Attachment Probability of Particle on Bubble Surface and the Stability of Its Aggregate

Abstract

Three processes are involved in the bubble-particle interaction during a flotation process. These processes can be analyzed in terms of collision, attachment, and aggregate stability. Each process plays an important role in determining flotation efficiency. Particle size and geometry also affect the particle-bubble interaction. Information about the irregular shape of particles is important for achieving a full understanding of the flotation process. This research focuses on understanding the effect of particle geometry on the particle-bubble interaction during a flotation process. The experimental setup was made up of a 9 × 9 × 26 cm glass flotation column, a bubble generator system, a particle feeding system, and a high speed video camera. The bubble generator system was made of a 0.3 mm diameter nozzle attached to a programmable syringe pump. The particle feeding system was made of pipettes. This research used real particles collected from an open pit in the Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua. The particle size variation ranges from 38 to 300 µm. Collector type reagent was added to the flotation column. Bubble-particle interaction is recorded using a high-speed video camera. The data recorded by the high-speed video camera were analyzed using image processing software. The results of the experiment show that particle geometry is dominated by sub-angular geometry. Attachment, aggregate stability, and interaction time are found to depend on particle size. Small particles ranging from 38 and 106 μm have a long interaction time and are able to adhere to bubbles easily. Big particles ranging from 150 to 300 μm have a short interaction time and are unable to adhere to bubbles easily. All particles from 38 to 300 μm size generated the same value of aggregate stability. The aggregate stability of all particles is 1 or stable.
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