Effects of surfactants combination on iron ore flotation

Study of new commercial collectors for the recovery of coarse quartz particles in iron ore flotation

“…In the flotation of coarse particles, ethermonoamines are said to be more selective in the pH range from 9.5 to 10.5, where the quartz surface is highly negative, with the greatest difference in surface charges between hematite and quartz (Numela & Iwasaki, 1986). These molecules are also reported to be more powerful collectors and more selective frothers than etherdiamines, generating more hydrodynamic motion and dragging more water to the foam (Matos et al, 2022;Matos et al, 2022a). This can be negative features for the flotation of fine particles; however, it can reduce particle-bubble detachment, which is regarded as the main reason for the decreased recovery of coarse quartz particles in cationic iron ore flotation (Vieira & Peres, 2015).…”

“…Although collector speciation is driven by the pulp pH during conditioning and flotation, a previous neutralization is expected to interfere in this process due to the short conditioning time, leading to different amounts of molecular and ionic ethermonoamine available in the system. While the ionic species are expected to adsorb at the solid-liquid interface, working as collector, the molecular species preferably adsorbs at the liquid-air interface, having a frother role (Matos et al, 2022;Matos et al, 2022a;Matos et al, 2022b). Both species are also reported to adsorb at the solid-liquid interface as ionomolecular compounds, in a synergistic process which can reduce repulsion of cationic amine molecules and improve the stability of the hydrophobic layer (Pattanaik & Venugopal, 2018;Nunes et al, 2019).…”

“…Flotation is the most effective solution, both technologically and economically, in the production of iron concentrates (Matos et al, 2022). The growing demand for pellet feed with a limited content of silica, alumina and other impurities has led to an increase in the use of flotation compared to other methods.…”

“…Etherdiamines are considered more efficient in the recovery of quartz compared to primary monoamines or ethermonoamines, although presenting a higher cost. This can be related to the collector's structural characteristics, with two polar groups, allowing adsorption onto more surface sites than ethermonoamines, as well as better froth properties (Matos et al, 2022;Matos et al, 2022a;Matos et al, 2022b). Substitutions to amines have been investigated mainly due to problems associated to the control of frothing properties and the high cost of the collector (Matos et al, 2022;Kapiamba & Kimpiab, 2021).…”