An Analysis of Development Tendency of Flotation Machine

The flotation machine with the advantages of high concentration ratio, high recovery ratio, low cost and easy to control is suitable for dealing with the fine particles. Through several years’ research and development, the flotation machine has been widely accepted by all around the world to separate various ores and coal. The flotation machine with new structure, unique design and high efficiency has risen up recently. The main task in the future is still the flotation bubble generator, ore pulp, flowing of the bubble, electric auto controlling and the high mathematical model. The main separating methods of this machine the adjustment of particles, adjustment of bubbles and improvement of drug. It has been aroused high attention to use the floatation roll with the mix of various flow regimes of multi force field (centrifugal force field, magnetic field and electric field) to improve the adjustment of materials (including specific gravity and the particle sizes). The upsurge of the research and application to flotation machine has been left without anybody to care since 1970s.

Since the number of refractory ores in our country is quite large, and the contradiction between the ore dressing equipment and the separating technology is outstanding (the technology in the beneficiation reagent and the beneficiation craft is advanced in the domestic), with the flotation column being the most promising equipment, people should pay more attention to the follow-up study to surpass the advanced level of the world and do research the equipment adjusting to the characteristics of resources in our country. The main development directions of flotation machine include medium filling (create static environment and improve the efficiency of mineralization), microvesicle, combination of the disorganized flowing high efficient mineralization and the static split. The applying areas of this equipment is expanded day by day, e.g. to pre-eliminate the organics in the electrolyte to stabilize the electrolyte process, to float and eliminate the sediment of the ions as Cu, Pb, Hg, Fe, Zn, Cd in the waste water, to float the leaching ions in the polluting soil of the heavy metal ions, to void the pulp and to separate oil and water. Though we are just to start in these area, the future of the market is bright, which will bring opportunities to the research and application of the new type flotation equipment.

Though the structures and forms are of different degrees of development, the main aspects are as follows:

1. Bubble generator. Most of the bubble generators are improved by the susceptible to plugging built-in generators in the 1960s and 1970s, with some more advanced built-ins. The foaming manners are of great numbers, more advanced and more reasonable. The main types are the spiral bubble generator, venturi tube bubble generator, online mixer, efficient pneumatic hydraulic model inflatable device, CESL type ultrasonic generator in Canada, gas bubble dissolved air bubble generator and jet type bubble generator.

2. Filling Medium. Recently, the various types of filling mediums and medium beds have been appeared, which have solve the problems of the susceptibility to plugging if the filling mediums in the alkaline ores pulp and improve the stability of the ores pulp in the column and the segregating homogenization of the bubbles.

3. Height of the column. The height had been lowered by several meters. The height-diameter ratio has been decreased gradually. Even the height of the large flotation column is below 5m.

4. The hours in the flotation column of the ore pulps are shorter and shorter.

5. The research on the mathematical simulation and the scaling up has been more and more deeply.

6. The degree of the auto controlling has been higher and higher.

7. The improvement on the methods of ores discharge and ores feeding has been more and more.