- Title
- Computational analysis of bubble loading
- Creator
- King, Lauren; Evans, Geoffrey; Moreno-Atanasio, Roberto
- Relation
- The 47th Chemeca 2018 Conference . Proceedings of The 47th Chemeca 2018 Conference (Queenstown, NZ 30 September, 2018 - 03 October, 2018) p. 1-9
- Publisher
- Institution of Chemical Engineers
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- Flotation is one of the main unit operations in mineral processing. The success of flotation is based upon the availability of bubbles to attach and carry desirable minerals upwards for separation. By maximising the load of a bubble during flotation, recovery efficiency is increased resulting in extensive economic benefit at an industrial level. Therefore, this project seeks to bridge the gap in literature associated with bubbling loading using a computational methodology referred to as the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Simulations based on Discrete Element Method (DEM) were conducted to examine the impact of bubble size and number of particles on maximum bubble loading. It was found that with increasing number of particles, the load and corresponding surface coverage of the bubble increased until reaching a plateau which indicated the maximum load capacity of the bubble. Furthermore, the load potential of the bubble was seen to decrease with bubble size. However, despite its decreased load potential, the smaller bubble was able to maintain a larger surface coverage due to decreased inertial forces. Finally, it was seen that once the system exceeded an optimum quantity of particles, there is a vast difference between the maximum and steady state load potential of the bubble. This was attributed to a decrease in aggregate stability due to the influence of collision dynamics, gravity and destabilisation of the liquid film. Overall, it was found that each system possessed an optimum domain which promoted maximum bubble loading and long-term aggregate stability.
- Subject
- flotation; bubble loading; discrete element method; long-term aggregate stability
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1447281
- Identifier
- uon:43103
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781911446682
- Language
- eng
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