.

Int. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543

www.elsevier.nlrlocaterijminpro
A parametric study of froth stability and its effect
on column flotation of fine particles
D. Tao
)
, G.H. Luttrell, R.-H. Yoon
Center for Coal and Minerals Processing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Uniersity, Blacksburg,
VA 24061-0258, USA
Received 12 March 1999; received in revised form 7 July 1999; accepted 7 July 1999
Abstract
Laboratory flotation tests have been conducted to examine the effect of froth stability on the
column flotation of finely pulverized coal. It has been demonstrated that the upgrading of coal in a
flotation column can be significantly improved when froth stability is properly controlled through
. .
the manipulation of appropriate variables such as gas flow rate V , wash water flow rate V ,
g w
froth height, wash water addition point, and feed solid concentration. Increases in wash water flow
rate and gas flow rate promoted froth stability, resulting in higher combustible recovery, but
possibly higher ash recovery as well. The optimum rates were determined to be 2 and 0.3 cmrs
for V and V , respectively. The specific influence of wash water flow rate on water recovery was
g w
found to be closely related to how the frother dosage was maintained. Coal particles could
stabilize or destabilize the froth, depending on their size and concentration in the cell. Those in
y100 mesh fraction destabilized froth at lower concentrations and stabilized it at higher
concentrations while micronized particles always showed froth-breaking power. The froth profiles
of solid content and ash content were established at varying wash water flow rates and wash water
addition points, from which it was concluded that froth cleaning occurred primarily at the
pulpfroth interface and drainage above the wash water addition point. q2000 Elsevier Science
B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: coal; column flotation; entrainment; froth properties; surfactants
)
Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Mining Engineering, 234E MMRB, University of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, USA. Tel.: q1-606-257-2953; Fax: q1-606-323-1962; E-mail:
dtao@engr.uky.edu
0301-7516r00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
.
PII: S0301- 7516 99 00033- 2
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 26
1. Introduction
It has long been realized that the behavior of the froth phase is important in
.
determining flotation performance. Tomlinson and Fleming 1965 and Feteris et al.
.
1987 showed that the flotation rate constant is directly proportional to the probability
that a particle survives the cleaning action of the froth zone and reports to the froth
.
product. Yianatos et al. 1988 reported that the separation efficiency of column flotation
.
depends on froth depth. Bisshop and White 1976 found the strong dependence on the
froth residence time of the amount of drainage of hydrophilic particles from the froth. It
is generally accepted that a froth of proper stability is essential for the achievement of
good grade and high recovery.
.
From the study of two-phase column froths, Finch et al. 1989 concluded that wash
water can stabilize the froth providing bias rate J )0.1 cmrs. Work with several
b
.
minerals Klassen and Mokrousov, 1963; Moys, 1989 has shown that an increase in gas
rate would result in more stable froth and higher water recovery. Engelbrecht and
. .
Woodburn 1975 and Feteris et al. 1987 have demonstrated that froth stability is
.
dependent on the height depth of the froth zone. Froth would eventually collapse with
increasing height due to liquid film thinning by drainage.
Mineral particles have been reported to show pronounced effects on froth stability.
.
Szatkowski and Freyburger 1985 observed that fine quartz particles rendered bubbles
to be more resistant to coalescence and promoted the production of the stable froth.
.
Livshits and Dudenkov 1965 believed that only coarse particles are able to act as
buffers between bubbles and prevent bubble coalescence, consequently strengthening the
.
stability of the froth. Klassen and Mokrousov 1963 reported that more hydrophobic
.
particles had greater stabilizing effects on the froth. Johansson and Pugh 1992 showed
.
that particles of intermediate hydrophobicity contact angle uf658 would enhance
.
froth stability but more hydrophobic particles u)908 would destabilize the froth while
.
more hydrophilic particles u-408 would not influence the froth properties. There is
apparent controversy on this subject and more work is required to elucidate the
differences in effects of particles on froth behavior.
Relatively few studies have been conducted which examined the impact of froth
behavior on the performance of column flotation cells. The froth phase is generally
neglected in previous work on coal column flotation. This constitutes a major deficiency
in these studies because it is the froth phase that is primarily responsible for the
improved metallurgical performance of columns over conventional flotation cells.
In the present investigation, comprehensive laboratory flotation tests have been
conducted to provide a better understanding of the behavior of the froth phase in column
flotation cells. Parameters examined included gas flow rate, wash water flow rate, froth
height, wash water addition point, feed solid concentration, etc. The froth stability was
measured by the water recovery in the froth product. The profiles of solid content and
ash content in the froth were established at various operating conditions to better
understand the cleaning action.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 27
2. Experimental
Samples of run-of-mine high-sulfur bituminous Illinois No. 6 coal were acquired
from a coal preparation plant and used in the column flotation tests. The major
properties of the coal sample are shown in Table 1.
The as-received samples were immediately crushed to y6 mm using a laboratory jaw
crusher, split into representative lots of approximately 1.5 kg each, and then stored in a
freezer at y208C to minimize oxidation. Prior to flotation, the samples were dry
.
pulverized in a laboratory hammermill to below 150 mm d s34 mm and diluted to
50
10% solids, unless otherwise specified, in a conditioning sump. Micronization of the
coal sample, if needed, was achieved by wet grinding of pulverized coal at 30% solids in
.
a 13.3-cm diameter stirred ball mill Union Process using 3.2-mm diameter stainless
steel balls. A 30-min grinding resulted in a mean product diameter of approximately 5
mm at which nearly complete liberation of minerals from coal matrix was observed. The
coal slurry pH was in the vicinity of 6.5. A kerosene addition of 1 kgrton of feed coal
was employed in all tests.
A microbubble flotation column having a diameter of 5 cm and height of 170 cm was
used in the test program. A detailed description of this apparatus has been provided
.
elsewhere Yoon et al., 1989 . In order to normalize the effect of column diameter, flow
rates were expressed as superficial velocities defined as flow rates divided by the
cross-sectional area. Unless otherwise noted, all tests were carried out at aeration rate of
1.0 cmrs, wash water addition rate of 0.25 cmrs, and slurry feed rate of 0.17 cmrs.
The slurry was fed to the column 60 cm below the froth overflow lip. Wash water was
added in the middle of the froth zone, i.e., 25 cm below the froth overflow lip when the
froth zone is 50 cm high. The froth level was controlled primarily by adjusting the
tailing discharge rate. Betz M-150, a polypropylene glycol methyl ether with molecular
weight of approximately 400, was used as frother that was added directly to the bubble

