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The sample is allowed to dry and is subsequently weighed to attached on the bubble lamellae while the water separating the
determine the amount of solids attached in the lamellae. The bubbles transports non-selectively entrained valuable and gangue
images of the glass slides are also video recorded. The area material. By deriving mass flowrate equations, they showed that
covered by the bubble-print is determined by using image the flow of valuable material to the concentrate is related to the
processing. Hence, the bubble solids loading can be calculated: overflow of bubble surface, weighted by a linear contribution
from the lamellae (loading of valuable material) and a non-linear
m contribution from the Plateau borders (non-selective entrainment
= (1) of valuable material). The equation for the mass flowrate of
A
valuable minerals can be written as:
where:
v = b M la + pb
s M
pb
(4)
m is the amount of solids on the slide
A is the surface area of the bubble-print where:
Under steady-state conditions it is possible by multiple subscripts v and s refer to valuable and total solids
sampling to collect enough material to determine also the respectively
average grade of the material attached in the bubble lamellae.
Samples can be washed in a container full of clean water such superscripts la and pb refer to lamellae and the Plateau
that enough material for assays is collected. Since this sample borders respectively
only contains attached material (hydrophobic particles), this Mla and Mpb correspond to the grade of valuable mineral M in
gives an indication of the maximum grade that could be achieved the lamellae and the Plateau borders respectively
by flotation under the given operating conditions.
spb is the mass flowrate of solids in the Plateau borders
Bubble bursting b is the flowrate of bubble surface area
The fraction of bubbles bursting in a froth was first introduced by is bubble solids loading as previously defined
la
Woodburn et al (1994), who developed a semi-empirical model M corresponds to the amount of valuable mineral loaded per
combining froth surface features with froth dynamics. The unit area of lamellae
model, based on image analysis of the froth surface, introduced
different parameters to account for froth structure, in particular
the froth bubble surface area flux, which is a function of the INDUSTRIAL EXPERIMENTS
fraction of air overflowing the cell, or its complement, the Industrial experiments were carried out in order to measure the
fraction of air leaving the froth through bubble bursting. bubble solids loading and bubble bursting fraction and relate
Banford et al (1998) used a similar model to relate froth them to the flotation performance of the cell. The flotation
structure to reagent addition and cell performance. The performance was quantified by grade and flowrate of valuable
measurements are performed by filming a batch flotation mineral (copper). The study was confined to the first cell of the
experiment and using image processing to determine the average rougher bank in the flotation circuit. The operational variables
diameter db, specific surface area Sb and velocity vf of the considered were air flowrate, froth depth and frother addition.
bubbles on top of the froth. From these measurements, the
flowrate of bubble surface area b overflowing the weir can be Experimental system
quantified as well as the volumetric flowrate of air leaving the
top surface of the froth Qout (Equation 2). Industrial-scale experiments were carried out in the rougher cells
of two copper flotation circuits, Pyhsalmi Mine, Finland, and
Northparkes Mine, NSW Australia.
b = Qout S b = v f hw w S b (2)
In Pyhsalmi, the ore contains copper as chalcopyrite
A stability parameter can be defined (Equation 3), (CuFeS2). The cell is a circular Outokumpu tank with a diameter
representing the fraction of air introduced in the pulp that of 1.2 m. A feed flowrate of 0.3 m3/min was used in all
overflows the cell as unbroken bubbles, or air recovery: experiments, with a solid content of about 40 per cent by mass, a
nominal particle size of 40 per cent passing 38 m, and a feed
copper content of about 0.8 per cent by mass. All measurements
Qout v f hw w
= = (3) were done under steady state.
