A kerosene/aqueous emulsion used as a collector in potash ore desliming flotation

The removal of slimes (water-insoluble minerals) from high slime-containing potash ores from Qinghai Province, PRC, was investigated using flotation. A higher slime flotation recovery was obtained when a surfactant (polyoxyethylene fatty acid ester)-kerosene water emulsion was used as the collector. The stabilities of the kerosene/aqueous emulsions in water and in KCl saturated solution were tested to understand the mechanism of the desliming flotation process. The results showed that the phase separation of the emulsion was pronounced at low surfactant concentration. Microscopic observation of the emulsion microstructure indicated that the droplets were spherical with the exception of samples with low surfactant concentration and that the droplet size increased with decreasing surfactant concentration. The emulsion droplets in the KCl saturated solution were smaller than those in pure water. Additionally, the emulsion was easier to stabilize in KCl because of the higher surface activity in KCl saturated solution; therefore, this emulsion can be used as a collector in desliming flotation.