Screening of Flotation Reagents Based on Adsorption Models on Mineral Surfaces for Arsenic-Containing Mineral Separation

• Published in: MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS Vol. 66; no. 6; pp. 733 - 744
• Main Authors: Adachi, Ken, Iizuka, Atsushi, Kimura, Taro, Toma, Yuki, Higuchi, Ken, Shibata, Etsuro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sendai The Japan Institute of Metals and Materials 01.06.2025; 公益社団法人 日本金属学会; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Adsorption; Bubble pickup; Chalcopyrite; COSMO-RS; Dodecane; Enargite; Flotation; Flotation reagents; Flow charts; Numerical analysis; Regression analysis; Screening; Selective adsorption; Separation; Solvation
• ISSN: 1345-9678; 1347-5320
• DOI: 10.2320/matertrans.M-M2024817

The use of COSMO-RS (COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvation) method was adopted in this study to efficiently identify substances that exhibit selective adsorption on chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and enargite (Cu3AsS4). For each mineral, the changes in concentration for approximately 20 substances were examined through experiment, and their adsorption capacities were quantified using Henry’s law constants. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted using the Henry’s law constant data as the objective variables and the σ-moments acquired from COSMOtherm as the explanatory variables. This established adsorption prediction equations specific to each mineral. Equations for both minerals exhibited a high predictive accuracy with R2 values of >0.9. Quantitative adsorption amounts were obtained by incorporating the σ-moments for 11,577 substances obtained from COSMOtherm into these equations. Further investigation was also executed by a novel concept of “Contributions,” representing the extent of contribution to adsorption, based on adsorption prediction equations and σ-moment definitions. In addition, for several selected chemicals, bubble pickup tests were performed as a fundamental evaluation of the reagents for flotation separation. It was found that PEG-8 increased the amount of chalcopyrite collected by 62% selectively and dodecane decreased the amount of enargite collected by 48%, demonstrating the effectiveness of screening based on this method. This study proposes a new screening method for flotation agent candidates based on a simple adsorption prediction formula obtained by combining adsorption experiments and numerical analysis, and demonstrates its validity.