In the flotation process, the hazard of overdosage of the flotation reagents is often easily overlooked. It is proved that the decrease of the flotation index is mainly caused by the excessive dosage of the flotation reagents. The hazard of the overdosage mainly includes the following aspects.
The harmfulness of excessive collector: A. It will destroy the selectivity of the flotation process. Tests and production practices have proved that when the collector dosage exceeds a certain range, the concentrate grade will be significantly decreased. B. The excessive collector will bring difficulties for the further selection of foam concentrate and the separation of the mixed concentrate. C. The excessive collector allows the decline of floatability of certain minerals. D. The excessive collector also results in the formation of large amount of foams, which will make it difficult for the dehydration of concentrates and tailings and bring difficulty for the concentrate and filter.
The hazards of excessive inhibitors. When the inhibitor is excessive, the mineral to be floated and the mineral to be suppressed may also be suppressed, at the same time, resulting in lower recovery. In this case, in order to increase the floating ability of the floating mineral, it must increase the dosage of the collector.
The hazards of excessive activator. It will not only destroy the selectivity of the flotation process, but also result in the action with collectors to form the sediment, consuming large amounts of collectors. For example, when the operators conduct the activation of sphalerite, if the copper sulfate is excessive, the copper ions in the slurry and the xanthate will generate the xanthan copper sediment, causing the unnecessary increase in consumption.
The hazards of the excessive foaming agents. It will generate a lot of sticky, fine bubbles, which will make the gangue minerals adhere to the bubbles, affecting the concentrate grade.
The strict control of the flotation reagent dosage is an important factor to improve the flotation indicators of flotation separator. The excessive dosage will destroy the selectivity of the flotation process and increase the processing costs, and directly or indirectly bring the difficulties for the adjustment of the flotation process.