Fine Particle Recovery by Electroflotation with Sodium Oleate

"Fine particle recovery by conventional flotation processes is very low mainly due to the low probability of bubble/particle collision and adhesion. In order to solve the problem of low particle recovery, several flotation technologies have been developed to increase bubble/particle collision efficiency. Among these technologies, the electroflotation process stands out. This process has advantages in the generation of microbubbles (<100 µm) and in the production of different amounts of hydrogen and oxygen microbubbles. These advantages favorably influence the fine particle floatability, due to the greater probability of particle/bubble collision and adhesion. The electroflotation tests were conducted for a hematite/sodium oleate system in a Partridge-Smith modified electroflotation binary cell of 0.38 L usable volume. The sodium oleate concentration, particle size, pH and current density were evaluated. Satisfactory results in the recovery of hematite were found at pH values of 7, reaching hematite floatability of 99% and 90% with hydrogen and oxygen bubbles, respectively.INTRODUCTIONThe flotation recovery of fine and ultrafine particles is normally very low and is caused by several factors, among them, the low probability of collision and adhesion bubble-particle, the difficulty to overcome the energy barrier (entrainment and entrapment), low selectivity, surface oxidation and mineralogical changes (Schulze et al., 1989; Waters et al., 2008; Shahbazi et al., 2010). This problem can be overcome by decreasing the bubble size or by increasing the apparent particle size. However, it is worth noting that the use of small bubbles or micro bubbles also involves some disadvantages such as their low momentum resulting in a slower process comparing with conventional flotation. Electroflotation is an attractive alternative for treating fine particles with small bubbles less than 100 µm, generated by the electrolysis of water. Electroflotation is one of the variants of the flotation process, where the gaseous phase is produced by electrolysis of an aqueous solution, generating oxygen and hydrogen bubbles (Sarkar, 2010; Gupta and Ali, 2012). These smaller size bubbles allow the recovery of fine particles by increasing the collision efficiency. This process is versatile and competitive in relation to other techniques such as dissolved air flotation and dispersed air flotation because the electroflotation units are smaller, more compact and require less maintenance and less operating cost than other flotation units (Zouboulis and Matis, 1995,). In addition, the electroflotation process is a clean technique and provides results in a short time, requiring only the investment in the electroflotation cell construction stage and the choice of the electrodes (Ketkar et al., 1991; Sarkar et al., 2010; Sun et al., 2011). In this sense, this study assesses the effect of pH, particle size and sodium oleate concentration on electroflotation of hematite fines."