International Journal of Mineral Processing, 13 (1984) 83--103 83

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

THE OPTIMISATION OF FLOTATION NETWORKS

J.C.A. GREEN*
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Stellen bosch, Stellenbosch 7600
(R. South Africa)
(Received January 15, 1982; revised and accepted October 25, 1983)

ABSTRACT

Green, J.C.A., 1984. The optimisation of flotation networks. Int. J. Miner. Process., 13:
83--103.

The generalised optimisation of a flotation taetwork is studied by means of using

variable connections (structural parameters) and variable enhancement factors which are
used instead of a flotation model to describe the separation process. The enhancement
factors are functions of variables affecting the flotation process. These functional rela-
tionship may be derived by means of using a flotation model. Bounds are placed on the
enhancement factors by means of either using a flotation model or by inspection of
existing pilot or commercial plant data. These bounds, together with external, system
and mass balance constraints and an appropriate objective function, define the general
optimisation problem for a flotation network.
The optimisation problem above may be solved by non-linear programming methods,
however, it is easily transformable into a Linear Programme which is easy to solve. The
procedure has been applied to a flotation circuit comprising three banks of cells for
which an optimal set of connections and enhancement factors has been computed for
varying constraints.
A simulation procedure based on a gamma flotation model has been applied to one
of the optimal circuits so as to compute the flotation variables.

INTRODUCTION

The optimisation of a flotation plant depends upon the understanding of

the complex interaction between both structural and process variables.
Umeda et al. (1972), Ichikawa and Fan (1973) have all used a structural
parameter method to describe interconnections between process units. This
method is to be used in this paper to describe the physical interconnections
between the flotation cells in a flotation plant. The process variables in a
flotation plant refer to the variables affecting the flotation process in the in-
dividual cells. Such variables will be aeration rate, pulp density, froth height,
particle size distribution and many others.

*Present address: SASOL Technology, P.O. Box 1, Sasolburg 9570, RSA.

84

The mass balance equations for such interconnected separation systems

may be formulated in terms of split factors, or enhancement factors; and
structural parameters, as was done by Nagiev {1957). The split factor for any
given mineral species at a given cell or bank is simply the ratio of the species
mass flow rates in the concentrate and the tailings.
A number of computational procedures depending upon the use of struc-
tural parameters and enhancement factors have been devised. The procedures
by King (1973) and Green (1981), e.g. use a connection matrix containing
structural parameters and enhancement factors in the mass balance equa-
tions. These procedures involve iterative processes where use is made of
Newton-Raphson type methods to c o m p u t e cell or bank retention times.
The simulation procedures above may be useful in the optimisation of a flo-
tation plant if incorporated into a non-linear optimisation scheme. Methods
for doing this are discussed b y Himmelblau (1976).
The optimisation procedure adopted in this paper is, however, different
from that treated by authors such as Sutherland (1981) and Mehrotra and
Kapur {1974) in that optimisation is performed without the use of a flota-
tion model. Instead, b o u n d e d enhancement factors are used and once an op-
timal set of structural parameters and enhancement factors is found, only
then is a model used to c o m p u t e process variables (e.g. retention time). In
order to accomplish the optimisation, a-priori bounds for enhancement
factors need to be determined. This may be achieved in a number of ways:
(1) the use of flotation models; and (2) the use of pilot plant data and the
use of commercial plant data. The setting up of the " o p t i m a l " criteria is
probably the most difficult and important phase of any optimisation study.
The objective to be considered here is the maximisation of the recovery of
one or more mineral species given a profit weight for each mineral. The out-
come of the optimisation will be to establish whether a set of structural
parameters and enhancement factors exist which will maximise recovery.
Obviously there must be a large number of constraints and quality criteria.
These have been arranged into external constraints, system constraints and
mass balance constraints. The external constraints are imposed externally on
the plant and are grade requirements, production rate requirements and mass
flow rate requirements to other processing sections. These requirements have
been made as general as possible. System constraints refer to the bounds
placed on the enhancement factors. The mass flows are also b o u n d e d which
is a physical limitation gleaned from experimental and/or operating plant
data, or this may be a b o u n d decided on b y the designer. The mass balance
constraints are determined entirely by the mass balance equations.
The optimisation described above yields a highly linear t y p e of constrain-
ed optimisation problem with some simple non-linearities. This problem is
readily transformable into a Linear Programming problem. In order to
illustrate the optimisation a circuit of three banks of cells was chosen (the
number of cells per bank is also an optimisation variable!) and the optimal
circuit connections together with the enhancement factors computed. The
 85