Q Q
In Northparkes, all measurements were done in the first cell of
the rougher bank. The ore processed in Northparkes also contains
where: copper (mainly as bornite Cu5FeS4, and chalcopyrite, CuFeS2).
is the fraction of air in the overflowing froth and is often The rectangular rougher cells are 2.66 m wide by 3.34 m long. A
considered as unity feed flowrate of about 750 m3/hr was used in all experiments,
with a solid content of about 40 per cent by mass, a nominal
hw is the height of froth overflowing at the weir particle size of 65 per cent passing 75 m, and a copper content
w is the weir lip length. of about 0.7 per cent by mass.
hw can be measured and varies with operational conditions Samples of feed, concentrate and tails were taken, and after
whereas w depends upon the design of the cell. The higher , the filtering and drying, solids content, copper, and sulfur content
lower the loss of air by bubble breakage and the higher the froth were determined for each sample.
stability. Note that the complement to is the fraction of bubbles The solids content in bubble lamellae was measured by using
bursting on the top surface of the froth (1 - ). the method previously described. Three separate measurements
Ventura-Medina and Cilliers (2002) used dynamic image were done for each set of experimental conditions, as described
analysis and froth surface sampling to develop a flotation by Ventura-Medina et al (2004). Single-slide touching sampling
performance model based on mass fluxes. The model relies on a was carried out to collect enough material (80 samples) for the
froth structure in which the valuable material is selectively grade of the material in the bubble lamellae to be determined.
(g/cm 2)
processing was performed using the machine vision system
Smartfroth (Sweet et al, 2000; De Jager et al, 2003). These 1.9 cm/s
0.008
parameters were obtained by processing the digital videos over a 2.5 cm/s
period of 20 minutes from which average values were produced. 0.006
The operational variables manipulated during the study were 0.004
air flowrate (Q), froth depth (h) and frother concentration. Each
variable was studied when possible at low, standard and high 0.002
values and will be referred to as such. Tables 1 and 2 show the
0.000
actual values of the superficial gas velocity, froth depth and
frother concentration considered for each mine. 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%
1-
TABLE 1
Values for the operational variables in Pyhsalmi.
FIG 1 - Bubble solids loading as a function of the fraction of
Condition Variable bubbles bursting and superficial gas velocities in Pyhsalmi.
Superficial gas Froth depth Frother addition
velocity (cm/s) (mm) (ml/min)
Low 1.3 100 Nil
Standard 1.5 200 1.5 0.016
High 1.9 300 3 0.014
0.012
1.0 cm/s
(g/cm2 )
TABLE 2 0.010
Values for the operational variables in Northparkes. 1.1 cm/s
0.008
1.2 cm/s
Condition Variable 0.006
Superficial gas Froth depth Frother addition
velocity (cm/s) (mm) (ml/min) 0.004
Low 1.0 110 65 0.002
Standard 1.1 155 75 0.000
High 1.2 200 95 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85%
1-
Experiments were performed in which the condition of a single
variable was fixed and variations in the other two were done in
order to complete all the possible combination of conditions. FIG 2 - Bubble solids loading as a function of the fraction of
bubbles bursting and superficial gas velocities in Northparkes.
Results: mineral attachment and bubble bursting
fraction Another contribution to the increase in loading is the
coalescence in the froth that causes with bursting a decrease in
The fraction of bubbles bursting is directly estimated from image
processing results of average bubble size and froth velocity. The the flow of bubble surface area over the weir. The total surface
average bubble solids loading for Pyhsalmi and Northparkes are area available for the mass of particles present in the froth is
presented respectively in Figures 1 and 2 as a function of the therefore lower, and the average loading on bubbles increases.
bubble bursting fraction for the different superficial gas This is illustrated for Pyhsalmi in Figure 3 and Northparkes in
velocities studied. Figure 4, where the bubble loading is shown as a function of the
flow of bubble surface area and for three different ranges of
It is clear from Figures 1 and 2 that the bubble loading
bubble bursting fractions.
increases with froth bursting for each air flowrate investigated.
