US1995915A

US1995915A - Flotation of minerals

Info

Publication number: US1995915A
Application number: US595432A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles L Burdick
Original assignee: EI Du Pont de Nemours and Co
Current assignee: EIDP Inc
Priority date: 1932-02-26
Filing date: 1932-02-26
Publication date: 1935-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 1952-03-26

Description

Pa ented Mar. 26, 1935 PATENT OFFICE FLOTATIONQ F MINERALS Charles L. Bur-dick, Wilmington, Del.,assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application February 26, 1932,

Serial No. 595,432 7 6 Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of ores, metallurgical products and like heterogeneous materials containingcompounds of the useful or more or" less valuable metals and has for its object to provide improvements in the separation of the compounds in question by flotation and particularly by froth flotation from the less valuable components of the mate'rialstreated.

Hitherto many proposals have been made for the wet concentration of ores involving the addition to the liquid in which the ore is suspended of a frothing agent. Other agents have likewise been added to the frothing agent, e. g. promoters,

depressors, regulators, activators, dispersers, etc.,these latter named agents being used to aid the flotation agent in separating the mineral par?- ticles from the gangue and to enable more perfect selection or differentiation between the mineral components of the mixture. My invention is primarily directed to the flotation agent with which the other above named agents may be employed if found desirable. a I

Gaudin, Haynes, and Haas (Technical Paper No. 7, Mining & Metallurgical Investigations, University of Utah, 1930) 1 have conducted a; number of investigations on frothing agents and state: The quality most sought for in frothing agents is the production of a foam, barren yet able to support a mineral load and of suflicient brittleness to break down rapidly after the supply of bubbles is exhausted. Many of the frothing agents now being commercially employed,

such, for example, as pine oil, creosole, eucalyptus oil, etc., are capable of developing a suflicient froth to separatethe mineral particles from the ganguebut dueto the relatively tough'and permanent nature of the froth formed, considerable difliculty is encountered in collapsing the froth in order to separate the mineral particles therefrom.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved frothing agent which does not havethe inherent disadvantages of the frothing agents now being employed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a frothing agentwhich will develop a brittle and impermanent froth of suflicient buoyancy to float the mineral particles and yet of such an impermanent nature that upon removal from the agitating apparatus it rapidly and completely collapses, thus affording easy separation of the min-' eral particles therefrom. A still further object of the invention is to provide .a new and improved frothing agent comprising a mixture of oxygen-'- ated organic compounds obtained from the catavated pressure.

-' the Williams patent or like processes, which I prelytic hydrogenation of carbon oxide under ele- Other objects will hereinafter app a 4 My invention is based upon the discoveryvthat the flotation operation can, in many cases, be 5 improved by'the addition to the ore or mineral pulp of oxygenated organic compounds obtained by the catalytic'hydrogenation of carbon monoxide under elevated temperatures and pressures as the flotation agent, My flotation agent may 10 be used alone forthe treatment of many oreswhile inthe treatment ofothers it is advantageousto use it in conjunction with the other agents usually employed in like processes.

Furthermore, if other flotation agents are 15 used, such as pine oil, eucalyptus oil, or any flotation agent which develops a permanent froth that-does not collapse as rapidly as desired, after removal with the mineral particles separated from 'the ganguefromthe flotation chamber, the addition of my flotation agent to this stable froth will hasten its collapse. When using my flotation agent in this manner it may be added prior to, during, or subsequent to the flotation operation.

My preferred frothing agent is derived from the following source. In the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon oxide under elevated temperatures and pressures a variety of straight and branch chained organic compounds containing oXygen are made. These organic compounds have a boiling .pbint ranging from about 50 C. to a temperature of 250 C. and higher.

Various methods have been proposed for the manufacture of these oxygenated organic compounds, for example a method for their synthesis is described in the U. S. Patent of Roger Williams No. 1,820,417. The fractions of the oxygenated organic compounds obtained by the process of 40 fer to use, are those boiling from a temperature of approximately C1 up.

The oxygenated organic, compounds boiling from 130 C. up have been fractionated systematically-into a series of fractions, namely 130 to 147; 45 147 to 157 157 to 195' to 240; and 240 up.

As would be expectedthese various fractions difin their flotation ability in degree rather than with the ore or mineral pulp in any suitableone being highly suitable while another being ,absolutely unsuited for a particular operation.

