Chapter 59
THE COmUTER SIMULATION OF A ROUGHER- " '
SCAVENGER FLOTATION CIRCUIT FOR A HEMATITE ORE
S. K. Kawatra, J. L. Waters ,and W. J. Whiten*
Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, M I 49931
ABSTRACT
Various types of mathematical de-
. s c r i p t i o n s of t h e f l o t a t i o n process a r e
used i n t h e design of a f u l l s c a l e f l o -
t a t i o n c i r c u i t . Mechanistic descrip-
t i o n s developed under c o n t r o l l e d lab-
oratory conditions e s t a b l i s h t h e o r e t i -
c a l residence time requirements. Em-
p i r i c a l models, describing f l o t a t i o n
performance a s a function of f u l l s c a l e
operating v a r i a b l e s , a r e e s t a b l i s h e d
from one f l o t a t i o n system and applied
t o another hypothetical system.
Problems of design by mechanistic
modeling, such a s s c a l e up f a c t o r s ,
can be a l l e v i a t e d i f t h e model i s de-
veloped from a f u l l s c a l e f l o t a t i o n
c i r c u i t . However, t h e numerous uncon-
t r o l l a b l e v a r i a b l e s encountered i n a
f u l l s c a l e operation would preclude
t h e p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n of such a
model. Incorporating empirical r e l a -
t i o n s i n t o t h e f u l l s c a l e mechanistic
model w i l l . f a c i l i t a t e i t s e f f e c t i v e use
as a guide f o r f l o t a t i o n c i r c u i t design.
A semi-empirical model has been de-
veloped t h a t promises t o o f f e r a more
e f f e c t i v e means of f l o t a t i o n c i r c u i t
design.
674
I -I
'
:
, .
INTRODUCTION
The choice of a mathematical model t o
describe a f l o t a t i o n system i s d i c t a t e d
by t h e purpose t h e model must serve.
However v a r i e d p a s t approaches t o t h i s
t a s k have been, t h e r e a r e t h r e e b a s i c
c a t e g o r i e s of f l o t a t i o n models:
1) Mechanistic Models
2 ) Semi-empirical Models
3) Empirical Models
Mechanistic models attempt t o analy-
t i c a l l y describe t h e a c t u a l phenomenon
involved i n f l o t a t i o n ' , whereas empirical
models usually c o n s i s t of f i t t i n g ob-
served data from an i n d u s t r i a l p l a n t t o
an equation of a preconceived form. I n
t h e middle of t h e spectrum a r e semi-
empirical models t h a t have both mechan-
i s t i c and empirical a s p e c t s .
The purpose served by a f l o t a t i o n
model depends l a r g e l y on t h e s c a l e of
t h e operation t h e model i s t o describe.
Mechanistic models serve t o f u r t h e r t h e
understanding of t h e f l o t a t i o n phenome-
non under c a r e f u l l y c o n t r o l l e d labora-
t o r y conditions, but a r e of l i m i t e d use
i n an i n d u s t r i a l p l a n t where many varia-
b l e s a r e unknown. A t t h e o t h e r end of
t h e spectrum a r e empirical models t h a t
serve primarily t o c o n t r o l o r optimize
an i n d u s t r i a l s c a l e f l o t a t i o n process.
Models of a l l types have been used
 SIMULATION OF ROUGHER-SCAVENGERFLOTATION CIRCUIT
as a basis for the design of a flota-
tion circuit. Mechanistic models are
used to establish residence time re-
quirements from laboratory data for sub-
sequent design of a full scale flota-
tion circuit (1). This method neglects
possible flotation behavior changes in
the scaled up application. Design by
empirical (2) methods is based on the
extrapolation of the model derived from
one system to a hypothetical system
which may be beyond the model's-range
of application. This paper presents a
semi-empirical model that will provide
a basis for flotation circuit design
more reliable than that provided by
traditional means.
MODEL DEVELOPMENT
Development of this model was based
on the following four assumptions:
1) Flotation is a first order pro-
cess.
2) ~ater'recoveryis proportional
to valuables recovery.
3) Gangue is recovered by an en-
trainment mechanism.
4) Flotation cells are perfect
mixers.
These assumptions were made so that the
mechanism involved in flotation could be
considered on a simplistic basis,'thus
allowing more flexibility in a practical
application.
The v o l d balance for a component
(i) is:
where,
Fi = Volume feedrate of (i)
Ci = Volume flowrate of (i) to con-
centrate
Ti = Volume flowrate of (i) in tail-
ings
The assumption of first order kinetics
(3,4) allows the flowrate of component
(i) to the concentrate to be ,expressed
as:
Ci = kiXi (2)
where,
Xi = Volume of (i) in flotation pulp
ki = Flotation rate constant of .(i)
675
The rate of discharge of component
(i) in the tailings is a function of the
volume of (i) in the pulp. This depen-
