Influence of flotation cell hydrodynamics on the flotation kinetics and scale up, Part 1: Hydrodynamic parameter measurements and ore property determination

摘要

Developing practical measurement methodologies to characterise hydrodynamic conditions of flotation cells of any size, and the provision of useful data for flotation modelling, are a challenge. In this study, several measurement instruments such as a power meter, hot-wire anemometer, bubble sizer, air flow meter and viscometer were used to characterise the hydrodynamic condition inside two different flotation cells (5 L and 60 L) making it possible to compare the hydrodynamic conditions of a 5 L (lab scale) cell with a 60 L (pilot scale) flotation cell. As a result, power input, energy dissipation rate, turbulent kinetic energy, bubble size and air flow parameters were obtained for 12 different hydrodynamic conditions in the cells.