generation circuit at a constant rate of 15 mlrmin corresponding frother concentration

.
in the pulp was ;20 ppm . The average bubble size was about 0.43 mm at 20 ppm
frother concentration, as determined from the air hold-up measurement using a differen-
.
tial manometer Xu and Finch, 1989; Mankosa, 1990 . In the tests designed to determine
the ash and solid profiles within the column froth, a sampling lance was used to take
samples at various points along the column height.
Table 1
Properties of the as-received Illinois No. 6 coal sample
.
Ash % 10.8
.
Moisture % 10.3
.
Pyritic Sulfur % 1.16
.
Organic Sulfur % 2.09
.
Total Sulfur % 3.25
.
Volatile Matter % 37.0
.
Fixed Carbon % 50.8
.
Contact Angle 8 48
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 28
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Column operating parameters and their effects on froth stability
( )
3.1.1. Gas flow rate V
g

The gas flow rate is of great significance in determining flotation rate constant Yoon
.
et al., 1989 . It also plays an important role in the establishment of froth. As shown in
Fig. 1, water recovery increased considerably with the gas flow rate, indicating that the
froth was stabilized. There are two possible mechanisms for the observed increase in
water recovery with increasing V . The first is associated with more bubbles generated at
g
higher gas rates. Under the assumption that the size distribution of bubbles is indepen-
dent of gas flow rate and the thickness of liquid film of each bubble is constant, as
.
proposed by Engelbrecht and Woodburn 1975 , the recovery of water is expected to be
linearly dependent on gas flow rate. This is confirmed in Fig. 1 by the linear correlation
between water recovery and gas flow rate from 1.25 to 2.0 cmrs. The apparent
nonlinear dependence above V s2.0 cmrs indicated the contribution from the second
g
mechanism, i.e., increased froth stability. The decrease in residence time of bubbles in

