N. A. Chinakal Institute of Mining, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

S. A. Kondratyev, Сhief Researcher, Head of the Laboratory of Mineral Processing and Technological Ecology, Doctor of Technical Sciences, e-mail: kondr@misd.ru

Thermodynamic conditions for fixation of a physically sorbed collector on a mineral surface, its desorption from the mineral to the gas-liquid interface and spreading along it are considered. To analyze the conditions of fixation, the possibility of using an approach based on the theory of Lifshitz – Van der Waals (LW) and acid-base (AB) interaction of contacting media is shown. The limits of applicability of the Gibbs adsorption equation for determining the hydrophobization of the mineral surface in the flotation process have been established. The hydrophobicity generated by the chemisorbable reagent is achieved when the acid-base component is negative, exceeding the apolar component in absolute value. An analysis of the collecting properties of foaming agents is presented. It is shown that they are caused by surface activity in relation to the gas-liquid interface and the possibility of reducing the induction time, and not by hydrophobization of the mineral. A discussion is presented of reasons for the increase in the extraction of useful components into the concentrate with increasing length of the hydrocarbon fragment. This dependence is revealed from the position of the mechanism of action of physically sorbed collectors. It has been shown that the increase in hydrophobicity with increasing length of the hydrocarbon radical of the collector is associated with the irregular molecular packing of hydrocarbon chains on the mineral surface. The limited use of acid-base (AB) interaction in the flotation beneficiation method and especially in relation to sulfide minerals, the surface of which changes its AB parameters during ore preparation and flotation, has been noted. The disadvantages of this approach include the difficulty of establishing the exact values of the electron-acceptor and electron-donor parameters of floated minerals.

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