Quantification of Sulphydryl Collector-Mixture Used in Sulphide Ore Flotation

Abstract

Sulphydryl collectors are used for the flotation of sulphide ores. Sometimes a combination of various types of sulphydryl collectors having different functional groups are used to improve the flotation performance. Usually UV spectrophotometry technique is used to quantify the unabsorbed amount (residual concentration) of single sulphydryl collectors left after the adsorption or flotation studies. When a mixture of these collectors is present, UV spectrophotometry gives erroneous results as there is an interference of the spectra over the other. An alternative approach, ion-pairing chromatography (high performance liquid chromatography) gives encouraging results. This practice utilises the separation of chromatograms and determines the concentration of sulphydryl collectors spectrophotometrically. It can effectively quantify the mixtures of sulphydryl collectors of different functional groups and thus estimates the amount of chemicals needed for effective flotation, and also minimises the adverse effect of the same on the environment.