Flotation

Flotation

Flotation is arguably the most versatile of all separation techniques since it separates mineral according to differences in their surface chemistry. Most minerals can be separated by adding specific chemicals that selectively modify the mineral surfaces. Since its inception in the early 20th century, flotation has become the standard processing solution for a wide variety of ores.


The mineral processing laboratory at NTNU has the wide experience in providing bench and pilot plan testing on hundreds of different ores and other materials. Flotation equipment with different size and capacity, from 2 g to 10 kg, are used in the laboratory testing. The mobile mini pilot plant, with a capacity of 70 kg/h, can be used to extensively study and complete the flowsheet development, reagent scheme development, as well as grade and recovery optimization. 


A selection of the flotation equipment is presented below:

Equipment

Type

Mode

Capacity

Scale

RFC REFLUX FLOTATION CELL

PNEUMATIC

CONT. / BATCH

0-70 kg/h

PILOT

AKER PILOT ROUGHER FLOTATION MACHINES (2 units)

MECHANICAL

CONTINUOUS

0-50 kg/h

PILOT

AKER CLEANER FLOTATION MACHINES (2 units)

MECHANICAL

CONTINUOUS

0-20 kg/h

PILOT

WEMCO FLOTATION MACHINE

MECHANICAL

BATCH

1/2.5 L

LAB

DENER D12 FLOTATION MACHINES (2 units)

MECHANICAL

BATCH

1/2.5/5/10 L

LAB

GTEK XFLB 0.75 L FLOTATION MACHINE (with scraper)

MECHANICAL

BATCH

0.75 L

LAB

GTEK XFLB 1.5 L FLOTATION MACHINE (with scraper)

MECHANICAL

BATCH

1.5 L

LAB

MAELGWYN FLOTATION MACHINE

MECHANICAL

BATCH

0.5/1/2 l

LAB

MAELGWYN V-CELL PNEUMATIC FLOTATION SYSTEM

PNEUMATIC

BATCH / CONT.

Up to 20 kg/h

LAB/PILOT

HALLIMOND TUBE

PNEUMATIC

BATCH

10 g

LAB/ANALYTICAL

UCT MICRIFLOTATION UNIT

PNEUMATIC

BATCH

10 g

LAB/ANALYTICAL

XFGC MINIFLOT FLOTATION MACHINE

MECHANICAL

BATCH

40-200 mL

LAB

TANKS (4 units)

25 L

PILOT