dence is a direct proportion with the
proportionality constant equal for all
components if one assumes perfect mixing
(5). The discharge of component (i) in
the tailings is thus:
where,
8 = Mean residence time of component
(i)
a = lie
Combination of equations (2) and (3)
yields:
Substitution into equation (1) yields:
and
Equation (5) will predict the flowrate
of component (i) to the concentrate as
a function of the feedrate of (i), the
flotation rate of (i), and the residence
time of (i) in the flotation cell.
Since the residence time of any compo-
nent is itself a function of Ci by the
relation
there is no analytical solution to equa-
tion (5). However, Ci and a can be cal-
culated by an iterative process. The
solution of equation (5) can be found
as follows:
1) Assume Ci = 0 initially
C F ~- Cci
2) = a = Fi/V initially
v
3) Calculate Ci using a
4) Calculate new = using estimate
of ;ci
5) Repeat until values converge
Some researchers have noted a zero
order flotation rate (6) and have attri-
buted such behavior to the lack of ade-
quate bubble surface. In other words,
the flotation rate becomes essentially
676 17th APCOM SYMPOSIUM.
c o n s t a n t , a p p a r e n t l y independent of t h e
c o n c e n t r a t i o n of f l o a t a b l e s a v a i l a b l e
i n t h e pulp. A r e a l i s t i c model should
allow f o r t h e e f f e c t s of an overloaded
f r o t h . This i s accomplished by t h e ad-
justment of t h e r a t e c o n s t a n t , ki.
e f f e c t i v e r a t e c o n s t a n t would be:
where kieff i s t h e e f f e c t i v e f l o t a t i o n
r a t e c o n s t a n t a s t h e f r o t h becomes more
h e a v i l y mineralized. The value of h
would be c l o s e t o u n i t y a t low mineral
l o a d s and would i n c r e a s e a s FCi i n c r e a s -
e s . The f a c t o r h i s c a l c u l a t e d i n t h e
i t e r a t i o n by :
where,
6 =Constant,
V = Pulp Volume
CC. = T o t a l f l o w r a t e of v a l u a b l e s t o
v 1
concentrate
A s Ci became very l a r g e , h would t e n d
towards i n f i n i t y and kieff would ap-
proach z e r o .
Equation ( 5 ) now appears a s :
Water i s assumed t o be recovered a t
a r a t e p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e t o t a l flow-
r a t e of v a l u a b l e s t o c o n c e n t r a t e . Flow-
r a t e of water t o c o n c e n t r a t e can be ex-
pressed a s :
q., = %LCi
where ,
Cw = Volume f l o w r a t e of water t o
concentrate
Cci = T o t a l volume f l o w r a t e of valua-
b l e s t o concentrate
kw = Constant
The mechanism o f gangue recovery i s
assumed t o be one' o f mechanical e n t r a i n -
ment. Johnson ( 7 ) has shown t h a t t h e
recovery r a t e of gangue i n c r e a s e s with
t h e recovery r a t e of water, and t h a t
t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p approximates l i n e a r i t y
Flowrate of a gangue component ( i ) t o
t h e c o n c e n t r a t e i s expressed a s :
, ' .
where,
. XG = Volume of gangue component ( i )
i n pulp:
The k t i = Rate c o n s t a n t of gangue compo-
n e n t ' (i)
Equation (10) 'can be manipulated i n a
manner s i m i l a r t o t h a t ' a p p l i e d t o Equa-
t i o n s ( 2 ) Bnd ( 3 ) . The void f l d w r a t e
of g a n g u e , t o t h e c o n c e n t r a t e i s ex-
pressed a s : '
The e n t i r e i t e r a t i v e procedure nbw
appears a s :
1) Assume C i = 0 i n i t i a l l y
2) Assume h = 1 i n i t i a l l y
3) a= ( C F ~ - C C ~ /v, ) = = F ~ / vi n i t i a l l y
8) C C i =
CC. + C C + C
v i G i , w
9 ) Return t o s t e p ( 3 ) u n t i l v a l u e s
converqe .
This i t e r a t i o n can be executed on a
d i g i t a l computer f o r s i m u l a t i n g t h e f l o -
t a t i o n p r o c e s s . Constants such a s 6 and
ki a r e e m p i r i c a l l y determined from mea-
surements of t h e performance of an i n -
d u s t r i a l f l o t a t i o n c i r c u i t . The simu-
(9)
l a t i n g a b i l i t y of t h i s model was exam-
ined using a c t u a l p l a n t d a t a taken from
an i r o n o r e c o n c e n t r a t o r i n Upper Michi-
gan.
PLANT DESCRIPTION ,
. .
The mining o p e r a t i o n i s l o c a t e d on
t h e Marquette I r o n Range and produces an
o r e c o n s i s t i n g p r i m a r i l y ' of s p e c u l a r
hematice and q u a r t z . F l o t a t i o n feed i s
about 80% passing 200 mesh and 35% Fe.
A f a t t y a c i d a t a dosage of about 1 . 5
l b / t o n i s used, a c t i n g both a s a c o l l e c -
t o r and a f r o t h e r . The primary f l o t a -
t i o n c i r c u i t c o n s i s t s of rougher, scav-
enger, and c l e a n e r s t a g e s (Fig. 1 ) .
 SIMULATION OF ROUGHER-SCAVENGERFLOTATION CIRCUIT 677

