Collectability and Selectivity of Physical Adsorption of Carboxylic Acids in Flotation

Abstract

The collecting ability of desorbable species (DS-species) of carboxylic acids is analyzed. The spreading velocity and surface pressure of some fat acids are correlated with their collectability. It is found that increase in the hydrocarbon chain length to a certain limit results in the higher collectability of carboxylic aids, which correlates with the high spreading velocity of acid derivants on water surface. The cause of reduction in the collecting ability of short-chain collectors is discovered. It is shown that an adequate criterion of fat acid collectability can be a surface flow thickness of the agent’s DS-species film. The flotation performance with the compound chemisorption and physisorption coat and with the solely chemical adsorption coat is estimated. The causes of the decrease in the valuable component recovery and in the concentrate quality without the physical form of reagent adsorption at a mineral surface are revealed.