objective function was simple in that only one mineral species recovery was
maximised subject to external, system and mass balance constraints. The
optimisation was performed using different sets of constraints and bounds.
Once this was done, the residence times and circuit flows were computed
using a simulation procedure used to c o m p u t e the residence times in large-
scale circuits (Green, 1981).

SYSTEM EQUATIONS FOR A FLOTATION NETWORK

The mass balance equations for a flotation network form an integral part
of the constraints. A mass balance for an arbitrary n-cell flotation network
results in the matrix equation (King, 1973; Woodburn et al., 1976):
Gkmk =--uk (1)
where k refers to some mineral species belonging to a set of species Ps. m k is
the vector of tailings mass flow rates from the various cells or banks (a bank
of cells may be treated as a single entity -- hence also a "cell"). The elements
of m k are m k j where k refers to the mineral species and j refers to the cell in
the circuit, uk is the vector of fresh feed mass flow rates to the circuit. There
may be feeds to various points in the circuit -- hence uk will have elements
ukj where cell j will be a feed point. Gk is the connection matrix for the cir-
cuit containing both structural (connection) parameters and the enhance-
ment factors. Gk is an (n × n) matrix with non-linear elements o f the form
a k. = tij + c i j g k j for all i ¢ j and a i i = - ( 1 + g k i ) for all i.
The parameters tiy and ciy are the structural parameters, tiy is the mass
fraction of tailings fed from cell j to i. cij is the mass fraction o f concentrate
fed from cell j to i. gky is the enhancement factor for species k at allj. It is
assumed that no recycle exists around individual cells, hence:
c i i = t i i = 0, f o r all i
Each cell may be a recovery or loss point in the circuit. The overall recovery
is defined by:
n

I~k = Y, ~ c j m k j g k j f o r species k (2)

j=l

where
n

~cj = l - - ~ cij
i=l

A vector of concentrate vents may be defined:

~c = (~c I .... , ~c.) (3)
Also losses are defined by:
86

n
~k = Z fJwjmkj (4)
j=l
where
n
~Tj= I - - Z tij (5)
i=l

A v e c t o r o f tailings vents m a y be d e f i n e d F o r a feasible

/~W = (~Wl . . . . , /~Wn)"
circuit ~3T/> 0 for at least o n e j and/3c1 > 0 f o r at least o n e j .
T h e use o f the t e r m i n o l o g y above and t h e setting u p and solving o f t h e
mass balance e q u a t i o n s m a y be illustrated b y considering a simple scavenger
circuit consisting o f two cells.
Ukl I ~ rnkl mk 2

gklmk~ gklrnkl
i
Assume t h a t t h e r e are t w o classes o f material e.g. copper-rich and nickel-
rich material. Assume t h a t the fresh feed rates t o cell 1 is 100 u n i t s / m i n u t e
f o r each mineral.
F o r the circuit above t12 = 0, t21 = 1, c12 = 1, c n = 0:
•". 13c = (1, 0) and f3T = (0, 1)
if gcu,l = gcu,2 = 0.5 and gNi, l = gNi,2 = 1.
T h e mass balance e q u a t i o n s are Gkmh = --uh, w h e r e k refers t o c o p p e r
and t h e n nickel:

• k: o.1cut:_i:
1 -1. cu,j
-2
and
1 -2
Solving these t w o e l e m e n t a r y m a t r i x e q u a t i o n s gives:
mcu,1 = 5 7 . 1 4 u n i t s / m i n u t e
mcu,2 = 85.71 u n i t s / m i n u t e
mNi,l = 66.6 u n i t s / m i n u t e
msi,2 = 33.3 u n i t s / m i n u t e
 87