the froth diminished the coalescence of bubbles and drainage of liquid Bisshop and
.
White, 1976 . It was observed in experiments that at gas flow rate ;3.0 cmrs, the gas
hold-ups in both zones were equal to each other and the interface between them
Fig. 1. The effect of gas flow rate on froth stability and flotation performance.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 29
disappeared, which is in good agreement with the previous result obtained from a
.
two-phase column froth Yianotos et al., 1985 . This is because higher gas flow rates
generated more bubbles in the pulp which carried more water into the froth, resulting in
a decrease in gas hold-up in the froth zone but an increase in the collection zone.
.
Laplante et al. 1983a theoretically predicted and experimentally demonstrated that
in a flotation system without a froth phase, the flotation rate constant increased to a
maximum and then decreased as gas flow rate was increased. This is due to the fact that
the gas flow rate has two counteracting effects on the rate constant. On one hand, higher
gas flow rates generate more bubbles, increasing the flotation rate. On the other hand,
higher gas rates increase bubble size, resulting in a decrease in the flotation rate. The gas
flow rate at which these two factors are of equal effectiveness gives rise to the
maximum flotation rate constant. In contrast with Laplantes conclusion, Mehtrotra and
. .
Kapur 1974 and Engelbrecht and Woodburn 1975 reported that in the presence of the
froth phase, flotation rate constant increases with gas flow rate over its full range, which
is in agreement with the results in Fig. 1 that shows combustible recovery increased
consistently with increasing gas flow rate. It is believed that the increase in flotation
recovery was related to the increased froth stability which offset the effect of increased
bubble size.
Fig. 1 also shows that both water recovery and product ash increased significantly
.
with increase in gas flow rate when V )2.0 cmrs. Coincidentally, Finch et al. 1989
g
recommended from a study of two-phase column froths that gas flow rate should be less
than 2 cmrs. They found from the impulse and response tracer technique that at low gas
.
rates V -1.5 cmrs feed water concentration approaches zero at a froth height of
g
about 10 cm. At V )2 cmrs, feed water can penetrate 7080 cm into the froth. As a
g
.
result, relatively deep froths )1 m are necessary for a 10-m high industrial column
when high gas flow rates are used. Therefore, it appears that gas flow rate of about 2
cmrs is appropriate for column flotation to achieve both high combustible recovery and
low product ash.
( )
3.1.2. Wash water flow rate V
w
The characteristic that distinguishes flotation columns from conventional flotation
cells is the addition of wash water to the froth. Previous studies have shown its

importance in upgrading the froth product Luttrell et al., 1988; Finch and Dobby,
. .
1990 . Finch and Dobby 1990 claimed that V could be as low as possible, providing
w
the bias water rate is greater than zero. This conclusion, however, is not consistent with
.
other studies Parekh et al., 1986; Luttrell et al., 1988 . Two series of tests were carried
out to investigate this discrepancy, with special attentions paid to the effect of wash
water on the froth stability.
Fig. 2 shows the results of flotation tests conducted under the condition that the
dosage of frother was constant at 0.5 kgrton of feed solids. The water recovery initially
decreased rapidly with increasing wash water rate and then levelled off at ;0.2 cmrs.
Although the total amount of water in the column was increased with increasing wash
water rate, the amount of water carried into the froth product decreased consistently
from 0.132 cmrs at V s0.06 cmrs to 0.038 cmrs at V s0.2 cmrs due to the sharp
w w
decrease in water recovery. For V )0.2 cmrs, the amount of water reporting to the
w
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 30
Fig. 2. The effect of wash water flow rate on froth stability and flotation performance with frother dosage kept
constant in lbrton of feed solids.
froth product increased with increasing V . The initial decrease in water recovery as
w
well as water flow rate into the froth product could be attributed to the dilution of
frother in the column. The subsequent leveling-off in water recovery, or increase in
water flow rate, indicates that the effect of wash water on preventing coalescence of
rising bubbles and film thinning predominated.

The bias rate of wash water defined as the net flow rate of wash water through the
. .
stabilized froth can be estimated from Eq. 1 ,
V sV yV s 1yR V yR V , 1 . .
b w wp w w w wf
where V is bias rate, V wash water flow rate, V water flow rate to the froth product,
b w wp

V water flow rate in the feed, and R is water recovery defined as the fraction of
wf w
.
water reporting to the froth product . It was determined that V was y0.072 cmrs at
b
V s0.06 cmrs and 0.079 cmrs at V s0.12 cmrs, respectively. The zero bias rate
w w
was achieved at V f0.10 cmrs. However, the product ash was minimized by V )0.2
w b
cmrs or V )0.25 cmrs. Apparently, bias rate just above zero is not enough to obtain
w
.
the best product grade. In fact, Yianatos et al. 1987 showed from the study of
industrial columns that bias rate of 0.30.4 cmrs is required to prevent feed entrainment
into the froth.
Combustible recovery decreased over the entire range of wash water rate. This may
result from increasingly larger bubbles associated with lower frother concentration in the
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 31
collection zone caused by increased wash water flow rate. Since the objective of the
addition of wash water is to achieve maximum ash rejection with a minimum loss of
combustible recovery, the most appropriate value of V should be around 0.30 cmrs or
w

