Rutile is rich in titanium dioxide and is a high-quality raw material often used in the production of titanium dioxide, titanium sponge, titanium tetrachloride and other titanium products. Natural rutile is often associated with quartz, ilmenite and other minerals. If you want to obtain high-grade titanium concentrate, you need to flotate rutile. This article introduces the common methods and equipment for rutile flotation.
(1)Conventional flotation method
Conventional flotation method is a commonly used flotation method for selecting rutile. Conventional flotation method has a wide range of applications and is applicable to rutile ores of various types and sizes. However, for rutile with finer embedded particles, as well as rutile ores with complex composition and more mineral types, the selection effect is not ideal.
The operating steps of the conventional flotation method are as follows:
a. Grind the ore to a suitable fineness so that the rutile mineral can be separated as much as possible;
b. Add various flotation agents, such as collectors, frothers and inhibitors, to the ground slurry, and then stir it thoroughly so that the agents can be evenly dispersed in the slurry and react with the surface of the mineral particles to change the physical and chemical properties of the mineral surface, making the rutile mineral surface hydrophobic while the gangue mineral remains hydrophilic;
c. Then aerate to produce a large number of small and stable bubbles. The hydrophobic rutile particles will adhere to the bubbles and float to the surface of the slurry with the bubbles to form a foam layer;
d. Finally, scrape out the foam to separate the rutile from the gangue minerals and obtain rutile concentrate.
(2) Flocculation and flotation method
For rutile ore with finer particle size, the flocculation flotation method can be used during flotation. The principle of flocculation and flotation is to use the function of flocculant to agglomerate the originally dispersed fine rutile mineral particles together to form larger flocs.
When fine-grained rutile forms larger flocs, its floatability will be significantly improved. On the one hand, the size of the floc increases, making it easier to adhere to the bubbles and float with the bubbles; on the other hand, it also reduces the occurrence of unfavorable situations such as mutual inclusion and adsorption between fine-grained rutile and gangue minerals, thereby improving the The sorting efficiency enables better separation of rutile and gangue minerals.
(3) Carrier flotation method
For some low-grade rutile ores, especially those where the rutile is extremely dispersed and fine-grained, carrier flotation can be used for separation. Its working principle is to select appropriate carrier minerals, load rutile fine particles onto these carriers, and then use the good flotability of the carrier minerals to achieve rutile flotation. The choice of carrier is very important. Usually, minerals with good natural floatability, surface properties that are somewhat different from rutile but easy for rutile to attach to, and easy to obtain in ores with relatively reasonable costs are chosen as carriers.
(4) Combined flotation method
The combined flotation method is a mineral processing strategy that combines multiple flotation methods or combines the flotation process with other mineral processing processes.
For example, the conventional flotation method and the flocculation flotation method are combined. The conventional flotation method is used to initially sort the ore, and the rutile particles that are easier to float are recovered, and then the flocculation flotation method is used to target the fine-grained rutile in the remaining slurry. further enriched.
There are also cases where flotation is combined with gravity separation, magnetic separation and other processes. First, gravity separation is used to remove a part of the gangue minerals with obvious density differences according to the density difference of the minerals. Then magnetic separation is used to remove magnetic impurity minerals. Finally, flotation is used to accurately separate Rutile and remaining gangue minerals.
In the flotation process of rutile, the selection and correct operation and maintenance of flotation equipment have a direct impact on the flotation effect. Common types of flotation machines include mechanical agitation flotation cells and gas flotation cells.
(1) Flotation cells
The mechanical agitation flotation machine vigorously stirs the pulp through impellers and other components, so that the air is fully dispersed in the pulp to form fine bubbles, and at the same time, the reagents and mineral particles are fully mixed and acted on. It is suitable for flotation of rutile ores with fine particle size and relatively pure minerals. For example, the XJK type flotation machine has a compact structure and strong stirring capacity. It is widely used in some small rutile beneficiation plants and can better achieve flotation enrichment of rutile.
(2) Air flotation cells
The air flotation machine uses an external gas source to generate bubbles. It has unique advantages for treating rutile ores with many interference factors and difficult sorting. For example, for rutile ores containing more fine-grained minerals, easy to mud and complex composition, the gas flotation machine can more effectively avoid the interference of fine mud on the flotation process and improve the selectivity and stability of flotation.
(3) How to select equipment
When selecting equipment, factors such as ore properties and production scale should be fully considered. If the ore is fine in size, low in grade and complex in composition, it is necessary to select a flotation machine with good fine-grained mineral separation effect and strong adaptability; and for large-scale rutile beneficiation production, it is necessary to select equipment with large processing capacity, high efficiency and stable operation.
