Bubble attachment time and FTIR analysis of water structure in the flotation of sylvite, bischofite and carnallite

摘要

Water structure is the most important parameter that influences the flotation of soluble salts. In this paper bubble attachment time measurements and FTIR analyses were performed to investigate the effect of water structure on the flotation behavior of sylvite (KC1), bischofite (MgCl_2-6H_2O) and carnallite (KMgCl_3-6H_2O). The results from bubble attachment time measurements suggest that collector adsorption at the surface of KC1 induces flotation with either the cationic collector, ODA, or anionic collector, SDS. In contrast bubble attachment did not occur for bischofite (KMgCl_2-6H_2O) or carnallite (KMgCl_3-6H_2O). Results show that the surface charge is not a determining factor in the flotation of soluble salts. Further, the interaction between water molecules and the three chloride salts dissolved in aqueous solution were studied by measuring the shift in the hydrogen-bonding of water molecules. The results indicate that KC1 is a structure breaker salt, while MgCl_2-6H_2O and KMgCl_3-6H_2O are structure maker salts.