One Source O e at e One Partner

Mineral Processing From Mine to Concentrated Product

Flotation

August 26, 2010

Flotation is the most widely used concentration process in the world. Flotation made it possible to treat ores that were previously not economical. Flotation i the i i l Fl t ti is th principle means of concentrating copper, f t ti lead, zinc, molybdenum, phosphate and many others. Flotation is usually used to separate one solid from another.

August 26, 2010

Flotation Necessary Conditions Bubble Suspended Particle Attraction

August 26, 2010

Flotation Hydrophobic Interaction

August 26, 2010

Particle Liberation

Flotation Model

First-order rate Fi d equation

dN1 = kN1 dt
1 k = Sb P 4

1 D b3

Sb= bubble surface area rate P= probability of collection

Flotation Machine Design

Machine Design Optimization
The Th most fundamental step in flotation is tf d t l t i fl t ti i bubble-particle attachment. The probability of attachment (P) is given by: P = PcPa(1-Pd) Pc = probability of collision Pa = probability of adhesion Pd = probability of detachment

Flotation Model Under Turbulent Conditions

Sherell and Yoon, Centenary of Flotation 2005; Yoon et al. SME Yoon Flotation, al 2007, 2008

Model Derivation
dN1 = kN1 dt = Z12 P
k = Z 12 P N1
32 12 2 2 12

Probability Functions
3 d1 3 Re Pc = 1 + 2 d 2 16 1 + 0.249 Re 0.56 E1 Pa = exp E k
2

Z12 = 2 N1 N d
P = Pc Pa (1 Pd ) P f

(U

2 1

+U

2 2

(Wa + E1 ) Pd = exp Ek

Pf = Pmax exp( f ) + Pe

k =

Z 12 Pc Pa (1 Pd )P f N1

Bubble Generation

Schulze (1982)

Effect of Bubble and Particle Size

Collision probability
S th l d 1948; R Sutherland, 1948 Reay and Ratcliff, 1973; Flint and Howarth, d R t liff 1973 Fli t dH th 1971; Weber and Paddock, 1983; Ahmed and Jameson, 1989; Luttrell and Yoon, 1989

Pd = (Dp/Dm)z

Gaudin, 1931

Pc = A(Dp/Db)2

August 26, 2010

0.68 0 68 mm iron particle hydrophobized with i ti l h d h bi d ith thiol (=70o) at 8,000 fps

MAJOR FLOTATION APPLICATIONS BASE METALS

COPPER LEAD ZINC

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS
POTASH PHOSPHATE CLAYS CLAYS

PRECIOUS METALS
GOLD PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM SILVER

COAL IRON ORE

Typical Copper Concentrator

August 26, 2010

Industrial Operation p

Main Tasks of Flotation Stages

Roughers: High recovery with acceptable selectivity, coarse and fine particles In complex ore cases, high selectivity, too p , g y, Rougher Scavengers: High recovery of escaping coarse particles High recovery of escaping fine particles Cleaners: Hi h selectivity High l ti it Cleaner Scavengers: High recovery of (mainly) fine particles
August 26, 2010

Mechanical flotation machine must provide the following functions:

Good air/pulp contact Adequate solids suspension q p Good mixing without stagnant zones or short-circuiting A quiescent zone for froth separation Adequate froth removal Sufficient residence time to allow the desired recovery of the valuable constituent

August 26, 2010

Industrial Operation p

Theoretical Recovery in a Row Of Perfectly Mixed Flotation Cells

100 The eoretical Recovery [%] R 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 2 4 6 Number of Cells

August 26, 2010

10

12

Equipment

FLS Minerals Conventional flotation cells consist of a series of tanks (rectangular or cylindrical) that are individually agitated using an impeller. The impeller provides the energy needed to: keep particles in suspension suck in air (a blower may also be used) disperse air into small air bubbles contact mineral particles with air bubbles

Feed Tails

Froth

Types of cells

Mechanical Flotation Industry Leaders

Forced Ai F d Air
August 26, 2010

Self Aspirating S lf A i ti

Flotation

Dorr-Oliver Flotation Cells

SmartCell Flotation

FFE Xcell Flotation Cells

WEMCO CELLS INERTGAS, LAS TORTOLAS INERTGAS

Wemco cells

OVER 43 000 UNITS 43,000 SOLD SINCE 1951

WEMCO SMARTCELLTM

Wemco For Recovery

Short froth travel distance Sh f h l di Up flow pumping for suspension and flotation of heavy fines Increased retention time High energy dispersion for fine particle flotation g g

Flotation Primarily Occurs in and Around the Rotor

The Rotor/Disperser: Bubble F B bbl Formation and Dispersion ti d Di i Bubble/Particle Contact

Power Consumption

Flotation Primarily Occurs in and Around the Rotor

Optimize Pc p
Increase Internal in pumping rate increases the number of cycles a floatable particles makes through the rotor.

