Rutile is an important raw material for the production of titanium. Most of my country's rutile resources are low-grade primary ore resources with fine-grained distribution. The TiO2 content is generally 2% to 4%. The ore dressing process is usually complicated. Flotation is often used as the main separation method in ore dressing. In the flotation process, the selection of reagents is particularly important. The following article will focus on the types of flotation reagents for rutile.
Common collectors for rutile flotation include fatty acids, phosphonic acids, arsenic acids and hydroxamic acids.
Fatty acid collectors for rutile flotation: such as oleic acid, linoleic acid, etc., are common collectors for flotation of oxidized ores such as rutile. The outstanding advantage is good collection performance, but the selectivity is not ideal.
Phosphonic acid collectors for rutile flotation: such as styrenephosphonic acid, alkylamine dimethyl bisphosphonic acid, etc., are a type of collector with good selectivity but high synthesis cost among rutile flotation collectors. Its collection capacity gradually increases with the increase of the number of hydrocarbon carbon atoms. Among them, styrenephosphonic acid has low toxicity, good selectivity, strong collection ability, and is suitable for slurries with a wide pH range. However, it also has a strong collection ability for calcium-containing minerals, and is expensive and corrosive to equipment. Therefore, it is seldom used in China. Alkylamine dimethylphosphonic acid is an amphoteric compound with the characteristics of strong collection performance, strong selectivity, low dosage of reagents, and low price. Therefore, alkylamine dimethylphosphonic acid is more suitable as a collector for rutile flotation.
Arsinic acid collectors for rutile flotation: mainly benzyl arsenic acid, which is a type of collector with good selectivity but toxicity in rutile flotation collectors. Due to the toxicity of this type of collector, composite collectors including arsenic acid are usually used to reduce the use of arsenic acid collectors.
Hydroxamic acid collectors for rutile flotation: good selectivity, low toxicity, but high cost. Mainly salicylic hydroxamic acid and alkyl hydroxamic acid, among which alkyl hydroxamic acid belongs to chelating agent collectors, which has slightly worse selectivity than benzyl arsenic acid and styrene phosphonic acid, but has strong collecting ability, and salicylic hydroxamic acid has certain foaming properties. When combined with Pb for rutile flotation, while improving the recovery rate of rutile, the amount of collector can be greatly reduced, saving costs.
The adjusters used in rutile flotation are mainly activators and inhibitors.
Rutile flotation activator: Lead nitrate is a commonly used activator for rutile flotation. It has a strong activation effect on rutile and also has a strong activation effect on inhibited rutile.
Rutile flotation inhibitor: Commonly used inhibitors include aluminum sulfate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium fluorosilicate, dextrin, carboxymethyl cellulose (sodium), etc. Among them, aluminum sulfate can make the surface strongly hydrophilic and unable to react with anionic collectors, so it can inhibit the flotation of rutile; sodium hexametaphosphate, as a commonly used dispersant, can effectively inhibit gangue minerals such as carbonates, quartz, and silicates; sodium fluorosilicate is a widely used inhibitor, which can inhibit gangue minerals such as quartz, feldspar, and garnet, and can adjust the pH value of the slurry, but it is toxic itself; dextrin is formed by the hydrolysis of starch, and its properties are similar to starch, and it can be used as an inhibitor of rutile flotation; carboxymethyl cellulose (sodium) can be used as an inhibitor of calcium-containing minerals or magnesium-containing silicate minerals such as calcite, dolomite, chlorite, apatite, and serpentine.
The above are the types of flotation reagents commonly used in rutile beneficiation. In actual beneficiation plants, the selection of rutile beneficiation reagents depends on the properties of the ore. Each type of rutile mineral is different. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct beneficiation tests. Through experimental analysis, a suitable rutile beneficiation process can be designed. At the same time, the appropriate flotation reagent type and dosage can be determined according to the process type to improve the rutile ore beneficiation efficiency.
To find out more about our products and solutions, please fill out the form below and one of our experts will get back to you shortly.
CHAT
MESSAGE
