Reliable measurements of hydrophobicity of minerals and ores are important to the study of the separation performance of a froth flotation process. However, surface heterogeneity, which is inexorably linked to actual industrial ores, has always been a challenging factor to characterize with currently existing measurement techniques. In this study, a new apparatus of surface flotation that provides surface floatability and wettability evaluation requiring parsimonious needs in sample consumption is presented. It consists of a continuous-flow macroscopically flat-interface flotation cell for the selective separation at a moving liquid-gas interface between hydrophobic mineral and hydrophilic gangue from scanty mineral samples. To prove the concept, comparative experiments were conducted with a mineral matrix composed of graphite and quartz using the new surface flotation apparatus, a micro-flotation cell, and a Denver cell. The results obtained from the surface flotation cell indicate that its separation efficiency and its reproducibility are better than the two standard laboratory separation techniques. Use of this new technique provides more and better information related to the wettability of mineral/ore surfaces while requiring as low as 3 g of mineral samples.

中文翻译：

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基于润湿性对比的用于分离少量矿物样品的连续流动表面浮选槽

矿物和矿石疏水性的可靠测量对于泡沫浮选过程的分离性能研究非常重要。然而，与实际工业矿石密不可分的表面异质性一直是用当前现有的测量技术表征的一个具有挑战性的因素。在这项研究中，提出了一种新的表面浮选装置，可提供表面漂浮性和润湿性评估，需要在样品消耗方面有简约的需求。它由一个连续流动的宏观平面界面浮选池组成，用于在疏水性矿物和亲水性脉石之间的移动液-气界面从稀少矿物样品中进行选择性分离。为了证明这个概念，使用新的表面浮选设备、微型浮选槽和丹佛槽，对由石墨和石英组成的矿物基质进行了对比实验。从表面浮选池获得的结果表明，其分离效率和重现性优于两种标准的实验室分离技术。这种新技术的使用提供了更多更好的与矿物/矿石表面润湿性相关的信息，同时需要低至 3 克的矿物样品。