The recovery of copper is:

Pcu = 1.(42.86) = 42.86 units/minute
Copper losses are:
~cu = 1.(57.14) = 57.14 units/minute
The recovery of nickel is:
PNi = 1(66.6) = 66.6 units/minute
Nickel losses are:
PNi = 1(33.3) = 33.3 units/minute

THE OPTIMISATION PROBLEM

The difficult part of any plant optimisation is the setting of realistic goals
or objectives.
The objective in this paper is to primarily investigate the effect that
structural parameters and enhancement factors have on the optimum. The
question that is posed is whether a unique set of interconnections and en-
hancement factors exist which will maximise the recovery of a given set of
valuable mineral species given a set of criteria which will constrain the sys-
tem. L
An objective function of the form J = Z w k P k will be considered subject
k=l
to three types of constraints: (a) external constraints; (b) system constraints;
and (c) mass balance constraints.

E x ternal constraints

These constraints are imposed upon the flotation plant externally and are
demands placed on the plant from outside, e.g. grade requirements, produc-
tion rate requirements, mass flow rate requirements to other sections of the
plant etc.
An upper and lower bound may be placed on the grade for each species
k, assuming L different species:

V~ < L #k < V~ (6)

~, Pr
r=l
Or an upper and lower b o u n d may be placed on separations i.e.:

X~r < 12-'-~k< X~r for species k and r (7)

Pr
88

The constraints may be extended to the case where material of different

grades or separations are to be produced in the same circuit. Thus bounds
may be placed on the grade or separation of material issuing from some of
the vent points, whereas different bounds are placed on material issuing
from the other vent points. This idea may be extended to the case where an
upper and lower bound is placed on every vent point. Thus bounds such as:

kL < Yki ~ 7rk~ (8)

7ri -
Yri
may be considered.

S y s t e m constraints

The ability of each cell to split the incoming mineral into a stream in the
concentrate and the railings depends upon a large number of process vari-
ables which will define an enhancement factor for each mineral as discussed
in the introduction. These enhancement factors will be bounded above and
below depending on the range of operating variables available at each cell.
This implies an upper and lower bound for the enhancement factors.
The construction or choice of such bounds can be achieved in two ways:

The use o f a kinetic m o d e l

This can be illustrated by use of a very simple model where the enhance-
m e n t factor for a bank of cells may be related to the number of cells in the
bank N i , the bank pulp retention time ry and a flotation rate constant K k j
for species k. The relationship (Arbiter and Harris, 1962) is:
gkj = (1 + K k j T])Ny -- 1
Upper and lower bounds may be placed on the number of cells per bank Ny.
These bounds may be decided by design or capital lost considerations.
Bounds m a y also be placed on the residence times by bounding the volumet-
ric flow through the bank and the total bank volume. Bounds usually exist
on the rate constant K k due to a limited range of operation of process vari-
ables.
The following very elementary example illustrates the m e t h o d of deter-
mining the bounds:
Assume that the number of cells in a bank j can vary between 2 and 10.
There are two minerals A and B with rate constants KA = 0.30 min -1 and
KB = 0.02 min -~. Retention times per cell can vary between 0.5 and 2.5 min.
Bounds on the enhancement factors can then be calculated easily from the
equation above:
.'. 0.3225 ~< g~. < 268.39 and 0.0201 < gBj <~ 0.6288
 89

The use o f pilot plant or full-scale plant data

Pilot or full-scale plant data may be used to generate realistic bounds for
enhancement factors. Levin and Engelbrecht (1975) e.g. generated consider-
able full-scale flotation plant data for a phosphate flotation plant.
The enhancement factors for apatite in the rougher, scavenger and
cleaner banks were calculated and it was found that the enhancement
factors varied between 0.681 for the cleaner bank and 3.32 for the scavenger
bank. The enhancement factor for the rougher bank was 1.62. Hence for a
3-bank phosphate flotation circuit:
0.60 ~< gP~o~,j ~< 3.5
for all banks j.
In general then:
gLkj • gkj <~g~j (9)
for each species k ~ Ps and for each cell j belonging to a set of cell numbers ns.
The mass flows of each species from a cell must also be bounded above
and below due to both physical limitation and due to the influence of the
operating variables. This may also be illustrated.
For reasons of overloading of bubbles and loss of flotation selectivity, the
pulp density dp (% of mass of solid in slurry) must not exceed a certain val-
ue d~ in the cells.
Hence individual species mass flow rates are bounded above by:

