Morpholine-Based Gemini Surfactant: Synthesis and Its Application for Reverse Froth Flotation of Carnallite Ore in Potassium Fertilizer Production

Abstract

Potassium fertilizer plays a critical role in increasing the food production. Carnallite is concentrated by reverse froth flotation and used as a raw material to produce potassium fertilizer (KCl) in agriculture. However, all the surfactants used in the carnallite reverse flotation process are conventional monomeric surfactants contain a single similar hydrophobic group in the molecule, which results in a low production efficiency. In this work, a new morpholine-based Gemini surfactant, 1,4-bis (morpholinododecylammonio) butane dibromide (BMBD), was prepared and originally recommended as a collector for reverse froth flotation separation of halite (NaCl) from carnallite ore. The flotation results indicated BMBD had higher flotation recovery and stronger affinity of halite against carnallite compared with conventional monomeric surfactant N-(n-Dodecyl) morpholine (DDM). Fourier transform infrared spectra suggested that BMBD molecules were adsorbed on halite surface rather than the carnallite surface. Additionally, BMBD molecules can strongly reduce the surface tension of NaCl saturated solution. Considering the BMBD’s unique properties, such as double reactive centers to mineral surfaces, double hydrophobic groups, and stronger surface tension reducing ability, made it be a superior collector for reverse flotation desalination from carnallite ores than DDM.

Resveratrol Alleviates the KCl Salinity Stress of Malus hupehensis Rhed

“…Potash is applied as a fertilizer to fulfill the requirement of K, which is an essential nutrient for plant growth and physiology ( Hasanuzzaman et al, 2018 ; Huang et al, 2019 ). K has a regulatory function in several biochemical and physiological processes, such as protein synthesis, enzyme activation, carbohydrate metabolism, and photosynthesis ( Zhu et al, 1998 ; Huang et al, 2018 ; Wu X. W. et al, 2019 ). However, K + at concentrations higher than 50 mM can induce salt stress and disrupt normal plant growth and metabolism ( Hassini et al, 2017 ; Ntatsi et al, 2017 ).…”

A Review of Energy Consumption in the Acquisition of Bio-Feedstock for Microalgae Biofuel Production

“…However, in order to produce microbubbles, it is necessary to add some surfactants to change the hydrophobicity of the microalgal cellular surface. In that way, the cell is more easily combined with the bubbles to improve the recovery [68]. However, these surfactants generally have bad effects on the growth of microalgae and pollute the downstream process.…”

Surface Features of Fluorapatite and Dolomite in the Reverse Flotation Process Using Sulfuric Acid as a Depressor

“…It is expected that the concentration of CaSO4 on dolomite surface was particularly limited to measurement by the ATR-FTIR method. In terms of dolomite treated with H2SO4 (1 × 10 −3 mol/L) and further with oleate (1-3 × 10 −4 mol/L), two new adsorption bands at 2850 cm −1 (symmetry stretching of CH2) and 2920 cm −1 (asymmetry stretching of CH2) were observed in the spectrum (Figure 10) [20,21]. Furthermore, the intensities of these new bands became stronger with an increase in oleate concentration, which indicates that oleate species were adsorbed on the H2SO4-treated dolomite surface.…”