Monday 13 June 2016

Developing a Flotation Model from First Principles

We are pleased to announce that University Distinguished Professor Roe-Hoan Yoon, of Virginia Tech, USA, has agreed to present the keynote lecture in the Fundamentals Symposium at Flotation '17. Prof. Yoon has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Gaudin (2003) and Richards (2007) awards from the Society of Mining Engineers and the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the XXVII International Mineral Processing Congress, Santiago, Chile.
Prof. Yoon with the IMPC Lifetime Achievement Award
In his lecture Developing a Flotation Model from First Principles, Prof. Yoon will show that when a mineral particle collides with an air bubble in the pulp phase of a flotation cell it loses much of its kinetic energy due to hydrodynamic resistance and forms a thin liquid film (TLF) between the two macroscopic surfaces. The particle will attach to the bubble if the disjoining pressure in the film is negative. In most flotation systems, both the electrical double-layer and van der Waals force are positive (or repulsive); therefore, it is necessary to create an attractive hydrophobic force by collector coating for a successful bubble-particle interaction. It has been difficult until recently to measure the negative disjoining pressures due to the high-degree of instability of the TLFs formed on hydrophobic surfaces.
Prof. Yoon will review methods of measuring the negative disjoining pressures in flotation films and discuss, with the objective of providing useful information for deriving a flotation kinetic model that incorporates contact angle (or hydrophobic force) as a model parameter. It will be shown that a computer simulator developed on the basis of the first principle model can predict both recovery and grade from various input parameters, e.g., feed size distribution, mineral liberation, flotation reagents, pH, electrolyte concentration, and flotation cell characteristics. Simulation under different circuit configurations and flow rates will allow the development of an optimal flotation circuit for a given ore.

Twitter @barrywills

4 comments:

  1. Very happy to read that Prof.Yoon, whom we hold in high regard , is giving us a new way of looking at kinetics of flotation.
    I am sure his full presentation would be of great value for those who would like to look at flotation phenomena from a more practical point of view.
    Rao,T.C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mr. Rao. On the more practical point, you can read the paper of Ph.D. I. Bobin "KINETICS OF ORE FLOTATION" https://sites.google.com/site/concentrationofminerals/how-to-choose-a-method-for-the-separation-of-minerals/flotation-separation/kinetics-of-flotation

      Delete
  2. Very eager to hear the flotation fundamentals from Prof.

    ReplyDelete
  3. More interest in knowing those methods used to measure the negative disjoining pressures on the floatation films

    ReplyDelete

If you have difficulty posting a comment, please email the comment to bwills@min-eng.com and I will submit on your behalf