Development of New Frothers Utilizing

Hydrodynamic Characterization of
Frother Chemistry

McGill University

Presented by
Frank Cappuccitti
President
Flottec Inc.
 Presentation Outline

¾ Provide Background on Frother Properties and

Flotation Cell Pulp Hydrodynamics

¾ Discuss 3 Clues that the Study on Hydrodynamic

Characterization of Frothers Provided

¾ Review the Results of the Hydrodynamic, Laboratory

and Plant Tests Conducted on the New Frother

¾ Conclusions and Acknowledgements

Functions of Frothers Relevant to Flotation
Froth Water Bubble Froth Froth Froth
Froth (Air)
Loading Content Coalescence Drainage Persistency Mobility
Recovery
(grams/litre)

De-aeration
Froth Time (collapse)
Zone
Chemical
Persistency
Frother Height

Bubble Flux Post Removal

Zone

Pulp
Zone Bubble Loading

Longevity in Pulp Collector/Frother

Interactions –
kinetics and
Gas Hold Up selectivity

Thickness of Bound
Water Layer
Bubble
Size
(CCC)

Frother Chemical Properties: solubility, vapor pressure, flash point, stability, etc.
Frothers and Pulp Zone Hydrodynamics
Measurement Technology
¾ Gas Rate (Jg), Gas Holdup (Εg), Bubble Size (Db)
‰ Measurement Technologies Have Greatly Improved in Last Few Years

New Techniques Could Be Used To Better

Characterize Frother Effects On Hydrodynamics
¾ Better Use of Frothers to Optimize Hydrodynamics
¾ Develop Frothers that Have Specific Hydrodynamic Properties

Joint Research Program On Frother Characterization

Was Undertaken And Sponsored By:
¾ Mcgill (Hydrodynamics Measurement Techniques)
¾ Flottec (Frother Chemistry and Flotation Application Expertise)
¾ Sasol NA (Manufacturing and Chemical Synthesis Expertise)
 Pulp Zone: Hydrodynamic Parameters
Gas Rate (Jg), Gas holdup (εg), Bubble Size (Db)

Parameter Definition Unit

area cell air rate
Jg area cm/s

εg volume of bubbles
volume of cell
%
bubbles

Db bubble diameter mm
air rate
Approach to Frother Characterization

Focus on Two Prime Functions

¾ Control of Bubble Size in Pulp and Hence Pulp Zone

Hydrodynamics

¾ Control of Froth Properties

 Hydrodynamic Characterization
of Frother Chemistries
Past Work
¾Characterize the Major Frother Families in Two Phase
Systems
‰ Gas Hold Up, Froth Height, Bubble Size and Overflow Rates by
Concentration At Various Gas Rates
‰ Critical Coalescence Concentration (CCC)
‰ The Standard Frothers
™ MIBC, DF250 (Glycol Ether), F150 (PPG)
‰ Others
™ C4 To C8 Alcohols, Co Products, Modified C6 Alcohols, Other PPG
Ethers, Pine Oil, TEB, etc.
 Basic Test Rig Setup

froth
height
{
ε
g
overflow εg
rate

}
h ΔP
area Db
Solution
Make-up
Tank

pump

Jg
 Gas Holdup and Bubble Size
Observation:
16 • Gas holdup can substitute for bubble size
5
• Easier to measure
14

BUBBLE SIZE (mm)

GAS HOLDUP (%)
4
12

10 3
8

6 2

4
1
2

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
FROTHER CONCENTRATION (ppm)
 Characterizing Frothers
1. Gas Holdup vs. Concentration

16
GAS HOLDUP, %

12

Flottec F150 DF 250

4 Octanol Heptanol
DF200 Hexanol
MIBC Iso-Pentanol
Pentanol
0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
FROTHER CONCENTRATION, mmol/L
Gas Hold up vs. Frother Concentration

¾ Frothers Can Be Classed by Gas Hold Up

¾ Low Order Alcohols Were Once Thought to Be Neutral as

Frothers (Did Not Contribute Any Frother Properties)

¾ Lower Alcohols Did Increase Gas Hold Up But Did Little

to Generate Froth
‰ (Clue Number 1)
 Characterizing Frothers
2. Overflow versus Gas Hold Up