Average Retention Time = Vn/Qf

Average Retention Time: The average length of time that g g a particle remains in the flotation cell.

Power Consumption

Average Circulation Time = Vn/ Qp

Average Circulation Time: The average length of time q p required to circulate a particle through the rotor.

Power Consumption

Average Flotation Cycle = (Vn/Qf)/(Vn/ Qp) = Qp/Qf

Average Flotation Cycle: The average number of cycles a particle makes through the rotor in i one residence time. id ti

Qp/Qf

Dorr Oliver

FLS Forced air machine-Dorr

Dorr-Oliver Flotation Technology

DORR OLIVER UT TROUGH CELLS DORR OLIVER RT TANK CELLS

DO600UT

DO-1550 UT - Flotation Cells

Dorr-Oliver Mechanical Design D i

Simple design Few components Dynamically balanced Easy to operate and maintain

History of Dorr-Oliver Flotation Mechanism Design

Double wall rotor plugs with oversize or tramp solids

Single wall design cannot plug

DO Standard Rotor

Non-plugging design Low power L Long wear life Reduced core to give maximized pumping volume

DO Standard Rotor & Stator

XCell

TM

External Launder

Mid Rotor (lower air pressure)

Full Length Baffles

Velocity Cone

Side by Side Test Results

35% Power Savings over WEMCO 10% Power Savings Over Outotec Statistically Similar Metallurgical y g Performance
Second Test Series Statistics
Valid Tests Global Recovery Mean, % Cu Global Recovery SD Global Conc. Grade, % Cu

FFEM
45 89.87 1.68 9.18

Outotec
43 89.95 2.00 8.29

Research & Development

Bench-Scale Testing New Ideas New Designs

Construction & S t C t ti Setup Small test cell fabricated/constructed with interchangeable rotors/stators rotors/stators. 10-Inch Clear Plexiglas Tank 2 Stator Configurations 10 Impellers Designs 6 Existing 4 New Calibrated gas flow meter with low friction bearing seals. Variable speed motor with torque meter/controller.

Bench-Scale Testing
DO-Std DO Std DO-Mod1 DO Mod1 DO-Mod2 DO Mod2 OK-Old OK Old OK-New OK New

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.75 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.75 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.75height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.75height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.25 height

Xcell

VT-FJ

VT-SB

VT-TF

VT-USD

8 blades 2.75 diameter 1.5 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 2 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 2.25 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 2 height

6 blades 2.75 diameter 1.75 height

Bench-Scale Testing

Power-Speed (No Air Flow) AirFlow=0

12 XCell 10 OKNew VTUSD 8 VTTF DOStd 6 OKOld VTFJ DOMod1 DO M d1 4 DOMod2 VTSB 2

Power(Watts)

0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

RotationalSpeed(RPM) Rotational Speed (RPM)

Bench-Scale Testing

AirFlow=1.0scfm Power-Speed (Vg=1 cm/s)

14 12 10
P Power(Watts)

DOStd OKNew VTTF XCell OKOld DOMod2

8 6 4 2 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

DOMod1 VTUSD VTSB VTFJ

1800

RotationalSpeed(RPM) Rotational Speed (RPM)

Bench-Scale Testing

Air Holdup (%) = g = 100 (h/H)

August 26, 2010

Bench-Scale Testing Required t achieve 10% air h ld R i d to hi i holdup

Bench-Scale Testing

Sanding Assessment S di A t
(Iron Ore, 95% passing 106 m, SG=4)

Stopped

Running

Quiescent Zone

Quiescent Zone Suspended Zone

Settled Solids

Settled Solids

August 26, 2010

Bench-Scale Testing

QuiescentZone:AirFlow=0 Quiescent Zone Height (No Air Flow)

100 90 80 70 DOStd XCell OKOld OKNew VTFJ VTUSD VT USD 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 Power(Watts) 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 DOMod2 VTSB DOMod1

QuiescentZone(mm)

Bench-Scale Testing

SolidSuspension:AirFlow=2.0scfm Solids Suspension Height (Vg=2 cm/s)

