Bubble size as a function of some situational variables in mechanical flotation machines
来源期刊：中南大学学报(英文版)2014年第2期
论文作者：ZHANG Wei(张炜) Jan E. Nesset James A. Finch
文章页码：720 - 727
Key words：flotation; frother; bubble size; viscosity; altitude
Abstract: The specific results of the work investigating the effect of gas density and water temperature on bubble size were present. These were surrogate variables designed to investigate the effect of viscosity (varying water temperature) and altitude (varying gas density). The results show that there is a measurable but relatively small effect of gas density on bubble size. The D32 is revealed to increase proportionally as (ρ0/ρg)0.132. The projected impact on flotation kinetics at 4500 m versus sea level is small, of the order of 0.5% recovery loss for a bank of eight flotation cells. The effect of water temperature (4-40 °C) on bubble size is more significant than gas density. The relationship correlates with water viscosity values quite closely. A finding that D32 increases proportionally as (μ/μ20)0.776 highlights the importance of accounting for viscosity effects if, for example, large process temperature fluctuations or deviation from design/test conditions are expected.
ZHANG Wei(张炜)1, 2, Jan E. Nesset2, James A. Finch2
(1. Mining and Mineral Resources Division, Department of Business Administration,
Chinalco China Copper Corporation Limited, Beijing 100082, China;
2. Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C5, Canada)
Abstract:The specific results of the work investigating the effect of gas density and water temperature on bubble size were present. These were surrogate variables designed to investigate the effect of viscosity (varying water temperature) and altitude (varying gas density). The results show that there is a measurable but relatively small effect of gas density on bubble size. The D32 is revealed to increase proportionally as (ρ0/ρg)0.132. The projected impact on flotation kinetics at 4500 m versus sea level is small, of the order of 0.5% recovery loss for a bank of eight flotation cells. The effect of water temperature (4-40 °C) on bubble size is more significant than gas density. The relationship correlates with water viscosity values quite closely. A finding that D32 increases proportionally as (μ/μ20)0.776 highlights the importance of accounting for viscosity effects if, for example, large process temperature fluctuations or deviation from design/test conditions are expected.
Key words:flotation; frother; bubble size; viscosity; altitude
