The rising and floating motion of bubbles in a mechanically stirred flotation machine

In the radiant turbomechanical stirred flotation machine, the rising and floating motion of bubbles in the square groove can be roughly divided into three sections according to the depth of the groove, as shown in figure 9-3.

Section 1 is the inflatable mixing zone (or mixing zone).The main function of this zone is to make the pulp and air fully mixed, through intense agitation and crushing, cutting suction (or pressure) air flow and make the bubble evenly dispersed in the tank, to avoid precipitation or stratification of coarse ore particles, so that ore particles effectively suspended and evenly distributed, increase the probability of contact and collision between ore particles and the bubble.

In the gas-filled mixing zone, the bubbles are easy to make violent eddy motion with the slurry flow thrown out by the impeller. At the same time, due to the depth of the tank, the slurry static pressure is large, and the bubble diameter is small, so the bubble rises and floats very slowly.

Section 2 is the separation area (or flotation area).The bubbles move up with the slurry flow in this section, and the ore particles stick to the bubbles to form the mineralized bubbles.

In the separation zone, with the decrease of trough depth and hydrostatic pressure, the bubble gradually becomes larger. Meanwhile, the vortex motion of the slurry also weakens, and the rising and floating velocity of the mineralized bubble also increases.

The third section is the foam area.The mineralized bubble layer with certain thickness has been formed at the fluid level.

In the mineralized foam zone, due to the accumulation of a large number of mineralized bubbles, the bubbles in the lower layer will continue to rise to the top, which will be obstructed, so the rising and floating speed will slow down. In addition, the bubbles floating in the upper layer will continue to spontaneously merge and generate "secondary enrichment", causing the gangue minerals trapped by machinery to scatter and return to the pulp.