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Click to add WeChatA frother is a type of agent commonly used in flotation operations in ore dressing plants. Usually, flotation operations mainly use the differences in the physical and chemical properties of mineral surfaces to achieve separation. Some minerals have natural hydrophobicity, which can achieve mineral separation; some minerals need to use flotation agents to achieve hydrophobicity, change the floatable behavior of minerals, and obtain better flotation indicators.
The frother can promote the formation of bubbles in the liquid. In addition, by stirring the slurry, the collision of bubbles and particles can promote the adhesion between bubbles and hydrophobic mineral particles during a short contact time. In the foam layer, the hydrophobic mineral particles and hydrophilic mineral particles adhering to the bubbles can be separated, achieving the "secondary enrichment" of useful minerals.
In mineral flotation, frother not only affects the quantity and quality of bubbles, but also affects the contact between mineral particles. In addition, it can promote the separation of hydrophobic mineral particles and hydrophilic mineral particles adhering to bubbles in the foam layer. It is as important as the collector. Usually, the number of carbon atoms in the frother molecule is 5 to 11, with good fluidity and appropriate water solubility, non-toxic, odorless, non-corrosive, easy to use, and has good adaptability to changes in the pH of the slurry and various components in the slurry. A good frother also has the following functions:
Foam formation: It can form a large number of bubbles with uniform distribution, appropriate size and toughness, and low viscosity, and the dosage is small, which effectively provides the necessary carrier for mineral flotation;
Foam stability: It can stabilize the foam layer, prevent the foam from breaking too quickly, and ensure that the mineral has enough time to be captured by the bubbles and float up;
Improve selectivity: By adjusting the type and dosage of the frother, the selectivity of flotation can be improved, and the separation of target minerals and gangue minerals can be promoted.
Common types of frothers include: natural frothers, acidic frothers, alkaline frothers, neutral frothers, and ester frothers.
Natural foaming agents include pine oil, camphor oil, eucalyptus oil and pine needle oil, etc. Their main components are terpenoid compounds, among which pine oil is the most widely used foaming agent in flotation beneficiation.
Pine oil: Mainly produced from wood, its density is 0.86~0.94g/cm3, it is a light yellow or brown liquid, and has the odor of turpentine. Pine oil is a mixture of terpenes with an uncertain composition, and its main components are α-terpene alcohol (accounting for 55%~60%), terpenes, camphor, pine oil, α-fennel, etc.
Camphor oil: The volatile oil (1%~3%) is obtained by steam distilling camphor wood, and then the valuable components of camphor and safrol fragrance are removed from the volatile oil by freezing and partial crystallization, and the remaining by-product is camphor oil.
Acidic foaming agents mainly include phenol and alkyl aromatic sulfonates.
Phenol: The most representative one is cresol, which is composed of three isomers of o-cresol, m-cresol and p-cresol. Its main components are o-cresol, m-cresol, p-cresol, phenol, toluene, naphthalene, etc.
Alkyl aromatic sulfonates: It is a type of anionic foaming agent with an alkyl aromatic group attached to the sulfate group. It has good foaming performance, but the mineral contains sulfur, so the effect of this foaming agent will be limited.
The most representative alkaline foaming agent is pyridine and its analogues, which are mainly derived from coal distillation. There are two types: pyridine chloride and sulfur trioxide pyridine.
Pyridine chloride: is an organic compound with an acyl chloride group (-COCl) and a pyridine ring. It is often used as an intermediate in organic synthesis and is used to synthesize drugs and other organic compounds.
Sulfur trioxide pyridine: is the product of the reaction between pyridine and sulfur trioxide. It may have different derivative forms, such as pyridine sulfate or pyridine sulfonic acid, which can be used to synthesize surfactants, dyes, plastic additives, etc.
Neutral frother is a frother that can work in both acidic and alkaline environments. Neutral frothers are very rich in variety and are widely used in the flotation process of various minerals. According to the different chemical compositions, neutral foaming agents can be divided into six categories: fatty alcohols, cyclic alcohols (pinene alcohol), alkoxyalkanes, polyethylene glycol ethers, polypropylene glycol tert-butyl ethers and polyethylene glycol glycerol ethers.
Fatty alcohols: Common fatty alcohol foaming agents include methyl isobutyl carbinol, 2-ethylpentanol, hexanol, butanediol, heptanol, octanol, tert-butyl alcohol, isopentanol, etc. The former two are more commonly used. In practice, they are often used in the form of mixtures of different carbon chains or hydrocarbon oil mixtures, such as mixed fatty alcohols with 6 to 9 carbon atoms (with high selectivity), mixtures of mixed fatty alcohols with 4 to 7 carbon atoms and hydrocarbon oils (commonly used in copper and molybdenum flotation), and mixed fatty alcohols with 5 to 8 carbon atoms.
Cycloalkanes (pinene alcohol):It is generally a mixture of various cyclic alcohols. It is a natural product turpentine oil with different fractions from pine oil that is used to prepare No. 2 flotation oil. Commonly used cyclic alcohols include pinene, camphene, fenchol, camphor, menthyl ketone, fenchone, eucalyptol, anethole, etc.
Alkoxyalkanes:Representative ones are 3,5-trialkoxypropyltrioxane and 1,1,3-triethoxybutane. When the sulfidation method is used to float copper oxide minerals, this type of frother has high selectivity and can increase the flotation rate in most cases.
Polyethylene glycol ether:It is miscible with water, usually methoxypolypropylene glycol or polypropylene glycol methyl ether. Different manufacturers have different polyethylene glycol ether products.
Polypropylene glycol tert-butyl ether: Partially soluble in water, usually used in the flotation of alkali metal minerals, with the characteristics of continuous foaming and strong carrying capacity.
Polyethylene glycol glycerol ether: Can be mixed with other polyethylene glycol ether foaming agents to finely control the foam. They are stable in the range of pH 3.5~12.3 and are often used for flotation in alkaline ore pulp. They have strong foaming ability and very fine foam structure.
Ester foaming agents are divided into aliphatic hydrocarbon ester foaming agents and aromatic hydrocarbon ester foaming agents. Common ester foaming agents include 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol monoisobutyrate, diacetone alcohol, diethyl phthalate, etc. Among them, diethyl phthalate has the characteristics of fine foam, strong continuous foaming ability, stable foam, and easy defoaming of foam concentrate, which can be used in the flotation of metal mines and coal mines.
The above are some common types of foaming agents. In addition, there are some new foaming agents and mixed foaming agents, such as modified alcohol foaming agents, cyclopentadiene foaming agents, modified sulfonic acid foaming agents and BK series combined foaming agents. In actual flotation operations, how to choose the type and amount of foaming agent depends on the type of ore, flotation method, etc. Therefore, a mineral processing test is carried out first, and a reasonable ore dressing process plan is designed through the test, and a reasonable reagent use plan is given.
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