Column flotation simulation: A dynamic framework

• The paper presents a framework for the fully dynamic simulation of column flotation.
• The proposed framework is based on a vertical superposition of mixers-in-series.
• It provides a macroscopic description of the pulp and gas behaviour using material balancing and specific empirical models.
• The emphasis is placed on the simulation of water, solids and gas flows and their effect on the pulp level and output flow rates.

Since the introduction of column flotation in mineral processing plants in the early 1980s, modelling of this process has become a prevailing field of investigation. Even if significant progresses have been made with every new attempt, most of the proposed models or simulators have been restricted to the steady-state behaviour. When dynamic mass balance equations were considered, a constant pulp level during the simulation was always assumed. The objective of this paper is to present a framework for the fully dynamic simulation of column flotation. The emphasis is placed on the simulation of water, solids and gas flows and their effect on the pulp level and output flow rates.