El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / In the mining industry, due to the extraction and processing of ore, a significant amount of tailings are produced which are discharged into deposits. In some cases, these are in contact with effluents and generate acid waters that pollute the environment and affect the health of the inhabitants. Additionally, these tailings within their composition contain valuable metals that can be reused through a process of mineral flotation. As a part of this research, a study based exclusively on laboratory tests was performed on the tailings deposit located in the Recuay–Peru district, where the presence of concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Ag at 48.36% was obtained, 23% and 250 g/TM. Thus, this study aims to take advantage of polymetallic tailings deposits that are in an abandonment state by extracting valuable ore through the flotation process based on their chemical composition and mineralogical characterization.

No description available.

The HydroFloat technology was specifically developed to upgrade phosphate sands that are too coarse to be efficiently recovered by conventional flotation methods. In this novel process, classified feed is suspended in a fluidized-bed and then aerated. The reagentized phosphate particles become buoyant and report to the product launder after encountering and attaching to the rising air bubbles. Simultaneously, the hydrophilic particles are rejected as a high solids content (65-70%) underflow. The fluidized bed acts as a "resistant" layer through which no bubble/particle aggregates can penetrate. As a result, the HydroFloat also acts as a density separator that is capable of treating much coarser particles as compared to traditional flotation processes. In addition, the high solids content of the teeter bed promotes bubble-particle attachment and reduces the cell volume required to achieve a given capacity. To fully evaluate the potential advantages of the HydroFloat technology, a 5-tph test circuit was installed and evaluated in an industrial phosphate beneficiation plant. Feed to the test circuit was continuously classified, conditioned and upgraded using the HydroFloat technology. The test results indicated that the HydroFloat could produce a high-grade phosphate product in a single stage of separation. Product quality ranged between 70-72% BPL (bone phosphate of lime = 2.185 x %P2O5) and 5-10% insols (acid insoluble solids). BPL recoveries exceeded 98% at feed rates greater than 2.0 tph per ft^2 of separator cross-sectional area. These results were superior to traditional column flotation, which recovered less than 90% of the valuable product at a capacity of less than 1 tph per ft^2. / Master of Science

Column flotation cells have become the most popular machine designed for industrial applications that require the separation and concentration of wanted or unwanted minerals from the rest material associated in a pulp. To achieve this process separation an air sparging device, which is required to produce bubbles in the flotation cell is required. In column flotation operations, Sparger sparging devices are employed in column flotation operations to generate small bubbles into the cell with the aim to carry the the desired mineral to the surface for later be recovered and proceeded. However, field studies suggest that air injector sparging systems are not always optimized. Two of the reasonsReasons that contributinge to the lack of optimization areis unfavorable state are: (i) ineffective internal design of the sparging system, and (ii) poor operation techniques employed inby the industrial processing industrial plants. The present project intends to better understand sparging performance into the column cell and how to optimize sparging systems more effectively. To achieve this end, With this in mind, data of for gas-water injection rate, froth addition, and inlet-pressure have been collected and analyzed. The This data not only will facilitate an insight of to better operational practices that plant operators can employ to improve column performance, but it also will make it possible to correct flaws in the design of the sparging systems currently used in column flotation operations. / Master of Science

System identification techniques were applied to obtain mathematical expressions relating column flotation operating parameters. The empirical data were derived by making individual step changes in tailings rate, wash water rate, feed rate, frother addition and air rates, while measuring the pulp level and air holdup responses. The dynamic behavior of the flotation column is also analyzed for the conditions at which the tests were performed. After converting these mathematical equations into continuous and discrete transfer function matrices, several control algorithms were simulated on this column flotation empirical representation. Suggestions are provided to deal with the complexities of the process when designing a control scheme. / Master of Science

This dissertation presents the results of research on the flotation system potassium n-amyl xanthate - sodium sulfide - molybdenite. The purposes of the research were (1) to determine the theoretical collector-depressant equilibria conditions of this system necessary for the flotation or depression of molybdenite, (2) to ascertain the mechanism of adsorption or the collector potassium n-amyl xanthate and the depressant sodium sulfide on molybdenite, and (3) to calculate the standard free energy of adsorption on molybdenite of the collector and depressant in this system. To accomplish these purposes it was necessary to develop a satisfactory experimental method for the controlled testing of collector and depressant action in this system. Because of the physical properties of molybdenite, attempts to employ the methods of other investigators were unsuccessful. The experimental method finally devised was a modification of the "captive bubble" technique of Wark and Cox. The smooth surfaces of pressed molybdenite pellets were used in place of polished mineral surfaces. Tables 1 and 2 list the data obtained in ascertaining the collector-depressant equilibria conditions of this system and Figures 5, 6 and 7 are plots of these data. Strong evidence was given in support of the Cook hydrolytic free acid absorption theory, and it was found that the Cook single site free acid model best describes the adsorption ef n-amyl xanthic acid and hydrosulfuric acid on molybdenite. The adsorption potential for the adsorption of hydrosulfuric acid on molybdenite at 25°C. was calculated to be -11,548 cal./mole. The adsorption potential for the adsorption of n-amyl xanthic acid on molybdenite was calculated to be -15,173 cal./mole assuming 25 % surface coverage and -15,826 cal./mole assuming 50 % surface coverage.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

see document / Master of Science