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Frothing at The Lip - Stability in Your Flotation Cell: Author: Jason Heath
Frothing at The Lip - Stability in Your Flotation Cell: Author: Jason Heath
Large froth surface area (low degree of crowding) in an Outotec TC50 Flotation Cell at a recently commissioned flotation concentrator
in Australia.
Most flotation cells comprise of As the air is added to the flotation transportation to the launder lip,
a pulp and froth phase. The froth cell, bubbles rise through the slurry, and hence poor recovery and overall
phase is used primarily for three up through the froth to the exposed performance of the flotation cell.
functions: froth surface, hopefully with product
1. to create an environment for attached. Here it expands and THE CONCEPT OF THE
floated particles to separate eventually overflows the launder lip. FROTH CARRY RATE
from the bulk slurry;
2. to allow selective concentration As mentioned, transportation of Froth in a flotation cell is a
of the desirable particles over mineral particles from bulk slurry to combination of water, air and solid
non-desirable particles; the launder lip is one of the froth’s particles. The froth itself is quite
3. transportation of mineral primary functions. It therefore unstable and you will often see
particles from bulk slurry to logically follows that without a stable bubbles breaking and coalescing into
the launder lip. froth, there will be poor product larger bubbles. Given this inherent