Enhancement of Phosphate Flotation by Ultrasonic Pretreatment

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 1439957131, I.R. IRAN

Abstract

Removal of carbonate impurities in sedimentary phosphate is one of the most important issues in the industry. Poor selective flotation of those ores is due to the similarity of Physico-chemical surface properties, solubility, and electrokinetic characteristics of sparingly soluble phosphate and carbonate minerals. In this study, the effect of ultrasonic irradiation as a pretreatment method on reverse flotation of low-grade sedimentary phosphate sample from Lar Mountain deposit was investigated. Ultrasonic was utilized before flotation at different ultrasound intensity. This study was performed by two flotation approaches; i) using experimental design (Plackett-Burman method with 11 variables), and ii) try and error method. Initial mineralogical studies showed that the feed sample contains 10.34%P2O5, 48.01%CaO, and 9.22%SiO2. The collected data from experimental design were analyzed by DX7.0 software to assess the influence of each parameter on flotation performance. The results indicated that ultrasound intensity, collector dosage, and dispersant dosage were the effective parameters. The results of the try and error method showed that the conditioning time was the most effective parameter in which by reducing ultrasonic preparation time the recovery was increased relative to 33.29%. Finally, the kinetic flotation tests and SEM studies were performed. The results proved surface cleaning of phosphate minerals which treated by ultrasound irradiation that led to better adsorption of chemicals which increased the recovery and grade of P2O5 for 87.88% and 14.45%, respectively. However, the application of the ultrasonic treatment reduced the flotation chemicals’ consumption which is a prominent issue for phosphate treatment.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