The fraction to be used may be incorporated manner which will ensure its uniform incorporation and dissemination thruout the pulp. It may 'thus be incorporated by adding to the grinding mill, in which the ore is ground, or it may be added after the grinding operation and during or prior to the flotation operation. The flotation operation can be carried out in any suitable ap-' paratus, such as .an ordinary Callow cell, or in apparatus where the air is incorporated in the ore pulp by mechanical agitation.

1 The following is given by way of example of the process but it will be understood thatl am not limited by the details thereof. One' hundred parts by weight of lead-zinc ore slimes (sulphide) containing 20% of metal are treated alone or after'being admixed with of iron ore with approximately 2 parts byweight of the oxygen.-

, ated organic compounds boiling from 130 C. up.

After thorough mixing the magma is passed into an apparatus where air is incorporated with the ore pulp by mechanical. agitation. There then takes place a coinpleteseparation of the crude iron ore and gangue, on the one hand, and of the sulphide ores, on the other, inasmuch as these ores rise to the surfacewhile the iron-ore and the gangue sink to the bottom of the apparatus. The refuse is continually removed from the bottomand the floating ores are collected from the top upon strainers. The froth and entangled mineral particles overflow from the zone of agitation to the launder of the flotation machine wherein a rapid and thorough collapse of the froth occurs which facilitates further treatment of the mineral particles. 7 s

It is sometimes advisable to provide a selective ore collecting agent to supplement the action of the oxygenated organic compounds employed, as these compoundsappear to be essentially frothing agents. Where, however, the .ore pulp contains an appropriate selective or collecting agent, or inherently requires the addition of no such agentfbutis eflicient in frothing qualities, the

' addition of my improved frothing agent in a manner similar to that above described, imparts the desired frothing. qualities and provides bubbles in a suflicient quantity and of a sufllcient persistency to overflow into .the launder of the flotation machine, thereby mechanically facilitating the removal of the, mineralconcentrate'.

In some cases where it is advantageous to employ the higher boiling fractions of my flotation agent, Ihave found it advisable to incorporate therewith-a solubilizing or disseminating agent,

particularly when the frothing agent is added directly to the flotation machine. These solubilizers shouldpreferably be not only miscible with the higher boiling fractions but also miscible with water in order to aid in the dispersion of the flotation agent. The lower boiling alcohols such as methanol and ethanol and, in some instances, the lower boil-ing fractions of the oxygenated or ganic compounds above described, are examples of suitable solu'bilizers. y Any improvement inthe process or products a e at elevated pressures.

disclosed in the above specificatio'nand described in the claims will come within thescope of this invention without sacrificing any of the advantages that may be derived therefrom.

. I claim:

1. The method of efiecting the concentration" of minerals by froth-flotation, which comprises 'the resulting mixture to a flotation operation.

3; The method of eifecting the concentration 6f minerals by froth-flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount of the oxygenated organic compounds having a boiling range from approximately 240 C. up, and which were obtained by the catalytic hydrogenation of,

carbon oxides under high pressure and a solubilizer comprising the oxygenated organic compounds having a boiling range from approximately 130- C.

to approximately 195 C. which also was obtained by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon oxides under elevatedpressure, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation.

4. In 'a process of eifecting the" concentration f of minerals by froth-flotation which involves the separation of 'mineral particles from the gangue by the froth formed as the result of the addition to the ore" of a flotation agent and subsequent removal of the mineral particle and froth from the zone of flotation for final segregation of the mineral particles, the step which comprises employing in the.process a'fraction of the oxygenated organic compounds boiling above 130 C. obtained by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon oxide under elevated pressures.

5. 'I'hemethod of eifecting the concentration of minerals by froth-flotation, which comprisesadding to the vmineral pulp approximately 2% by weight of the oxygenated organic compounds boiling above 130 C., the compoundshaving been obtained by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon oxide under high pressure, and subjecting" the resulting mixture to a flotation operation.

6. In a,process of 'efl'ecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which involves the 'separationv of mineral particles from ,the gangue by the froth formed as the result of the addition to the ore of aflotation agent and subsequent removal of the mineral particles and froth from the zone of flotation for final segregation of the mineral particles, the step which comprises employing in the process approximately 2% by weight of a fraction of the oxygenated organic compounds boiling above 130 Cl and obtained'by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon oxide under CHARLES" L. BURDICK.