0.5
Pentanol
OVERFLOW PER UNIT

Hept, Hex , MIBC, DF200

0.4 Octanol, Ethoxy, DF250
AREA, cm/s

Flottec F150

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
10 15 20 25 30 35
GAS HOLD UP, %
 Overflow Rate vs Gas Hold Up

¾ This Showed that the Rate of Water Floated Was

Different for Each Frother Family

¾ Frother Families Could Be Grouped by the Amount of

Water In the Froth

¾ Also, a Chemical Could Be Modified So that it Changed

From One Family to the Next
‰ C6 Alcohol Was Modified and it Performance Moved to a Higher
Overflow Class
‰ Clue Number 2
Past work on Coarse Particle Flotation

¾ Work Done by R. Klimpel Showed that by Alkoxylation of

Known Frother (Either Alcohols or Glycol Ethers), the
Frothers Became Stronger and Could Recovery More
Coarse Particles
‰ Clue Number 3

¾ This Was Probably Due to the Higher Water Content or

Thicker Bound Water Layer

¾ There Was Evidence that Frothers Could be Created With

Specific Characteristics
Coarse Particle Flotation from Klimpel’s Prior Work
 Observations
¾ Frothers Can Be Classed By Gas Holdup, Overflow
Rate
¾ Non Frothing Materials Can Change Gas Hold Up
¾ Effects Of Chemistry Clear; e.g.:
‰ MIBC Similar to Hexanol
‰ Frothers Can be Modified to Change Class
™ C6 Alcohol Modified to ‘Higher’ Class
™ Klimpel Had Made Similar Point
ƒ Chemical Reactions Made Frothers Stronger

¾ Let’s Add Froth Property, e.g., Height

 Developing New Flottec Frothers

Target: Substitute for MIBC

¾ “Strong” Frothers Made in the Past But Not “Weak”
Frothers
Approach:
¾ Take a Non Frothing, Short Chain Alcohol and
Modify
¾ Create a Family of Frothers Around this Chemistry
‰ Better Weaker Frothers Needed
‰ Literature Search Showed Very Little Work in this Area
 Testing of New Frother Chemistry
The Proposed New Frother Chemistry Was Synthesized

Hydrodynamic Testing Was Carried Out

¾ Gas Hold Up Vs. Concentration
¾ Froth Height Vs. Concentration
¾ Several Versions Tested

Conclusion Was that New Chemistry Gave Similar

Performance to MIBC
Initial Hydrodynamic Testing of New
Frother Flottec FX130-01 Frother
Jg 0.5

12.00

10.00

8.00
FX120
Eg,%

6.00 MIBC
FX130-01
4.00

2.00

0.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Frother Concn, ppm
Flottec FX130 Frother Chemistry
1. Gas Holdup vs. Concentration

16
MIBC
GAS HOLDUP (%)

14
12
Jg1 MIBC

10
FX130-02
8 Jg2
6 FX130-02

4
FX130-03
2
0 FX130-03
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

CONCENTRATION (ppm)
 Flottec FX130 Frother Chemistry
2. Froth Height vs. Concentration

25
FROTH HEIGHT (cm)

20
MIBC

15
FX130-02

10 FX130-03

0
0 5 10 15 20
CONCENTRATION (ppm)
 Observations

¾ Flottec F130 Series Frothers Provide Hydrodynamic and

Froth Properties Similar to MIBC

¾ Frother “Strength” Range can be Controlled, to a

Limited Extent:
‰ Flottec F130-01 < Flottec F130-02 < Flottec F130-03, Etc.

¾ New Flottec Frothers Ready for Batch and Industrial

Testing
 Laboratory Flotation Testing of New
Flottec Frother Chemistry
Laboratory Flotation Tests Completed
¾ Doe Run Buick Mine (Lead/Zinc Operation)
¾ Canadian Gold Ore (Gold/Copper Flotation)
¾ Results Indicated that the Metallurgical Performance
Was Very Similar
 Results of Lab Testing of Flottec FX130-01
Frother at Doe Run Buick Mill