18 cmrmin, which is in excellent agreement with the previous study Luttrell et al.,
.
1988 . Studies on the froth profile which will be discussed later confirmed this
conclusion.
When the frother concentration in the pulp was kept constant at 20 ppm by adjusting
the frother addition to the column as wash water rate increased, the froth behavior and
flotation performance were considerably different from Fig. 2, as shown in Fig. 3. The
product ash was almost independent of wash water flow rate, which is in coincidence
.
with the study on sulphide minerals Finch et al., 1989 . The combustible recovery
changed with wash water flow rate in a way very similar to that shown in Fig. 2 except
that the variation was less pronounced in this case. The change in water recovery in Fig.
3 was relatively small compared to that exhibited in Fig. 2. The amount of water
entrained in the froth product was increased with increasing wash water flow rate,
indicating that froth was increasingly stabilized. The bias rate was consistently positive
at all wash water flow rates ranging from 0.125 to 0.413 cmrs.
Results in Figs. 2 and 3 suggest that the inconsistence in literature on effects of wash
water on separation performance may be associated with the difference in the way
frother dosage was regulated. It can be speculated that under conditions where bubbles
Fig. 3. The effect of wash water flow rate on froth stability and flotation performance with frother
concentration in pulp kept constant.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 32
are not heavily loaded and gangue particles are pure and completely hydrophilic, froth
cleaning action may be insensitive to wash water flow rate, provided that it generates
positive bias rate. However, in cases where significant quantities of gangue particles are

entrapped into the froth or middling particles are moderately floatable e.g., coalmineral
.
composite particles , wash water flow rate or bias rate may have to be maintained at a
certain level in order to achieve optimum product grade. The y100 mesh coal sample
used in the present study contained about 40% middlings and as a result a significant
positive bias rate was required for effective cleaning.
3.1.3. Froth height
It is known that for the effective operation of a flotation column, the pulpfroth
interface must be maintained at a certain level. Too high a level may result in a poor
concentrate grade and the reverse situation may give rise to a reduced recovery due to
decreased residence time of particles in the pulp. Since typical industrial columns have a
collection zone of 10 m in height, relatively small changes, e.g., 0.5 m, in the level will
have only a marginal effect on flotation recovery. This is especially true when columns

are operating near their maximum carrying capacity Espinosa-Gomez et al., 1988;
.
Ynchausti et al., 1988; Finch et al., 1989 . Level changes are most likely to affect the
product grade.
Fig. 4 shows that there is a linear dependence of combustible recovery, ash recovery,
and water recovery on the froth height. The linear correlations and negative slopes are in
Fig. 4. The effect of froth height on froth stability and flotation performance.
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 33

agreement with the results obtained in previous studies with pyrite Engelbrecht and
. .
Woodburn, 1975 and with galena Laplante et al., 1983b; Feteris et al., 1987 in
.
mechanic batch flotation cells. Bisshop and White 1976 suggested that the drainage of
hydrophilic particles from the froth back to the pulp is dependent on the froth residence
.
time which was found by Moys 1984 to be directly proportional to the froth height.
Deeper froth provides longer time for liquid and particles to drain from bubble surface
and drop back to the collection zone.
The difference in slopes of three lines in Fig. 4 is of particular significance since it
demonstrates the cleaning action in the froth. The recovery of ash-bearing particles
including composite ones decreased more significantly with increasing froth height than
that of combustible material. This may be caused by the fact that more hydrophobic
particles will be preferentially attached to bubbles if particles are subjected to repeated
detachmentrreattachment events in the froth due to coalescence that makes less bubble