50 45 40 35 OKOld OKNew VTSB DOStd DO Std 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 Power(Watts) 8.00 10.00 12.00 XCell DOMod2 DOMod1

SandBedDepth(mm)

Merge Point P i t

Bench-Scale Testing

Preliminary Impeller Comparison

2.8

Flotation Rate Const tant (1/min n)

2.6 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

DO Std (Vg=1 cm/s) DO Std (Vg=2 cm/s) OK New (Vg=1 cm/s) OK New (Vg=2 cm/s) ( g )

Power (Watts) ( )

Rotor and Disperser Surface Mesh

8.6x106 nodes

Streamlines and Velocity Magnitude

Pilot-Scale Testing
XCell 0.8m3 Pilot-Cell DO 0.8m3 Pilot-Cell

Pilot-Scale Testing
Construction/Installation C t ti /I t ll ti Metal test cell fabricated/constructed with interchangeable components components. Evaluate three existing mechanisms as well as new designs.

Pilot-Scale Testing
0.8 m3 Cell

Proportional Sampler Tails Sample Froth Sample

Instrument Pack

Sump & Pump

Pilot-Scale Testing
Bubble Size A l i B bbl Si Analysis External Camera - Bubbles viewed through inclined glass surface of chamber placed above the tank tank. w/o pumping: bubbles rise as a result of their natural buoyancy w/ p / pumping: Gas-pulp flow to p g p p chamber promoted by pumping Submersible Camera - Bubbles recorded as they pass gap between camera and l h source. d light Compact high-speed camera and LED design enabled building a system with low flow interference Pulsed strobe light maximizes light intensity and image quality y g q y

External

Submersible

Pilot-Scale Testing

Images from Submerged Camera

12 mm

Pilot-Scale Testing
100

Cum mulative Pas ssing (%)

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 100 0.1

36 m3/hr 30 m3/hr 24 m3/hr 9 m3/hr 3/h

20 ppm MIBC 7 m/sec tip speed

P = 100

100 D + d ln(21/ e 1) c 1 + exp b p d

e

Cumula ative Passing (%)

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

36 m3/hr 30 m3/hr 3/h 24 m3/hr

Bubble Diameter (mm)

20 ppm MIBC 4 m/sec tip speed

10

Reduce R d Tip Speed

0.1 01

Bubble Diameter (mm)

10

Field Testing - SuperCell

300 m3 Wemco SuperCellTM FLOTATION MACHINE

Worlds Largest Flotation Cell

Kennecott SuperCell
Row 4-6

TM

2 5d
PP20,21 PP24,25

From Grind

4c 5b

4b

Scav Regr

Row 1-3

2 5c 4a 10

10

10
PP18,19

5a 20 9
1st Scavenger Cleaners

300
22 21 10
2nd Scavenger Cleaners

6 7
Rougher Cleaners

19

To Tails

11

12

23 8

PP16,17

Tower Mill

PP6,7

18

13

14

Note: Water is added t all dd d to ll launders 17 Legend Water addition To Cu/Moly Thickener
PP10,11 Mech Scavs

15
PP12,13

16

Wemco SuperCell 300 m3 Design

Design Parameters
Cell Diameter 8.25 m Weir Height -- 5.72 m Cell Height 6.03 m Volume-300 m3 Rotor Diameter 1.51m Gear Reducer
Flender / SEW

Drive Motor 410 kw

Installation at Kennecott

300 SuperCell

TM

Flotation Machine

FROM THIS ON OCTOBER 1ST

TO THIS 110 DAYS LATER A FULLY OPERATIONAL 300m3 FLOTATION machine

300 S SuperCell fl t ti C ll flotation machine Safety Record 33,320 man hours to date hi S f t R d 33 320 h t d t without a recordable incident which has added to a record at KUCC

TM

Construction involved a civil/concrete crew of 12 to 14 personnel working 6 days a week for 7300 man hours There were days on site where we had 75 personnel working in one capacity or another

Mechanical involved a crew of 25 to 30 personnel working 7 days a week for a total of 15,840 man hours Electrically we had a crew of 14 to 17 personnel working 7 days a week for a total of 6,850 Support personnel logged another 3,330 plus manhours

300 SuperCell

TM

Flotation Machine Equipme

Feed Tank designed by FLS/Centry and supplied by FLS Minerals All pumps supplied by KREBS All the valves supplied by KREBS/TECHNEQUIP Plant engineering supplied by FLS/CEntry

