Abstract A new technology has been developed to improve the selective recovery of fine particles in the froth flotation process. The technology is based on using hydrophobized glass bubbles (HGB) as a carrier material for hydrophobic fine particles, which promotes selective particle agglomeration. A proof of concept was carried out using fine graphite particles (13 µm) in order to validate the technology. The results showed that HGB can collect fine, hydrophobic particles, forming particle aggregates of larger size. Batch flotation kinetics tests were also conducted to quantify the effect of using HGB in the flotation metallurgical performance of a finely ground copper ore (d80 = 12 µm). The results indicated that HGB addition increased the flotation kinetics rate constant by 1.4 times and the maximum attainable recovery from 64% up to 90% (considering a first-order kinetics model). The grade-recovery and selectivity curves are shifted positively using HGB. In conclusion, the use of HGB technology in the froth flotation process presents a significantly improved metallurgical performance and process selectivity, becoming an alternative to face the challenge of recovering fine particles.

中文翻译：

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利用疏水化玻璃泡提高泡沫浮选细粒回收率的新技术

摘要 为了提高泡沫浮选过程中细颗粒的选择性回收率，开发了一项新技术。该技术基于使用疏水化玻璃泡 (HGB) 作为疏水性细颗粒的载体材料，从而促进选择性颗粒团聚。使用细石墨颗粒 (13 µm) 进行了概念验证，以验证该技术。结果表明，HGB 可以收集细小的疏水颗粒，形成更大尺寸的颗粒聚集体。还进行了批量浮选动力学测试，以量化使用 HGB 对细磨铜矿石 (d80 = 12 µm) 的浮选冶金性能的影响。结果表明，添加 HGB 使浮选动力学速率常数增加了 1。4 次，最大可达到的回收率从 64% 到 90%（考虑一级动力学模型）。品位回收率和选择性曲线使用 HGB 正向移动。总之，在泡沫浮选工艺中使用 HGB 技术显着提高了冶金性能和工艺选择性，成为应对回收细颗粒挑战的替代方案。