ABSTRACT

In this work, methods to measure froth phase bubble sizes in mineral froth flotation are reviewed. For each method, the state of development, the equipment set-up, bubble size estimation procedure, and the pros and cons are discussed. Further, techniques that have typically been applied in the study of foams in non-mineral processing fields that have a potential for use in the study of bubble sizes in mineralized froths are also discussed. The review shows that flotation machine vision is available for industrial froth phase bubble size estimation. It, however, provides bubble sizes on the surface of the froth only i.e. the so-called surface film distribution. Surface film distributions are suitable for process control and grade estimation but are limited in quantitative modeling of important froth performance measures such as water recovery. The conventional photographic method (videoing from the sides of a transparent vessel) is limited to laboratory settings or transparent systems and is therefore typically used for calibrating other bubble size measurement methods. Methods to overcome the need for transparent systems and to measure bubble sizes within the froth/foam have also been suggested. These methods include those based on electrical, optical, and magnetic resonance properties of foams. Most of these methods have either not been tested in an industrial setting or the assumptions adopted to reconstruct bubble sizes are unrealistic. These methods require further testing to ascertain their efficacy in flotation froth phase bubble size estimation.

摘要

在这项工作中，对矿物泡沫浮选中泡沫相气泡尺寸的测量方法进行了综述。对于每种方法，都讨论了开发状态、设备设置、气泡大小估计程序以及优缺点。此外，还讨论了通常应用于非矿物加工领域中泡沫研究的技术，这些技术有可能用于研究矿化泡沫中的气泡尺寸。审查表明，浮选机器视觉可用于工业泡沫相气泡尺寸估计。然而，它仅提供泡沫表面上的气泡尺寸，即所谓的表面膜分布。表面膜分布适用于过程控制和等级估计，但在重要的泡沫性能测量（如水回收）的定量建模中受到限制。传统的摄影方法（从透明容器的侧面拍摄）仅限于实验室设置或透明系统，因此通常用于校准其他气泡尺寸测量方法。还提出了克服对透明系统的需求和测量泡沫/泡沫内气泡大小的方法。这些方法包括那些基于泡沫的电学、光学和磁共振特性的方法。这些方法中的大多数要么没有在工业环境中进行测试，要么用于重建气泡大小的假设是不现实的。这些方法需要进一步测试以确定它们在浮选泡沫相气泡尺寸估计中的功效。