Improving Parameters Affecting Copper Ore Flotation in a Darreh Alu Copper Complex Concentrator

Hydrodynamic components in column flotation have a great impact on the performance and efficiency of the process. Computational fluid dynamics can be used as a powerful numerical method to analyze and predict the components of this process. Therefore, in this research, the flotation process has been modeled using the commercial software ANSYS Fluent. The modeling has been carried out in two phases and using the volume of fluid (VOF) module. In the design step, the independence of the solution from the grid has been examined, and then the calibration of the developed numerical model has been examined. For different methods of using blades inside the flotation cell, the flow field, bubble diameter, and gas retention have been investigated. The results showed that horizontal blade placement has the best performance in reducing axial mixing in the column, and using this blade placement method, the axial velocity can be reduced by up to ۷۵%. The results also showed that increasing the speed of the agitator from ۷۰۰ rpm leads to an increase in the separation forces; as a result, the recovery of copper particles inside the flotation cell decreases. On the other hand, increasing the speed of the agitator leads to an increase in the instability of the foam phase. The reason for this can be considered the production of bubbles with a larger diameter due to the increase in the speed of the agitator. Larger bubbles mean more surface energy and, as a result, less recovery of copper particles. Also, as the agitator gets closer to the lower part of the flotation cell, the effect of the turbulence caused by the rotation of the agitator on the phase increases, making the foam phase more unstable and reducing the recovery of copper particles. As the concentration of the foaming agent increases, the size of the bubbles produced decreases; as a result, the stability of the foam phase increases, and with increasing the stability of the foam phase. We can expect an increase in the recovery of copper particles. As the percentage of solids in the pulp increases, the recovery of copper particles also increases.

کلیدواژه ها:

Flotation ، Copper Concentration ، Computational Fluid Dynamics ، Darreh Alu copper complex