l 1
where d is solid density, d ~ o is water density, V/is cell volume and ri is cell
retention time. An upper bound on cell volume and a lower bound on r] will
ensure an upper bound on mkj. For physical reasons, a lower bound must
exist on mkj. This may be arbitrarily chosen to be a very small number.
Hence:
m~j<~ m k j ~ m~j f o r k E P s , j E ns (10)
If loss streams from a circuit are to be processed, bounds on mass flow
rates, enhancement factors and vent fractions flwj and ~ci ensure the existence
of upper and lower bounds in production rates Pk and losses ~h.

Mass balance constraints

These constraints are defined by eq. 1:
Gkm k =--u k
Also multiplying eqs. 3 and 5 by mkj yields:
n

tijmkj + ~Wjmk] = mk] (12)

i=l
9o

and
/2
Z c i j Y k j + fJcjYkj = Y k j (13)
i=1

OPTIMISATION BY MEANS OF LINEAR PROGRAMMING

The optimisation problem defined by eqs. 6--13 may be solved by means

of linear programming by making a number of transformations. Let:
t i j m k j = ff.zk.; c i j Y k j = ~k.; [3cjYkj = a k j ; [3Tjmkj = ~kj;
n n
Z t i j m k j = Uki; ~ c i j Y k j = ~Cki
j =1 j =1
The optimisation problem becomes:
L n
Maximise: J = 2; 2; W k a k j
k=l 1=1
Subject to:
n
(1) ~ ~kj__> fi~; k=1,2 .... , L
j=l
L L
(2) G~ Z # r < = p k ~ = G ~ Z t~r; k, r e P s
r=l r=l
Or:

(3) X~r~r <=~ k <= XkrlJr,

u . k, r E Ps
and/or
(4) 7 rk L Yri ~- Y k i ~- 7kriUyri; k, rC Ps, iE ns
(5) mkjg~j ~ Y k j ~- m k / g g j ; kE Ps, j E ns
(6) m'~j < "~kj < m~j
(7) -Uki + X k i + Uki = m k i + Y k i ; k E Ps, i E n s
n
(8) z ~ . = ~ h ~
j=1

(9) Y ij = x k i
j=l
n k
(10) Z mii + ~kj = m k i ; k E Ps, j E n s
i=1
 91

n
(11) Y~ ~ . + c~kj = Ykj; k ~ Ps, J E ns
i=l
i~j
(12) ~ k . m r j = K~rimki; k, r ~ Ps, i, j E /2 s

(13) YijYrj
-k -r
= Yiffrj, . k, r E Ps, i, j E ns
The last two constraints are essential from a physical viewpoint. This is
shown in Appendix 1. As the problem stands it may be solved by standard
non-linear programming methods (Himmelblau, 1976). The problem may
however be readily converted to a linear programming problem (Green,
1983). For the optimisation of one mineral species k ~ Ps only, however,
constraints 12 and 13 become redundant and the optimisation becomes a
simple matter using conventional Linear Programme methods.

