A review of the mechanisms and models of bubble-particle detachment in froth flotation

Only when the process of particle detachment is well understood and modelled can minerals recovery using the flotation process be modulated to achieve a high efficiency by suitably changing the operating parameters. This is vitally necessary for the recovery of coarse particles in an energy efficient way, as detachment is the key limiting factor in the successful recovery of large particles. However, until the detachment mechanism is more fully understood, an upper limit on the floatable particle diameter still remains unidentified. To assess the current state of knowledge available in this area, a comprehensive literature review on the mechanisms and models of the bubble-particle detachment process in froth flotation is presented. In general, the detachment process is considered to be a stochastic process, and is usually attributed to the dynamic interactions with the turbulent flow structures (eddies) in the flotation environment which cause particles to detach because of dissipating energy. In this paper, previous studies on bubble-particle detachment have been critically analyzed with respect to the formulation of the models in predicting the detachment probability of particles. The models are classified into three different categories: force balance analysis; energy balance analysis and empirical analysis of particle size compared to maximum floatable particle size. Attention is also paid to an understanding of the mechanisms of bubble-particle detachment in quiescent and turbulent liquid flow fields. The predictions of all these models have been compared with the published experimental data and it was found that models which take an accurate consideration of the influence of eddies on a particle's detachment give the closest predictions. The generally held concept of bubble-particle detachment inside an eddy was experimentally validated, where a particle was observed to rotate on the surface of a bubble, resulting in a centrifugal acceleration 20 times that of gravitational acceleration. The aim of this paper is to review the developments and limitations of the existing models. The experimental work is reviewed so as to reveal the mechanisms of bubble-particle detachment. Therefore, the future development of models is identified in order to successfully predict particle detachment.