Lead Grade vs. Recovery Curve Comparisons

Copper Grade vs. Recovery Curve Comparisons
65.00% 5.00%
Average Test 1 & 4 : FX 120-01 Average Test 1 & 4 : FX 120-01
Average Test 2 & 3 : FX 130-01 Average Test 2 & 3 : FX 130-01
60.00%
4.50%
% P b G r a de

% C u G r a de
55.00%

4.00%

50.00%

3.50%
45.00%

40.00% 3.00%
84.00% 89.00% 94.00% 99.00% 50.00% 55.00% 60.00% 65.00% 70.00% 75.00% 80.00% 85.00% 90.00%
% Pb Recovery % Cu Recovery
 Results of Laboratory Flotation Tests
Flottec FX130-01 Frother on
Canadian Copper/Gold Ore

Dose Tails Grade % Recovery

Frother
(g/t) Au (g/t) % Cu Au Cu
MIBC 125 0.21 0.048 59 71

FX130-01 125 0.21 0.046 61 73

MIBC 125 0.22 0.059 56 63

FX130-01 125 0.23 0.060 55 67

 Plant Testing of New
Flottec Frother Chemistry

Short Plant Test Was Conducted at the Doe Run

Buick Mill in Missouri, USA

¾ Results Indicated that the Frother Performed Well but

Gave Slightly Higher Kinetics than MIBC
 Results of One Hour Plant Test of
Flottec FX130-02 Frother at Doe Run Buick Mill
(12:00 – 1:00 PM)
Time: 11:50 AM Before Test: MIBC at 85 mls/min Observations:
OSA Pb% Zn% Pb Rec Zn Rec
¾ 20 Minutes After Switching to
Mill Feed 9.9 0.9
FLottec FX130-02 Frother:
Pb Con 77 0.53 95

Zn con 2.1 57.3 78

‰ No Visible Change
Time: 1:00 PM End of Test: FX130 at 82 mls/min ‰ It Appears that the Product WORKED!
OSA Pb% Zn% Pb Rec Zn Rec
¾ At The End Of The One Hour Test:
Mill Feed 11.1 0.9
Pb Con 78.4 1.4 97
‰ No Alcohol Smell
Zn con 0.44 60 65 ‰ Flotation Kinetics Appeared to
Time: 2:10 PM 1 Hour After Test: MIBC at 85 mls/min Increase in Both Pb and Zn Circuits
OSA Pb% Zn% Pb Rec Zn Rec
‰ Zn Circuit Appeared Slightly More
Mill Feed 11.3 0.8 Foamy
Pb Con 78.2 1.5 96
Zn con 1.96 57.3 70
 Further Synthesis and
Testing of New Frother Family
¾ The Chemical Modification Used to Create this New
Family can Make a Spectrum of Products
¾ 5 Products Were Characterized
‰ Flottec Fx130-01 Frother through Fx130-05 Frother

¾ Results Indicate that the Chemistry can Provide Different

Pulp Hydrodynamics and Froth Characteristics within
Specific Ranges
Foam Height vs. Gas Holdup, 5 litres per minute
20
Foam Height (cm)

10

FX130-03 FX130-04
x MIBC x FX130-02
FX130-05 TEB
x F100 x FX130-01
0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Gas Holdup (%)
 Conclusions
¾ A New Frother Chemistry Has Been Developed Based on the Research
Work Done by the Hydrodynamic Characterization of Frothers

¾ The New Family of Frothers Perform Similar to MIBC but can be Made
to be Slightly Weaker to Slightly Stronger

¾ The New Family of Frothers May Be Able to Substitute for Frother

Families Such As TEB and Pine Oil but it is Unlikely they Will Be
Strong Enough to Perform Like the Standard Glycol Or Glycol Ethers

¾ The New Frother is Different than Other Alcohol Type Products in that
they are Water Soluble. This Presents its Own Set of Advantages and
Disadvantages

¾ Further Plant Tests are Being Planned to Fully Understand and Exploit
this New Frother Chemistry
 Acknowledgements
¾ McGill University
Pamela Moyo, Fariba Azgomi,
Michel Leroux, Prof. Jim Finch

¾ Sasol North America

Paul Filler

¾ The Doe Run Company

Brian Mangogna, Adam Steimel

¾ Amtel AMTEL
Stephen Chryssoulis, Daniela Venter

¾ Flottec Inc.
Randy Nix