EXAMPLE

Consider the following problem:

Feed to an arbitrary flotation circuit comprising 3 banks, consists of a mix-
ture of chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite together with a siliceous
gangue. The mineral flows to the circuit consist of 3.279 kg/min copper and
1.720 kg/min nickel together with 1314 kg/min gangue. Assume that at least
1% of the nickel feed is required in the tailings stream for further processing.
(This last bound ~L i can be chosen to be arbitrarily small.) The inspection of
mass balance data for a similar operating plant (Cramer, 1975) shows that
for nickel, the enhancement factors lie between 0.5 and 3.5 for effective
operation. (Obviously these last bounds depend upon a detailed knowledge
of the particular flotation process.)
Under these constraints, for k = 3, i.e. for nickel:
8
Maximise: J = E a3j
j=l

Subject to:
a
(1) Pk >= 0.0172 i.e. ~ ~kj = 0.0172
j=l

(5) 0 . 5 m k j <= Y k j <= 3 . 5 m h j f o r j = 1, 2 and 3

(6) 0.086 <:=m h j <= 2.58 f o r j = 1, 2 and 3
(7) uhi + x k i + uki = rnki + Yki; i = 1, 2 and 3, where ukl = 1.72, uk2 = 0,
Uk3 = 0

n
(8) ~ r-nkk j = -U k i
j=l
92

n
-k
(9) Z Y i j = x k i
j=l

n _k
(I0) 2~ mij+~kj=rnkj; j=l,2and3
i=l

(11) Z - k + °~kJ = Ykj;

3 Yij J = 1, 2 and 3
i=l
This problem was solved by means of a standard Linear Programming pack-
age. The resultant maximum for J was:
J = 1.7028 kg/minute
i.e./~Ni -- 1.7028 kg/minute
The o p t i m u m circuit is given in Fig. 1.

1
Fig. 1. O p t i m u m circuit.

The vector of tailing flow rates is:

m3 = (0.516; 0.516; 0.516)
The vector of concentrate flows is:
Y3 = (1.204; 0.258; 0.258)
The production rates at the concentrate vent points are:
~31 = 1.204; ~32 = 0.2408; ~33 = 0.2580
The loss from the circuit is:
~33 = 0.0172
The inflow variables are:
u31 = 0; u32 = 0.774; u33-- 0.757; x31 = 0; x32 = 0; x33 = 0.0172
The optimisation was repeated for different bounds ~L and rn~.. Three dif-
ferent bounds for ~L were considered viz. 1, 20 and 40% of the inlet nickel
 93

feed stream. At each bound for ~L, three different bounds m3~ L
were con-
sidered viz. 5, 30 and 60% of the inlet nickel feed stream.
The resulting optimum circuits are shown below. The o p t i m u m values are
given as a % of inlet nickel feed.

Circuit 1

P2 =1%; m =5%; u2 =99%

Circuit 2

~L = 1%; rnLj = 30%; g2 = 99%

I
- -
 I

,/

%09 = ~ '.%0~ = .~u~ '.%Og = ~_~

~1.noa!D

o~o ~ = ~,~ ,.o~ = ~,~ :o~o ~ = ~

% 6 6 = ~rt '.%09 = ~u~ '.%I = ~r/

~'6
 95

Circuit 6

~L = 40%; m S=5%; P2=60%

Circuit 7
--L
P2 = 20%; mLj = 60%; P2 = 80%

Circuit 8

P2 = 4 0 % ; m =30%; ~2 = 6 0 %
96

Circuit 9

~ = 40%; mLj = 60%; P2 = 6 0 %

-1

The matrices of connections:

C = (Cij)i, m e n s and T = (tij)i, j e n s
for the 9 optimal circuits are given below together with vectors/3c, fT and g3.

Circuit 1

C =
o
0 ; T=
L 95
o o;
0 1
0.08 1 0

~c = (1; 0.92; 1); ~T = ( 0 . 0 5 ; 0 ; 0 ) ; g3 = (3.5; 3.5; 0.5)

Circuit 2

o o
C = 0 ;T = 53 0
0.07 L0_.46 +1

/~c = (1; 0.93; 1); fit = (0; 0; 0.03); g3 = (2.33; 0.5; 0.5)

Circuit 3

0
C = 0 ;T = 0 0.98
Ki °
0.03 °
1 0
1
~c = ( 1 ; 0 . 9 7 ; 1); ~T = (0; 0; 0.02); g3 = (0.67; 0.5; 0.5)
 97

Circuit 4

C= 0 + .1 ;T= .1
o o]
0 +1
+1 +1 0

~c = (1; 0; 0.99); /~T = (0.9; 0; 0); g3 = (3.5; 0.5; 0.5)

Circuit 5

°
C =

Li ° +0.6
0

oJ
+1 ;T = 0
+1
+ .

