Prediction of the wettability characteristics of some minerals from their breakage parameters

Abstract

In this contribution, the breakage and wettability properties of calcite and barite minerals were presented and some correlations were established between these experimentally determined parameters. The gamma(c) relates to Si by a relationship: gamma(c) = -4.94S(i) + 32.5 (calcite) and gamma(c) 5.70S(i) + 36.1 (barite), where gamma(c) is the critical surface tension of wetting of mineral determined by flotation technique and Si is the specific rate of breakage of mineral obtained from grinding tests. Another relationship found is expressed by: m(f) = 4.20S(i) + 5.30 (calcite) and mf = 7.96S(i) + 6.71 (barite), where mf in to slope of the flotation recovery curve. These relationships will help us to predict the wettability behavior of solids in surface chemistry related processes, by knowing the breakage parameter Si previously from any grinding tests. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.