Effect of different reagent regime on the kinetic model and recovery in gilsonite flotation

Abstract

Gilsonite is a natural fossil resource, similar to an oil asphalt high in asphaltenes. To determine the effect of reagent regime on the kinetic order and rate of flotation for a gilsonite sample, experiments were carried out in both rougher and cleaner flotation process. Experiments were conducted using different combinations of reagent: oil – MIBC; gasoline – pine oil; and one test without any collector and frother. According to results, kinetic in the test performed using the oil – MIBC and without any collector and frother were found to be first-order unlike the kinetic in the test conducted using the gasoline – pine oil. Five kinetic models were applied to the modeling of data from the flotation tests by using MATrix LABoratory software. The results show that all experiments are highly in compliance with all models. The kinetic constants (k) in rougher stage were calculated as 0.1548 (s−1), 0.2300 (s−1) and 0.2163 (s−1) for oil – MIBC, gasoline – pine oil, and test without any collector and frother, respectively. These amounts in the cleaner stage were 0.0450 (s−1), 0.1589 (s−1) and 0.0284 (s−1), respectively. The relationship between k, maximum combustible recovery (R∞) and particle size was also studied. The results showed that the R∞ and k were obtained with a coarse particle size of (−250 + 106) μm in the rougher and (−850 + 500) μm in cleaner flotation processes. Keywords: Flotation, Kinetic models, Gilsonite, Particle size, Reagents