Dense liquid flotation: Can coarse particle flotation performance be enhanced by controlling fluid density?

In this work, we investigate the influence of fluid density on bubble-particle detachment and coarse particle flotation performance. Detachment studies were carried out using an electro-acoustic apparatus in a dense liquid environment using a lithium heteropolytungstate (LST) mixture with subsequent flotation studies carried out in a micro flotation cell at varying fluid densities. Our results indicate that bubble load was inherently limited by particle surface area and weak particle-particle interactions at coarser sizes. Coarser particles tend to follow the detachment behavior of relatively finer particles at increased fluid density. We also found that flotation per-formance in terms of recovery, rate, and maximum floatable size can be enhanced by controlling fluid density within a stated limit beyond which detachment in the froth phase causes overall performance to drop.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of fluid density on bubble-particle detachment and coarse particle flotation performance. The results show that coarser particles follow the detachment behavior of finer particles at increased fluid density, and flotation performance can be improved by controlling fluid density within a certain limit.