Civil construction included excavation of 1,996 cu yards of old concrete and dirt Installation included 975 cu yards of new concrete and 28 750 lbs of rebar 28,750

300 SuperCell

TM

Flotation Machine

FLS SuperCell 300 m3

Installation

Hydrodynamic Testing

Hydrodynamic Test Matrix

Machine Parameters
Submergence Rotor Speed Rotor Engagement

Measured Response p
Machine Power Aeration Rate Pulp Circulation

Tank Sections-Maximum 18,000 lbs per quarter section

Feed Box-10,000 lbs

Main Beams-4000 lb X2 i 000 lbs 2

False Bottom 400 lbs X 6 Bottom-400

Cone-350 lbs

Split Draft Tube- -2000 lbs x 2

Crowder, Disperser, Disperser hood, Mechanism Structure-15,000 lbs

Rotor Roto and Shaft 5400 lbs Shaft-5400

Reducer Mounting Plate-3400 lbs Motor Mounting Plate-1300 lbs

Gearbox-9900 lbs

Motor-Approx. 6000lbs

Shaft to Gearbox-15,500 lbs

Wemco SuperCell 300 m3 Flotation Machine

80 70
MoCollec ctor,cm3/min

14 13 12
pH

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 3 5 7 Run# 9 11 13
1stCampaign 2ndCampaign p g 3rdCampaign 4thCampaign 5thCampaign

Fe

FirstCampaign Wemco SecondCampaign Wemco ThirdCampaign Wemco FourthCampaign Wemco FifthCampign Wemco

11 10 9 8 7 1 3 5 7 Run# 9 11 13

1stCampaign 2ndCampaign 3rdCampaign 4thCampaign 5thCampaign

Cu
120 100
CuCollector,cm3/min Frother,cm3/min

Mo
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
1stCampaign 2ndCampaign 3rdCampaign 4thCampaign 5thCampaign 5th Campaign

6000 5000
PlantTonnage, tph

80 60 40 20 0 1 3 5 7 Run# 9 11 13
1stCampaign 2ndCampaign 3rdCampaign 4thCampaign 5thCampaign 5th Campaign

4000 3000 2000 1000 0

1stCampaign 2ndCampaign 3rdCampaign 4thCampaign 5thCampaign 5th Campaign

7 Run#

11

13

7 Run#

11

13

Wemco SuperCell 300 m3 Flotation Machine

Factor Level HH Agitator Speed, rpm (m/s) H C L LL HH H Froth Depth, cm C L LL SuperCell 100 (7.8) 98 (7 7) (7.7) 93 (7.3) 88 (6.9) 86 (6.7) 79 69 43 18 8 Pilot 362 (6.1) 350 (5 9) (5.9) 321 (5.4) 292 (5.0) 280 (4.7) 23 21 18 14 12

Dorr-Oliver SuperCell 330/350 m3 Flotation Machine

Factor Level HH Agitator Speed, rpm (m/s) H C L LL HH H Froth Depth, cm C L LL HH H Air Flow, m3/min C L LL SuperCell 102 (9.0) 95 (8.3) 82 (7.2) 69 (6.1) 62 (5 4) (5.4) 78 66 43 20 8 50 46 39 31 27 Pilot 614 (8.4) 586 (8.0) 533 (7.3) 480 (6.5) 452 (6 2) (6.2) 17 15 12.5 10 8 1.06 0.99 0.85 0.71 0.64

Wemco SuperCell 300 m3 Flotation Machine

CuGrade

SuperCell

PilotCell

FeedFlow OreType O T

3231gpm(22.1minRT) Type2 T 2 10%

49.7gpm(7.2minRT) Type2 T 2 10%

CuFeedGrade

Wemco SuperCell 300 m3 Flotation Machine

CuRecovery

SuperCell

PilotCell

FeedFlow OreType O T

3231gpm(22.1minRT) Type2 T 2 10%

49.7gpm(7.2minRT) Type2 T 2 10%

CuFeedGrade

SuperCells HowtooperateSuperCellstomaximizeCuandMorecoveryat20%Cucongrade???
Factor Agitator Speed rpm (m/s) Froth Depth cm Air Flow m3/min Agitator Power kW Blower Power kW Specific P S ifi Power kW/m3 Xcell-350 62 (6.1) Dorr-Oliver-330/350 79 (6.9) Wemco-300 97 (7.6)

50

37

43

39.6

42.9

23.6

114

123

258

55

61

N/A

0.48

0.56/0.53

0.86

SuperCellTM Project Team