1] Abouzeid, Abdel-Zaher M., Physical and Thermal Treatment of Phosphate Ores-An Overview, Int. J. Miner. Process. 85: 59-84 (2007).
[2] Sis H., Chander S., Reagents Used in the Flotation of Phosphate Ores: A Ccritical Review, Miner. Eng., 16: 577-585 (2003).
[3] Antti B.-M., Forssberg E., Pulp Chemistry in Industrial Mineral Flotation. Studies of Surface Complex on Calcite and Apatite Surfaces Using FTIR Spectroscopy, Miner. Eng., 2(1): 217-227 (1988).
[4] Antti B.M., Forssberg E., Pulp Chemistry in Calcite Flotation. Modeling of Oleate Adsorption Using Theoretical Equilibrium Calculations, Miner. Eng., 2(1): pp.93-109 (1988).
[5] Zhang P., Snow R., “Improving Phosphate Flotation with New Chemistry, Smart Flowsheet and Novel Equipment”, SEM Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado (2004).
[6] Kou J., Tao D., Xu G., Fatty Acid Collectors for Phosphate Flotation and Their Adsorption Behavior Using QCM-D, Int. J. Miner. Process., 95: 1-9 (2010).
[7] Mohammadkhani M., Noaparast M., Shafaei S.Z., Amini A., Amini E., Double Reverse Flotation of a Very Low Grade Sedimentary Phosphate Rock, Rich in Carbonate and Silicate, Int. J. Miner. Process., 100: 157-165 (2011).
[8] Fan M., Tao D., Honaker R., Luo Zh., Nanobubble Generation and Its Applications in Froth Flotation (Part III): Specially Designed Laboratory Scale Column Flotation of Phosphate, Min. Sci. Tech., 20(3): 317-338 (2010).
[9] Fan M., Tao D., Honaker R., Luo Zh., Nanobubble Generation and Its Applications in Froth Flotation (Part II): Fundamental Study and Theoretical Analysis, Min. Sci. Tech. (China), 20(2): 159-177 (2010).
[10] Zafar Z.I., Ansari T.M., Ashraf M., Abid MA., Effect of Hydrochloric Acid on Leaching Behavior of Calcareous Phosphorites, Iran. J. Chem. Chem. Eng. (IJCCE), 25(2): 47-57 (2006).
[11] Birkin P.R., Silva-Martinez S., A Study on the Effect of Ultrasound on Electrochemical Phenomena, Ultrasonic Sonochem., 4(2): 121-122 (1997).
[12] Ozkan S.G., Beneficiation of Magnesite Slimes with Ultrasonic Treatment, Miner. Eng., 15(1-2): 99-101 (2002).
[13] Ozkan S.G., Veasey T.J, Effect of Simultaneous Ultrasonic Treatment on Colemanite Flotation, Kemal M., Arslan V., Akar A., Canbazoghlu M. (eds.), Changing Scopes in Mineral Processing, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium,  Balkema, Roterdam, 277-281 (1996).
[14] Ozkan S.G., Gungoren Can, Enhancement of Colemanite Flotation by Ultrasonic Pre-Treatment, Physicochem. Problem of Miner. Process., 48(2): 455-462 (2012).
[15] Kursun H., Ulusoy U., Zinc Recovery from a Lead – Zink – Copper ore by Ultrasonically Assisted Column Flotation, Separation Sci. and Tech., 33(4): 349- 356 (2015).
[16] Videla A.R., Morales R. Saint-Jean T., Vargas Y., Miller J.D., Ultrasound Treatment on Tailings to Enhance Copper Flotation Recovery, Miner. Eng., 99: 89-95 (2016).
[17] Haghi H., A New Experimental Approach to Improve the Quality of Low Grade Silica; the Combination of Indirect Ultrasound Irradiation with Reverse Flotation and Magnetic Separation, Miner., 6(4): Article No.121 (2016).
[18] Haghi H., “Investigation of Ultrasonic-Microwave in Pretreatment of Industrial Silicate Ores”, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran (2017).
[19] Xia, Wencheng, Yang, Jianguo, Liang, Chuan, A Short Review of Improvement in Flotation of Low Rank/Oxidized Coals by Pretreatments, Powder Tech., 237: 1-8 (2013).
[20] Cilek, Emin Cafer, Ozgen, Selcuk, Effect of Ultrasound on Separation Selectivity and Efficiency of Flotation, Miner. Eng., 22: 1209-1217 (2009).
[21] Ozkan S.G., Kuyumcu H.Z., Design of a Flotation Cell Equipped with Ultrasound Transducers to Enhance Coal Flotation, Ultrasonic Sonochemistry, 14(5): 639-645 (2007).
[22] Ozkan S.G., Effect of Simultaneous Ultrasonic Treatment on Flotation of Hard Coal Slimes, Fuel, 93: 576-570 (2012).
[23] Kang W.Z., Xun H.X., Kang X.H., Li M.M., Effects from Changes in Pulp Nature after Ultrasonic Conditioning on High-Sulfur Coal Flotation, Min. Sci. and Tech., 19: 0498-0502 (2009).
[24] Aldrich C., Feng D., Effect of Ultrasonic Preconditioning of Pulp on the Flotation of Sulphide Ores, Miner. Eng., 12(6): 701-707 (1999).
[25] Ghadyani A., Noaparast M., Shafaei S.Z., A Study on the Effect of Ultrasonic Irradiation as Pretreatment Method on High-Ash Coal Flotation and Kinetics, Int. J. of Coal Preparation and Utilization: 1-18 (2017).
[26] Taheri B., Lotfalian M., Effect of Ultrasonic Pre-Treatment and Aeration on Flotation Separation of Chalcopyrite From Pyrite, Iran. J. Chem. Chem. Eng. (IJCCE), 37(5):199-207 (2018).
[27] Shariati S., Ramadi A., Salsani A., Beneficiation of Low-Grade Phosphate Deposits by a Combination of Calcination and Shaking Tables: Southwest Iran, Miner., 5(3): 367-379 (2015).
[28] Filippov L.O., Samyguin V.D., Severo V.V., Matinin A.S., Filippova I.V., The Effect of the Ultrasonic Treatment of the Air-Pulp Upon the Flotation, on 24-28 September, “Int. Miner. Process. C. (IMPC) Proceedings”, New Delhi, India (2012).
[29] Wencheng X., Jianguo Y., Chuan L., A Short Review of Improvement in Flotation of Low Rank/Oxidized Coals by Pretreatments. Powder Tech., 237: 1-8 (2013).
Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Volume 38, Issue 5 - Serial Number 97
September and October 2019
Pages 251-266

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics