Kinetics and mechanism of coal flotation

Abstract

 The flotation kinetics of coarse coal particles was studied in a modified version of the Hallimond tube at 25 °C using nitrogen as the carrier gas, in the pH range 2–12. The kinetics was followed by measuring the volume of the particles accumulated in the collector tube as a function of time. At each pH, the rate constants were determined at several buffer concentrations and were extrapolated to zero buffer concentration. The observed first-order rate constant was represented as the product of separable constants and functions such as f _D, f _V and f _pH, which depend only on the particle size, gas flow and the pH of the dispersion, respectively. The diameter, D, of the particles was in the range 505–127 μm. The observed rate constant decreased linearly with the diameter of the particles at constant flow and it was calculated that f _D=exp(−1.56D). The dependence of f _V on the flow is a consequence of the fact that the flotation occurs when a single particle is captured by two bubbles. f _V was shown to be independent of the particle diameter. The effect of the pH on the rate of flotation was considered as resulting from the adsorption of protons (or hydroxide ions) by the particles and bubbles through multiple equilibria, assuming that there is no interaction between the binding sites. The pH–rate profile showed that there were two species responsible for the flotation: one stable at pH below 5 and the other at high pH. Comparison of f _V, f _D and f _pH for the flotation of coal and pyrite allowed the prediction of the optimum conditions for the separation of mixtures of these particles by flotation.