taken using a remotely c o n t r o l l e d s p r i n g

loaded sampling cup. A f t e r t h e sampling
- was completed, t h e samples were then
/ P PULP S W R E POINT
-
'F F"
-
SAMPLE "Nl
X FEED S W R E PMNl
taken t o t h e m e t a l l u r g i c a l l a b o r a t o r i e s
of Michigan Technological University t o
ROUGHER
be processed.
Sample P r e p a r a t i o n
Each sample was weighed wet, f i l -
t e r e d , d r i e d , ' and weighed again. Screen
a n a l y s i s from 65 mesh t o 400 mesh was
performed on each sample. The s c r e e n
f r a c t i o n was combined i n t o t h r e e f r a c -
t i o n s of +200#, 200x400#, and -400#.
Each of t h e s e f r a c t i o n s was assayed
f o r % Fe using a standard wet t i t r a t i o n
I 1
FINAL COW.
I procedure.
Data C a l c u l a t i o n
Mass balances f o r i r o n , screen f r a c -
t i o n s and t o t a l mass were c a l c u l a t e d .
Volume f l o w r a t e s of s i x components a t
each sample p o i n t were c a l c u l a t e d using
t h e s c r e e n a n a l y s i s and assays of each
sample p o i n t . Two mineral s p e c i e s were
considered: h e m a t i t e , Fez03 and s i l i c a ,
SiO2. A t o t a l of seven components were
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of primary considered i n t h e simulation.
f l o t a t i o n c i r c u i t and l o c a t i o n of sam-
pling points. Component -
Size Mineral Species

The concentrate from primary f l o t a t i o n 1 +200 Fe203

i s f i l t e r e d and reground t o about 80% 2 200x400 Fe203
passing 325 mesh. Secondary f l o t a t i o n
c o n s i s t s of a hot conditioning s t a g e and
a rougher, scavenger, c l e a n e r f l o a t .
This a d d i t i o n a l f l o t a t i o n s t e p i n c r e a s e s
product grade from about 62% Fe t o 65%
Fe .
EXPERIMENTAL
Table 1 - Hypothetical c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Sampling of f l o t a t i o n feed f o r simulation pur-
The following samples were t a k e n from poses.
l i n e #6 of t h e primary f l o t a t i o n c i r c u i t :
1) F l o t a t i o n feed
2) Froth from each c e l l .These components a r e presented i n Table
3) Pulp from each c e l l 1. Although a h y p o t h e t i c a l c l a s s i f i c a -
t i o n , a , f l o t a t i o n feed described i n t h i s
F l o t a t i o n feed samples were taken manner f a c i l i t a t e s t h e simulation of
from a sampling p o i n t upstream from a flotation.
t h r e e way d i s t r i b u t o r (Fig. 1) using an Simulation
o r d i n a r y s l o t t e d stream sampler. Froth The e m p i r i c a l c o n s t a n t s used i n t h e
samples were taken from both s i d e s of model such a s ki a r e estimated from f i t -
each f l o t a t i o n c e l l by passing a sample t i n g t h e observed p l a n t d a t a t o t h e r e -
c o n t a i n e r under t h e l i p of t h e c e l l . l a t i o n s h i p s proposed i n t h e development
Timed samples were a l s o taken t o e s t i - of t h e model. The following e q u a t i o n s ,
mate t h e c o n c e n t r a t e f l o w r a t e from each
c e l l . Pulp samples from each c e l l were
678 . . 17th APCOM SYMPOSIUM

a r e t h e b a s i s f o r d e t e r h i n a t i o n of kvi,
kw, kGi. The mineral c a r r y i n g a b i l i t y
of t h e f r o t h i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by t h e ,

c o n s t a n t b e t a . This c o n s t a n t can be
found by t r i a l and e r r o r o r by an e s t i -
mation from t h e maximbri value of C i and
t h e c e l l volume.
then h = a, and
I f &ci = &ci(max)*,
0.04
1. 0 OBSERVED VALUES
SIMULATED'JALUES

These e s t i m a t i o n s of t h e e m p i r i c a l con- O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
s t a n t s were used i n t h e s i m u l a t i o n a l - CELL POSITION
g o r i t h o u t l i n e d i n t h e paper. Minor
adjustments were made i n t h e s e c o n s t a n t s Fig. 2. Simulated recovery r a t e s f o r
t o o b t a i n a b e t t e r f i t of t h e d a t a . +200# Fe203 compared with observed
recovery r a t e s .