surface available. In addition, decreased water recovery with increasing froth height as
.
shown in Fig. 4 reduces non-selective hydraulic entrainment, resulting in a lower
.
product ash. Laplante et al. 1983b suggested that the froth transfer coefficient
characterizing the behavior of floating species in the froth decreased with increasing the
froth depth, which is consistent with the results shown in Fig. 4.
It should be pointed out that tests with bubbles larger than 1 mm in diameter showed
only marginal improvement in selectivity with increasing froth depth, which may be
responsible for the fact that thin froth is usually used in mechanical cells and some
.
columns Amelunxen et al., 1988; Kosick et al., 1988 in which bubbles are believed to
be 12 mm in diameter.
3.2. Effects of coal particles on froth stability
Effects of solid particles on froth stability were investigated as a function of solid
concentration in the feed at a constant feed flow rate. Fig. 5 shows results obtained with
10-mm coal particles. Maximum solid concentration in the feed was 5% above which
froth was almost destroyed. When solid concentration in the feed increased from 0.025%
.
to 5% solid concentration in the cell varied correspondingly from 0.1 to 20.0 grl , the
water recovery drastically decreased from 65% to 3.5%, suggesting that hydrophobic
fine particles destabilized froth. The froth-destabilizing effect of fine hydrophobic
particles was also related to the consumption of frother in the cell due to its adsorption
on solids, evidenced by the increase in bubble size.
Data collected with y100 mesh coal samples are shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Com-
bustible recovery and ash recovery at extremely low solid concentration in Fig. 6 were
not available due to insufficient quantity of particles in the feed. Apparently, coarse coal
particles destabilized the froth at relatively low solid concentrations. However, water
recovery increased with increasing solid concentration in the feed from 5% to 25%. It is
very interesting to point out that over this range of solid concentration, bubbles became
increasingly larger with increasing solid concentration, possibly due to the adsorption of
frother on particles, which would have reduced water recovery. The results strongly
suggested that froth could be stabilized by coarse hydrophobic particles at relatively
high concentrations.
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 34
Fig. 5. The impact of 10-mm coal particles on froth stability, bubble size and flotation performance as a
function of feed solids concentration.
Additional flotation tests with coal particles in different size fractions were performed
.
at a constant solid concentration. It was observed results not shown that particles
between 30 and 150 mm stabilized froth and those smaller than 30 mm destabilized
froth. Smaller particles showed stronger froth-destabilizing ability.
.
The above results are in good agreement with Lovells conclusion Lovell, 1976
derived from the work on phosphate flotation. According to the protruding particle
.
theory proposed by Hemmings 1981 , the condition that is required to produce a
destructive compressive stress reaction in the liquid lamellae is,
t u
cosu- -cos , 2 .
d 2
where u is contact angle, t lamellae thickness, and d is diameter of particle or floccule.
The condition that is needed to produce a supportive tensile stress reaction is,
t
u- -cosu. 3 .
d
However, if u)908, particles always tend to destabilize the froth. This theory suggests
that small particles are more likely to destabilize the froth and big particles tend to hold
the condition for a stabilizing tensile stress. Increased froth stability at higher solid
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 35
Fig. 6. The impact of y100 mesh coal particles on froth stability and flotation performance with feed solids
concentration from 0.025% to 5%.
concentration is generally attributed to increased surface viscosity of liquid films which
hinders film drainage.
.
Dippenaar 1982a established that a particle causes a film to rupture only when the
two three-phase boundary lines are forced to migrate to the same point on the particle
and the liquid film is thinned to half the diameter of the particle or less, which also
indicates that smaller particles destabilize liquid films more readily than bigger ones.
.
The flotation tests of Dippenaar 1982b showed that 0.16 mg of 5-mm hydrophobic
particles had the same froth breaking power as 18.8 mg of 54.5-mm particles.
.
Johansson and Pugh 1992 reported that particles in 74106 mm fraction generally
increased froth stability. This effect reached maximum at relatively low hydrophobicity
and further increase in hydrophobicity exhibited negligible influence. For particles in
.
2644 mm fraction, those of moderate hydrophobicity contact angle uf50658
showed substantial froth-stabilizing effect. Less hydrophobic particles did not have
influence on froth stability and more hydrophobic ones destabilized froth. Moudgil and
.
Gupta 1989 observed similar behavior with phosphate fines. It is believed that the
presence of smaller particles with moderate hydrophobicity at the interface of the
Plateau border increased the rigidity and surface viscosity. More hydrophobic particles
penetrated the gasrliquid interface and the capillary pressure accelerated liquid drainage.
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 36
Fig. 7. The impact of y100 mesh coal particles on froth stability and flotation performance with feed solids
concentration from 5% to 25%.
Particles with low hydrophobicity remained in bulk liquid and could not affect froth
stability.
It is apparent from the above results and discussion that there are many factors
determining effects of solid particles on froth stability. They include particle size,
hydrophobicity, concentration, etc. More importantly, these factors affect froth stability
interactively. Inconsistent observations and conclusions reported in literature may stem
from different conditions various investigators employed in their studies.
3.3. Froth stability and particle entrainment
The recovery of hydrophilic particles in flotation is mainly caused by entrainment
which is related to the froth stability. The establishment of relationship between froth
stability and particle entrainment is of great importance for a better understanding of
mechanisms for collection of different particles. It is also necessary for operation and
design of columns to minimize the entrainment by optimizing operating parameters.
Various flotation tests were conducted in which gas flow rate, feed solid concentra-
tion, and froth height were changed to acquire different froth stability and particle
separation while the other parameters are maintained constant. The combustible recovery
and ash recovery are shown in Fig. 8 as a function of water recovery. A linear
dependence exists between ash recovery or product ash content and water recovery.
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 37
Fig. 8. The correlation between combustible recovery, ash recovery or product ash and water recovery.
However, the relationship is not in complete agreement with the results of Engelbrecht
.
and Woodburn 1975 who demonstrated that not only was the recovery of hydrophilic
.
species silica directly proportional to the water recovery but also the line crossed the
origin. This difference may arise from the fact that they used the artificial mixture of
finely ground silica and pyrite as feed in which silica was perfectly free of pyrite. In the
present study coal was pulverized to y100 mesh and minerals were only incompletely
liberated from coal matrices.
The relationship between ash recovery and water recovery can be described by Eq.
.
4 ,
R sF qe R , 4 .
a a a w
where R is ash recovery, R water recovery, e slope of the line or entrainment factor,
a w a
and F is the intercept of the extrapolated line on the ash recovery axis. The values of e
a a
and F depend on properties of feed, e.g., size, and the chemical environment in the
a

