Effect of mineral particle size on the entrainment and column flotation performance [Mineral tane boyutunun su ile taşi{dotless}ni{dotless}ma ve kolon flotasyonu performansi{dotless}na etkisi]

Abstract

When particles are concentrated by column flotation, some undesired events occur. One of these events is the entrainment of fine gangue minerals. Entrainment causes a decrease in the grade of the concentrate. The main aim in froth flotation is to obtain maximum recovery with the minimum gangue contamination. In this study, a group of experiments were carried out using single hydrophilic (calcite) and a mixture of pure hydrophobic (talk) and hydrophilic (calcite) minerals (3:1 ratio). Water and particle (talk and calcite) recoveries were calculated in column flotation cell which had a height of 75 cm and diameter of 5 cm. Coarse particles are recovered with a very little water since they are quickly removed from the froth phase while fine particles are entrained. As the particle size increased, particle recovery decreased and water recovery increased. Entrainment factor (Pi) was calculated by using the Kirjevainen Model (1989) and the entrainment factors are determined depending on the particle size in the column flotation cells. The high entrainment rate of gang for fine particles affects the grade of the floating products negatively, too.