DISCUSSION

The r e s u l t s p r e s e n t e d i n Fig. 2-5

i n d i c a t e an a b i l i t y of t h e model t o pre-
d i c t volume f l o w r a t e v a l u a b l e s i n t h e
rougher and scavenger s e c t i o n s . How-
e v e r , an a b i l i t y t o predict, gangue re-
covery r a t e s was n o t r e a l i z e d . This i n -
a b i l i t y i s a t l e a s t i n p a r t due t o an
erroneous assumption of a l i n e a r r e l a -
t i o n s h i p between v a l u a b l e s and water a s
described by Equation ( 9 ) :

The observed p l a n t d a t a of C, v e r s u s
&tiproduced a n o n l i n e a r p l o t . The d a t a
was f i t ' t o a s t r a i g h t l i n e
and kw was determined from i t s s l o p e .
Gangue recovery r a t e i s described by
Equation (10) :
o ~ ; ; ; : ; ;'. ; :
CELL POSITION

*This e s t i m a t i o n presumes t h a t t h e p l o t
of C C , v s . EX, approaches some asymptotic
v 1 v 1
value. I n most i n s t a n c e s t h i s w i l l n o t Fig. 3. Simulated recovery r a t e s f o r
be s o , i n which c a s e C ~ . ( m a x )can be es- 200x400# Fe203 compared with observed
v 1
timated from t h e shape of t h e curve. recovery r a t e s .
 SIMULATION OF ROUGHER-SCAVENGERFLOTATION CIRCUIT 679

An erroneous value o f C, would i n t u r n

produce an erroneous value of C G i .

The f a u l t of t h e model i s one of n o t

properly identifying relationships c r f -
t i c a l t o i t s performance. This work
f i t s t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s t o . a preconceived
form. The algorithm o u t l i n e d i n t h i s
paper can be modified t o accommodate a
n o n l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p between water
and v a l u a b l e s . A g r e a t e r d a t a base has
been o b t a i n e d t o determine t h e r e l a t i o n -
s h i p between water and v a l u a b l e s . This
g r e a t e r d a t a base i s being employed i n
t h e development of a modified form o f
t h i s model t h a t w i l l enable t h e gangue
recovery r a t e s t o be p r e d i c t e d (8) .

0 1 ; ; ; : ; ; L 4 CONCLUSION
CELL POSITION

F l o t a t i o n performance can be adequate-

Fig. 4 . Simulated recovery r a t e s f o r
-400# Fe203 compared with observed
recovery r a t e s .
l y described using t h e parameters of f l o -
t a t i o n r a t e and r e t e n t i o n time. The s i m -
u l a t i o n model p r e s e n t e d i n t h i s paper
can p r e d i c t recovery r a t e s of v a l u a b l e s
i n t h e rougher-scavenger s e c t i o n s . Pre-
d i c t i o n a b i l i t y of t h e recovery r a t e s '

of gangue can be a t t a i n e d i f t h e r e l a -
t i o n s h i p between v a l u a b l e s recovery and
water recovery can be e s t a b l i s h e d .
Future Work
Having achieved success i n t h e simu-
l a t i o n of t h e rougher and scavenger
s e c t i o n s , work w i l l be continued i n t h e
simulation of t h e c l e a n e r c i r c u i t .
This s i m u l a t i o n w i l l e n t a i l t h e use of
t h e modified form o f t h e model c u r r e n t -
l y being developed f o r t h e p r e d i c t i o n
of gangue recovery r a t e s .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish t o thank t h e ~epa~&.meri.t of

Metallhrgy- f o r allowing us t o c o l l e c t
t h e d a t a used i n t h e development of t h e
model. The Department of Health, Edu-
c a t i o n and Welfare and t h e O f f i c e o f
8 - 0
CELL POSITION Surface Mining a r e extended o u r thanks
f o r t h e i r f i n a n c i a l support.

Fig. 5. Simulated recovery r a t e s f o r

t o t a l Fe203 compared with observed
recovery r a t e s .
 17th A P C O M SYMPOSIUM

REFERENCES

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2. M a l h o t r a , D . , Hoover, R. M . , and
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Lynch, A. J . , " S t u d i e s i n t h e De-
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8. S u a r d i n i , P. , Unpublished Work,
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