flotation column. For well-liberated or ultrafine hydrophilic particles, F s0 En-

a
.
gelbrecht and Woodburn, 1975 . The e and F in Fig. 8 were determined to be 0.68 and
a a
20, suggesting that a 20% recovery of ash was accomplished by true flotation of
composite particles.
Combustible recovery exhibited different and complex dependence on water recov-
ery. Mathematical models describing their relationship that are available in literature
cannot be used to fit all the data satisfactorily. In an attempt to develop a new model,
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 38
Fig. 8 was replotted on a full log scale, as shown in Fig. 9. The curve can be best fitted
in two distinct regions by the equations:
log 1yR slogaqb log 1yR , 5 . . .
c w
or
b
R s1ya 1yR , 6 . .
c w
where R is the combustible recovery and a and b are constants. When R s0,
c w
R s1ya, which can be considered as the contribution from true flotation. In the
c
region for R between 0 and 0.18, the best fitting values for a and b are 0.218 and
w
4.683, respectively, which indicates that true flotation resulted in a combustible recovery
of 78.2%. For the region with R ranging from 0.18 to 0.50, the respective values of a
w
and b were determined to be 0.1183 and 1.446. The correlation coefficients are 0.938
and 0.934, respectively, in these two regions. Apparently, true flotation is the predomi-
nant recovery mechanism for combustible material. It should be noted, however, that the
relative contribution of true flotation and entrainment to the overall recovery of
hydrophobic particles is strongly dependent on the particle size. For example, Warren
.
1985 showed that for iron sulfide particles of intermediate size entrainment played a
minor role in overall recovery and true flotation was predominant, which is in agreement
Fig. 9. The relationship of combustible recovery and water recovery on the full log scale.
( )
D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 39
with the present study; for flotation of ultrafine particles in mechanical cells the overall
recovery was largely caused by entrainment and contribution from true flotation is small.
3.4. Froth profile
Particles that are collected by bubbles in the pulp and carried into the froth phase may
drop back into the pulp because of the continuous drainage of liquid and bubble
coalescence. Hydrophilic or relatively less hydrophobic particles are more likely to
detach from the surface of bubbles, leading to the cleaning action in the froth.
Consequently, the grade of particles in the froth could be a function of froth height. A
better understanding of froth cleaning mechanism can be accomplished through the
establishment of froth profiles.
3.4.1. Effects of wash water flow rate
Fig. 10 shows the ash profiles in the froth at different superficial wash water rates. As
shown, an abrupt decrease in the product ash content occurs just above the pulpfroth
interface. This upgrading can be largely attributed to the reduction in percent area
occupied by pulp and efficient cleaning action of the wash water at the interface which
prevents the ash-bearing minerals from entering the base of the froth. At low wash water
Fig. 10. The froth ash profile at different superficial wash water flow rates.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 40
addition rates, ash content decreases slowly with height up to the wash water inlet. This
section of the froth column is referred to as the stabilized froth zone since the flow of
wash water through this zone retards bubble coalescence and stabilizes the froth.
Bubbles in this zone are relatively uniform in size and coalesce very slowly. Above the
wash water inlet, the ash content again decreases remarkably with height. This section of
the froth, which is called the draining froth, is similar to the froth typically found in
conventional flotation cells. The cleaning action in this zone is a result of bubble
coalescence and consequent drop-back of some of entrained particles into the pulp.
The ash profiles obtained at higher wash water rates remain relatively constant from
the pulpfroth interface to the top of the froth, which is in agreement with the
.
observations of Szatkowski 1987 . This is because hydraulic entrainment is largely
eliminated at the pulpfroth interface and, therefore, no significant additional upgrading
