General Introduction

Froth flotation is a separation process that utilizes the differences in surface hydrophobicity of minerals, by adding reagents to make valuable minerals hydrophobic, introducing air to form bubbles that attach to the hydrophobic minerals and rise to the surface to form a froth, which is then skimmed off to separate and concentrate the valuable minerals from gangue, and is widely used in mineral processing, wastewater treatment, paper recycling and other industries.

Working Principle

Particle Preparation: The ore is crushed and ground into fine particles to make the valuable minerals and gangue monomers dissociate as much as possible. The particle size is usually in the range of 2 - 500 micrometers.

Reagent Addition: Various reagents are added to the aqueous slurry of the ground ore. Collectors are used to adsorb on the surface of valuable mineral particles, making them hydrophobic. Frothers are added to produce stable bubbles. Modifiers and depressants may also be added to adjust the properties of the slurry and the surface of the minerals.

Air Injection: Air is introduced into the flotation cell to form a large number of bubbles. The hydrophobic mineral particles attach to the bubbles, while the hydrophilic gangue minerals remain in the slurry.

Froth Formation and Collection: The bubbles carrying the hydrophobic mineral particles rise to the surface of the slurry to form a froth. The froth is skimmed off and collected as concentrate, while the remaining slurry is discharged as tailings.

Applications and Flowsheet

Mineral Processing: It is mainly used to separate and concentrate various metal ores such as copper, lead, zinc, and gold ores, as well as non-metallic ores like phosphate and coal.

Technical Advantages

High Selectivity: It can effectively separate minerals with similar physical and chemical properties, improving the grade and recovery rate of concentrates.

Wide Applicability: It is applicable to a variety of minerals and materials, and can be adjusted according to different ore properties and separation requirements.

High Separation Efficiency: It can process a large amount of materials continuously and efficiently, adapting to large-scale industrial production.

Technical Specifications