Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Flash Flotation PDF
Flash Flotation PDF
Flash Flotation is the “instantaneous” flotation of liberated, high grade particles from the
recirculating load in the grinding circuit. The concept has been around for almost eighty years,
although it has only been recently that large scale Flash Flotation circuits have become a reality.
The process is widely known however not widely understood.
understood This article describes Flash Flotation
and its benefits, the various circuit options and how to determine if Flash Flotation will be suitable
for your ore.
There are various Flash Flotation designs in the marketplace, but as this process is quite complex to
‘get right’, it is particularly important to chose a supplier with experience and a proven track record.
The typical design of Outotec’s Flash Flotation, SkimAir® is shown in Figure 1.
The suitably sized particles in the feed are contacted with air in the mechanism the fast-floating
liberated particles are floated to the surface and then recovered to the concentrate. The mass pull to
concentrate is typically only 1-2% and can be of high enough grade to be directly mixed with the
conventional circuit final concentrate.
Output Australia | December 2010 | Page 5
The particles in the feed that are too coarse to suspend and float are segregated to the tailings via a
conical-shaped tank floor. These particles simply by-pass the SkimAir® and return to the mill for
further grinding. Therefore, the size of the particles in the feed to the SkimAir® can be as large as
10mm. In other words, the SkimAir® acts as a flotation cell and a classifier.
As the fast-floating liberated mineral is removed in the grinding circuit, the footprint of a greenfield’s
flotation circuit can also be reduced. The SkimAir® concentrate particle size is also coarser than
conventional flotation so when added to the final concentrate it improves concentrate dewatering,
lowers filter costs and reduces final concentrate moisture.
moisture
Water Addition
Water Addition
SAG Mill
SAG Mill
Cyclone Underflow Skim Air
New Feed
SkimAir Concentrate
SkimAir Feed
Ball Mill
Summary
Flash Flotation is not new. The Flash Flotation process is highly complex, so an experienced supplier
with a proven track record can make all the difference. It is an exact science to optimally design
Flash Flotation cells to handle such coarse particles with high solids densities, yet still keep them
running with high availabilities. However for a minimal investment, the performance improvements
can be
b staggering.
i
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr Rob Coleman is currently Technology Leader – Flotation for Outotec Pty Ltd in Australia. He has a
Chemical Engineering degree and a Doctorate in Minerals Processing. Rob has over 15 years
experience in the operation, modelling and optimisation of flotation circuits.