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Comparison of mechanical and column flotation performances on recovery of phosphate slimes in presence of nano-microbubbles

纳米微气泡存在下浮选机和浮选柱回收细粒磷酸盐矿物的比较

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Abstract

Fine particle flotation has been one of the main problems in many mineral processing plants. The bubble-particle collision rate is very low for fine particles, which reduces flotation efficiency. Also, the existence of slimes is, generally, detrimental to the flotation process, affecting the selectivity and the quality of the concentrates. Besides, it causes an increase in reagents consumption. Hence, in most of processing plants, some of these particles are transmitted to the tailing ponds to reduce the effects of these problems and increase the selectivity of the process. Esfordi phosphate plant in Iran loses more than 30% of its capacity as particles with d80 finer than 30 µm. These fine particles with 15.9% P2O5 content are transferred to tailing dam. Processing of fine particles is very important for phosphate industry from economic and environmental aspects. This study addressed the processing of fine tailings (slimes) from a phosphate ore concentrator via flotation, despite the traditional view that ultrafine particles do not float. Phosphate flotation performances in the presence and absence of nanobubbles (NBs) in both mechanical and column cells were compared according to the metallurgical results of the process. NBs (generated by hydrodynamic cavitation) have interesting and exclusive properties such as high stability, durability and high surface area per volume, leading to increase of their utilization in mining-metallurgy and environmental areas. The results of this study revealed that, in the absence of NBs, a concentrate containing 26.9% P2O5 with a recovery of 29.13% was obtained using mechanical cells in comparison to 31.6% P2O5 with a recovery of 32.74% obtained using column flotation. In the presence of NBs, the recoveries of the concentrate of the mechanical and column flotation increased to 40.49% and 41.26% with 28.47% and 30.43% P2O5 contents, respectively. Comparative study showed that the column flotation was almost more efficient for processing the phosphate ore in the presence of the NBs, and had thicker froth layer compared to the mechanical flotation.

摘要

细粒浮选一直是许多矿物加工厂面临的主要问题之一。由于细颗粒的气泡粒子碰撞概率很低, 因此降低了浮选效率。细粒的存在通常不利于浮选过程, 影响了浮选精矿的选择性和质量, 而且增加 了试剂的消耗量。因此, 在大多数加工厂中, 会将部分颗粒输送到尾矿池中, 以减少这些问题的影 响, 并提高浮选过程的选择性。由于 d80 小于30 µm 的颗粒的存在, 使伊朗的Esfordi 磷酸盐厂损失了至 少30% 的处理能力。将这些P2O5 含量为15.9% 的细颗粒转移到尾矿坝, 从经济和环境两方面来看, 细 颗粒的加工对磷酸盐工业具有重要意义。本文探讨了通过浮选工艺处理磷酸矿选矿厂的细尾矿的问 题, 尽管传统观点认为超细颗粒不可浮选。根据冶金工艺性能结果, 比较了有无纳米气泡(NBs)时, 浮选机和浮选柱两种处理工艺下磷酸盐矿物的浮选行为。由于NBs(由水动力空化作用产生)具有有 趣的和独特的性能, 如高稳定性、耐久性和高比表面积, 提高了其在采矿、冶金和环境领域的应用。 本研究结果表明, 在没有NBs 的情况下, 使用浮选机工艺获得了P2O5 含量为26.9%、回收率为29.13% 的精矿, 而使用浮选柱工艺, 得到的P2O5 含量为31.6%, 回收率, 通过浮选机和浮选柱获得精矿的回收率分别为40.49% 和41.26%, P2O5 含量分别为28.47% 和 30.43%。对比研究表明, 在NBs 存在的情况下, 与浮选机相比, 浮选柱工艺对磷矿的处理效率更高, 泡沫层更厚。

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Fatemeh Taghavi & Mohammad Noaparast

  2. Department of Mineral Processing and Applied Research, Iran Mineral Processing Research Center (IMPRC), Karaj, Iran

    Ziaeddin Pourkarimi

  3. School of Chemical and Minerals Engineering, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Fardis Nakhaei

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  1. Fatemeh Taghavi
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Correspondence to Ziaeddin Pourkarimi.

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Project supported by Iran Mineral Processing Research Center (IMPRC)

Contributors

Fatemeh Taghavi, Fardis Nakhaei and Ziaeddin Pourkarimi provided experimental data, analyzed the measured data, and edited the original draft of manuscript. Mohammad Noaparast supervised the whole experiment.

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Taghavi, F., Noaparast, M., Pourkarimi, Z. et al. Comparison of mechanical and column flotation performances on recovery of phosphate slimes in presence of nano-microbubbles. J. Cent. South Univ. 29, 102–115 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-022-4925-9

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