their performance is a field of interest with a number of points, which are nonetheless poorly understood, and a considerable amount of methods have aimed to shed light on the flow regimes that prevail in the columns. The study of the hydrodynamic part of a flotation process should consider characteristics such as air flow, volumetric gas fraction, flow field, and bubble size, along with the mechanical and design factors and pulp properties. The present work aims to elucidate the characteristics of the gas phase of a hybrid flotation system. For this purpose, a hybrid flotation column was designed and constructed and the bubbles size distributions at different radial positions in the flotation column were computed by analyzing high resolution digital images. A patented electrical impedance technique was employed to instantaneously measure the local volumetric gas fraction. Flow dispersion in the column was studied by residence time distributions using conductivity tracers. The experimental results are discussed to comprehend the variation in the gas fraction in the column. In particular, the study showed that the size of the bubbles changed from the center to the walls of the column, and this was observed both radically and vertically. Moreover, the size of the bubbles affected the volume fractions, and no coalescence of the bubbles was observed. Finally, the dispersion of the tracer in the working solution was distributed uniformly in the volume of the column, with a time difference for the four positions of the column. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation of Fine-Grained Minerals)
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16 pages, 3708 KiB  
Article
Effect of Electrochemical Interaction between Chalcopyrite and Hexagonal Pyrrhotite on Flotation Separation
by Tingsheng Qiu, Ce Zhang, Liu Yang, Jun Wang, Guanfei Zhao, Huashan Yan, Hao Wu, Xianhui Qiu, Baojun Yang and Rui Liao
Minerals 2023, 13(10), 1303; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13101303 - 08 Oct 2023
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Abstract
The mechanism of electrochemical interaction between chalcopyrite and hexagonal pyrrhotite was analyzed via electrochemical interaction, copper ion concentration testing, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization. Besides, the effect of electrochemical interaction between the two minerals on the flotation separation was investigated using the [...] Read more.
The mechanism of electrochemical interaction between chalcopyrite and hexagonal pyrrhotite was analyzed via electrochemical interaction, copper ion concentration testing, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization. Besides, the effect of electrochemical interaction between the two minerals on the flotation separation was investigated using the mineral flotation tests, adsorption capacity tests, and a microcalorimetric test. Our research results showed that chalcopyrite had higher electrochemical activity than hexagonal pyrrhotite, and when the former acted as an anode during the electrochemical interaction of the two, the corrosion current density was three times higher than that when it acted alone, and the surface oxidation corrosion was intensified. At the same time, the interaction between the two minerals was accompanied by a large number of copper ions dissolved and adsorbed on the surface of the hexagonal pyrrhotite, so that adsorption of butyl xanthate intensified, adsorption increased, and flotation recovery increased by 5%–20%. However, owing to the increase in metal defects and the generation of hydrophilic sulfate, the surface of chalcopyrite hindered the adsorption of butyl xanthate on its surface, and the flotation recovery decreased by nearly 10% compared with that before the occurrence of the electrochemical interaction. This action also significantly weakened the inhibition effect of lime on hexagonal pyrrhotite and increased the difficulty of the flotation separation of the two minerals. The research results of this study provide theoretical guidance for the flotation separation of copper–sulfur ores containing pyrrhotite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation of Fine-Grained Minerals)
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Review

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19 pages, 3663 KiB  
Review
A Brief Review of Micro-Particle Slurry Rheological Behavior in Grinding and Flotation for Enhancing Fine Mineral Processing Efficiency
by Guangsheng Zeng, Yangge Zhu and Wei Chen
Minerals 2023, 13(6), 792; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13060792 - 10 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1087
Abstract
Recent years have witnessed growing research interest in applying rheology in grinding and flotation treatment of finely disseminated ores. Slurry rheology has long been identified as the comprehensive effect of inter-particle interactions, including their aggregation and dispersion states in slurry, which are more [...] Read more.
Recent years have witnessed growing research interest in applying rheology in grinding and flotation treatment of finely disseminated ores. Slurry rheology has long been identified as the comprehensive effect of inter-particle interactions, including their aggregation and dispersion states in slurry, which are more impactive under the fine-particle effect. In this regard, rheology has the potential to play a significant role in interpreting the flowing and deforming phenomena of inter-particle aggregates, particle-bubble aggregates, and flotation froth. Though much attention has been paid to the rheological effect in industrial suspension, this has not been the case for mineral grinding and flotation for fine particles. The influential mechanism of rheology on the sub-processes of mineral processing has not been systemically determined nor revealed thoroughly, thus the underpinning mechanism for enhancing the processing efficiency has been difficult to discover. This paper reviews the current application and importance of rheology in fine mineral processing, and the potential research direction in the field is proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation of Fine-Grained Minerals)
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