would occur in the draining froth. These results indicate that superficial wash water rates
greater than ;0.25 cmrs are sufficient to prevent entrainment of feed water into the
froth product under the given experimental conditions. This value agrees very well with
the result discussed in Section 3.1.2.
3.4.2. Effect of wash water addition point
The results shown above suggest that the wash water addition point may be a key
variable in column flotation. In order to examine this possibility, additional tests were
Fig. 11. The impact of the wash water addition point on the product ash content and the product mass rate.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 41
conducted in which the wash water addition point was varied within the froth height.
The aeration rate, feed rate and wash water rate were held constant throughout these
tests. The results are shown in Fig. 11. The ash content decreased as the wash water
addition point was moved from the top of the froth down into the cell. The decrease in
ash content can be largely attributed to an improvement in froth washing associated with
the increased bias factor, which was 0.62 and 0.96 when wash water was added at the
top and at the bottom of froth, respectively. However, as the addition point was moved
closer to the pulpfroth interface, the stabilized froth zone became too short to
effectively prevent the entrainment of fine particles. As a result, a slight increase in
product ash content was observed when the wash water addition point was moved too
close to the pulpfroth interface.
Fig. 11 also indicates that improvement in product grade comes at the expense of
column capacity. As shown, a lower wash water addition point produces a sharp
decrease in the mass rate of product reporting to the froth launder. The lower capacity is
due to the decrease in the froth stability in the froth drainage zone which occurs as the
wash water addition point approaches the pulpfroth interface. Since wash water is
ineffective when added at the interface, the frother is not washed from the froth phase
back to the pulp, generating more stable froth. The increased froth stability leads to a
higher mass rate.
4. Conclusions
1. Increase in gas flow rate stabilizes froth and improves combustible recovery.
However, gas flow rates higher than 2 cmrs result in sharp increase in ash recovery due
to increased nonselective hydraulic entrainment.
2. Effects of wash water rate on froth stability and flotation performance depend on
whether frother concentration in the column is maintained constant as wash water rate
.
changes. A significant positive bias rate )0.2 cmrs is required to eliminate hydraulic
entrainment for the coal sample investigated. The appropriate wash water rate depends
on aeration rate, frother concentration, coal characteristics, etc.
3. Micronized Illinois No. 6 coal particles have strong froth-destabilizing effect.
.
Relatively coarse coal particles y100 mesh destabilize froth at lower solids concentra-
.
tions -20 grl in the pulp and stabilize froth at higher concentrations.
4. Ash recovery is linearly dependent on water recovery while combustible recovery
shows a nonlinear dependence. A new model has been developed for the correlation
between combustible recovery and water recovery.
5. At higher wash water addition rates, upgrading in a flotation column occurs
primarily at the pulpfroth interface; at lower wash water rates, additional upgrading
takes place in the drainage zone. Froth phase should be made as deep as possible
without causing a significant loss of combustible recovery.
6. For a fixed set of experimental conditions, lowering of the wash water addition
point into the froth increases bias rate, which may improve the effectiveness of the wash
water and increase the product grade. However, excessive drainage of froth associated
with lower wash water addition position will lead to an unstable froth which adversely
affects column performance, particularly in terms of capacity.
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D. Tao et al.rInt. J. Miner. Process. 59 2000 2543 42
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the United States
.
Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC22-86PC91221 which made this work
possible.
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