As high grade iron ore deposits are rapidly depleted, the minerals industry is increasingly obliged to enrich their ores and process lower grade iron ores. Production of large quantities of fine ores as tailings or by-products in mining operations and mineral liberation at fine particle sizes have led to the development of concentration methods employed to fine ores. Selective flocculation is one of the beneficial methods which can be used in recovering of very fine particles
It is obvious that process water chemistry has a significant influence on the flocculation efficiency, and the water chemistry is deeply affected by carbon dioxide dissolution. Carbonate content of natural waters regulated by CO2, carbonicacid and solid carbonatesis known as &lsquo / carbonate alkalinity&rsquo / whichmay be an important factor in flocculation especially at alkaline pH.
Selective flocculation of iron ores is usually run at around pH 11 where carbonate alkalinity could be rather high. There have been no reports in literature regarding the effect of carbonate alkalinity on the flocculation behavior of iron oxides, mainly hematite. In this study, the flocculation behavior of iron ores with starch under different alkalinities has been investigated. The extent of flocculation has been assessed by settling rate and suspended solid content measurements at different starch doses and pH values. Zeta potential measurements and starch adsorption studies were carried out to explain these effects by carbonate alkalinity.
According to the results, flocculation is enhanced by addition of low amount of carbonate alkalinity, less than 2.4 mEq/L. However, adding the higher amount of alkalinity adversely affected the flocculation of hematite. Similar behavior was also observed during the starch adsorption tests, larger amount of starch wasadsorbed by hematite in low alkalinity compared to high alkalinity. Zeta potential measurements indicate that, by increasing the carbonate alkalinity of suspension, zeta potential values of solids will become more negativeleading to an increase in the stability of suspension and then adversely affecting flocculation. Therefore, as carbonate alkalinity has a significant effect on the flocculation of hematite, it should be seriously taken into account to optimize the selective flocculation of hematite ores.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12614506/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 August 2012 |
| Creators | Molaei, Aysan |
| Contributors | Arol, Ali Ihsan |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | Access forbidden for 1 year |
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