Online determination of froth structure in industrial flotation cell of Sungun copper processing plant

Document Type : research - paper

Authors

1 Department of Mineral Processing, Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Tarbiat Modares University

2 هیات علمی

Abstract

Froth recognizing as the output of the flotation process can be efficient in better control of this process. Since the physical structure of the froth indicates the operational conditions of the flotation cell, the quality of the separation can be estimated according to its characteristics. Technological advances have led to monitoring and control operations using online systems. Image analysis method is one of the growing methods in this field. In addition to control the structural changes of the concentrate, using a device that can measure the quality of the froth online and report it regularly can keep the amount of chemicals consumed in the cell at optimal levels, and provide stability in the separation efficiency of the flotation unit. In this paper, changes in the froth structure of cleaner cell of Sungun copper processing plant were investigated. The area, circumference, elongation and diameter of the bubbles and their distribution, which are structural features of the froth, were calculated online to control flotation cell changes and used to classify the froth. Froth images were clustered in three classes of dry, wet and stiff froth using K-means algorithm and two characteristics of bubble fret area and diameter. The results showed that in dry froth, bubbles of froth surface are in a wider range of dimensions. This type of froth is in optimal condition in terms of load, mobility, stability and structure, also the grade of this type of froth is in the range of 25 to 29. Though, unlike dry froth, wet and hard froths are not in optimal condition in terms of bubble load, mobility, stability and structure due to the use of more or less excessive chemical additives. Also, the grades of wet and hard froths are in the range of 22 to 27 and 20 to 24, respectively.

Keywords


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