Abstract:

Bubble diameter plays an important role in mineral flotation. But because of the high air content in flotation cell, bubble overlap and deformation, as well as the bubble merger and burst, there is no widely accepted method to measure bubble diameter in flotation cell. In solving this, a system to measure bubble diameter in flotation cell was built, and its principle and measuring method was introduced in detail. Experiments on the effect of frother dosage and aeration rate on bubble diameter were conducted on a 2L XDF mechanical flotation machine. Results show that bubble diameter measurement was successfully achieved using the new system. And the smallest bubble diameter was measured with the frother dosage at 12.5μl/L and aeration rate at 0.1m3/h, which is 0.32mm. Bubble diameter is influenced by a combination of frother dosage and aeration rate, and the limiting dosage of 2-Octanol as frother is 12.5μl/L. A model to predict bubble diameter was also built.

Key words: flotation, bubble diameter, bubble measurement system, frother, aeration rate