As first suggested by Finch and Dobby (1990) and observed by Equations 2 and 3 suggest that low flowrates of bubble surface
Ross (1997), the rupture of lamellae loaded with solids on the are obtained at low air flowrate and high bursting fraction (low
surface results in a release of valuable material into the Plateau ). As first measured by Ventura-Medina et al (2004), low air
borders where particles can reattach to lower bubbles in the froth flowrates are associated with higher mineral loadings. Both the
or form multiple layers inside the bubbles. Note that over the set effects of particle reattachment after bursting and high mineral
of conditions studied, the fraction of bubbles bursting in attachment at low air rate are combined for low flowrates of
Pyhsalmi is generally higher that in Northparkes, and therefore bubble surface area, and therefore result in significantly higher
results in significantly higher bubble loadings. loading on the bubbles, as clearly shown in Figure 3.
Even though bubble loading and bursting fraction are The data obtained in Northparkes is more scattered than for
positively correlated, Figures 1 and 2 indicate that a given bubble Pyhsalmi, however the same general trends can be observed. An
loading can be associated with different bursting fractions, increase in froth bursting associated with a drop in flowrate of
suggesting that both parameters play different roles on the bubble surface causes the bubbles to become more heavily
performance of the flotation cell. loaded with mineral.
0.016 100%
0.014
90%
0.012
0.010 94-100%
(g/cm 2)
80%
Cu /Cu la
87-94% 2
0.008 = 0.004 g/cm
80-87% 70%
0.006
0.004
60%
0.002
0.000 50%
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 0.000 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016
(m 2/s) (g/cm 2)
b
FIG 3 - Bubble solids loading as a function of the flow of bubble FIG 5 - Concentrate grade ratio as a function of the bubble solids
surface and for different bursting fractions in Pyhsalmi. loading for Pyhsalmi.
0.016 100%
0.014 90%
80%
0.012
70%
75-100%
(g/cm 2)
0.010 60%
Cu/Cu la
70-75%
0.008 50% = 0.005 g/cm 2
60-70% 40%
0.006
30%
0.004 20%
0.002 10%
0.000 0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010
2
b
2
(m /s) (g/cm )
FIG 4 - Bubble solids loading as a function of the flow of bubble FIG 6 - Concentrate grade ratio as a function of the bubble solids
surface and for different bursting fractions in Northparkes. loading for Northparkes.
Cu/Cu la
2
It is worth noting that a monolayer of closely packed spherical < 4 mg/cm 4-7 mg/cm2
85%
chalcopyrite particles of diameter 20 m, will occupy 90 per cent 0-4 mg/cm2
of the bubble surface area, and will result in a loading of 80%
0.005 g/cm2. This suggests that particles in Pyhsalmi and
Northparkes might attach to the lamellae until a monolayer of 75%
closely packed particles is formed. At this point, significant
amounts of valuable material start to be released in the Plateau 70%
borders, therefore rapidly saturating the Plateau borders and
reaching the maximum grade that can be achieved under the 72% 76% 80% 84% 88%
particular mineral liberation. Cu recovery
Grade-recovery maps
FIG 7 - Grade-recovery map for different bubble loadings in
The Grade-Recovery maps for Pyhsalmi are shown in Figure 7
Pyhsalmi.
for three ranges of bubble solids loading, and in Figure 8 for
three ranges of bubble bursting fraction. As suggested in Figure
5, an approximate boundary corresponding to a bubble loading of
4 mg/cm2 has been added for easier interpretation on Figures 7
and 8. The plots clearly summarise the information given by the 100%
bubble solids loading and the bubble bursting fraction. Both plots > 4 mg/cm2
display the characteristics of a typical grade-recovery curve, 95%
where mineral recovery is made at the expense of grade.
90% 80-87%
% Cu/ % Cu la
REFERENCES
On the other hand, low bursting fractions (less than 70 per
cent) result in high mineral recoveries without allowing enough Banford, A W, Aktas, Z and Woodburn, E T, 1998. Interpretation of the
upgrading in the froth. The bubble loadings associated with these effect of froth structure on the performance of froth flotation using
image analysis, Powder Technology, 98:61-73.
conditions remain low while the entrainment of gangue remains
too high to promote an efficient separation of the valuable Bradshaw, D J and OConnor, C T, 1996. Measurement of the
sub-process of bubble loading in flotation, Minerals Engineering,
mineral. 9(4):443-448.
De Jager, G, Hatfield, D P, Bradshaw, D J, Francis, J J and Rapacz, B M,
CONCLUSIONS 2003. The extraction of valuable minerals from mined ore,
Smartfroth Adams and Adams Patent Attorneys Pretoria A&A,
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confirmed the importance of the bubble solids loading and the Feng, D and Aldrich, C, 1999. Effect of particle size on flotation
froth bursting fraction on the separation mechanisms operating in performance of complex sulphide ores, Minerals Engineering,
the froth. These two parameters were identified as key indicators 12(7):721-731.
of the flotation performance. As a whole, the study actually Finch, J A and Dobby, G S, 1990. Column Flotation (Pergamon Press).
confirms what has been commonly believed within generations Ross, V E, 1997. Particle-bubble attachment in flotation froths, Minerals
of flotation metallurgists, ie that the froth becomes more Engineering, 10(7):695-706.
selective when it is under stress (froth bursting) and that particles Sadr-kazemi, N and Cilliers, J J, 2000. A technique for measuring
have to compete for the limited number of available sites on the flotation bubble shell thickness and concentration, Minerals
surface of bubbles (upgrading with bubble loading). Engineering, 13(7):773-776.
In particular, the study established that bubble solids loading Sweet, C G, Bradshaw, D J, Cilliers, J J L, Wright, B A, De Jager, G and
and froth bursting fraction are positively correlated. When film Francis, J J, 2000. The extraction of valuable minerals from mined
ore. Smartfroth Adams and Adams Patent Attorneys Pretoria A&A,
rupture occurs, solid particles in the lamellae enter the Plateau
REF: v13676 (1-11).
borders where particles can reattach to lower bubbles in the froth
Ventura-Medina, E, Barbian, N and Cilliers, J J, 2003. Froth stability and
or form multiple layers inside the bubbles. flotation performance, in Proceedings IMPC 2003, Cape Town,
Consequently, the bubble loading was found to be closely South Africa.
related to the mineral grade in the concentrate. Higher loadings Ventura-Medina, E, Barbian, N and Cilliers, J J, 2004. Solids loading and
result in more selectivity in attachment and therefore a higher grade on mineral froth bubble lamellae, International Journal of
copper grade in the concentrate. However, the increase in the Mineral Processing, 74:189-200.
quality of the concentrate remains limited by the grade on the Ventura-Medina, E and Cilliers, J J, 2002. A model to describe flotation
bubble lamellae. No significant grade improvements were performance based on physics of foams and froth image analysis,
measured at either Pyhsalmi for loadings above 4 mg/cm2 or International Journal of Mineral Processing, 67:79-99.
Northparkes for loadings above 5 mg/cm2 at which values the Weaire, D and Hutzler, S, 1999. Physics of Foam (Clarendon Press:
mineral content in the concentrate had reached over 95 per cent Oxford).
of the lamellae grade. These values were found to be close to the Woodburn, E T, Austin, L G and Stockton, J B, 1994. A froth based
loading given by a monolayer of closely packed chalcopyrite flotation kinetic model, Chemical Engineering Research and Design,
particles. This suggested that the bubbles might reach a point 72(A2):211226.
where their surfaces are fully covered, therefore transferring
further valuable material into the Plateau borders and rapidly NOMENCLATURE
reaching a concentrate grade close to the mineral content on the
lamellae. Latin letters
The fraction of bubbles bursting in the froth was found to be
linked to mineral recovery. High bursting fractions usually result A Bubble surface sampled with microscope slide (m2)
in a lower flow of bubble surface and therefore a lower mineral h Froth depth in industrial flotation cells (m)
recovery. However, froths displaying high bursting fractions
allow the liquid surrounding the bubbles to drain and return part hw Height of froth overflowing at the weir (m)