~c = (1; 0 . 4 ; 0 ) ; ~T ----(0; 0; 0.67); g3 = (2.33; 0.83; 0.50)

Circuit 6

0 0 0
C = 0 ;T = 0 + .
+0.67 +1

~c = (1; 0.33; 1); i~T = (0; 0; 0.33}; g3 = (0.67; 0.5; 0.5)

Circuit 7

C =
0
0
o
0 0 ;T =
0
+0.06
0
0
0
+1
+0.04

~c = ( 0 . 9 6 ; 1; 1);
0

~T = (0.94; 0; 0);
0

g3 = (1.35; 0.5; 0.5)

+1
1
0

Circuit 8

C =
io +0.25
o
0 ;T =
o ;
0 +
+0.25 0 +1

~c=(0.5;1;1); /3T = (1; 0; 0); g3=(0.5;0.5;0.5)

98

Circuit 9

0 0 0 0
0 +1 ; T = 0 +~.
0 0 +1

~c = (1; 1; 0); ~T = (0; 0; 0.67); g3 = (0.67; 0.83; 0.5)

DETERMINATION OF FLOTATION VARIABLES USING A FLOTATION MODEL

Once an optimal set of enhancement factors has been found, flotation

variables may be computed using a flotation model.
For this purpose a distributed parameter flotation model has been used
which utilises the argument of the Gamma integral:
b
~(k) = k a-l e - b k
r(a)
to describe the distribution of flotation rate constants for a given mineral
species defined by parameters a and b. This form of the Gamma integral has
also been used by Woodburn and Loveday {1965), Loveday (1966), Inoue
and Imaizuni ( 1965 ) and Cramer ( 1975 ) and m ore recently b y Green ( 1981 ).
The parameters for the study, a and b, were predicted using the results of
batch flotation tests (Cramer, 1975; Woodburn et al., 1976). This was done
for the three mineral species copper, nickel and gangue material.
The network simulation programme (Green, 1981} was used to compute
the retention times. The programme uses a Modified Newton-Raphson-
Steepest Descent type m e t h o d for the iterative retention time calculations
and a Gauss-Laguerre Quadrature Method for integrating the mass balance
equations. The simulation programme can also deal with large flotation net-
works using Sparse-Matrix Inversion Routine Methods (Woodburn et al.,
1976).

RESULTS OF THE CALCULATIONPROCEDURE

The calculation procedure in 5.0 was applied to Circuit 2 where:

0 0 0 0 0 0
C=
E 0
+0.07
andg3 = (2.33; 0.5; 0.5)
100 I-
;T = +0.53
[+0.46
0
+1
+ .

The feed matrix u to the circuit is shown in Table I.

 99

TABLE I

Feed to the circuit

Bank Gangue Cu Ni

Bank 1 0.13146 + 004 0.328 + 001 0.172 + 001

Bank 2 0.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000
Bank 3 0.0000000 0.0000000 0.0000000

The programme computes the residence times r and then the concen-
trate flow rates, tailing f l o w rates, t o t a l p r o d u c t i o n and t o t a l losses given
t h e m a t r i c e s a n d v e c t o r s C, T, u, t h e c e l l v o l u m e v e c t o r V, p u l p d e n s i t i e s
and parameters a and b for each species. One vector of enhancement factors,
g3 is g i v e n ; t h e r e s t is b e i n g c o m p u t e d .
T h e c o m p u t e d c o n c e n t r a t e s a n d t a i l i n g s f l o w r a t e s ar e g i v e n in T a b l e s
II a n d III. T h e m a t r i x o f e n h a n c e m e n t f a c t o r s is g i v e n in T a b l e I V .

TABLE II

Concentrate flow rates

Bank Gangue Cu Ni

Bank 1 0.3576 + 003 0.327 + 001 0.118 + 001

Bank 2 0.4923 + 003 0.288 - 002 0.286 + 000
Bank 3 0.4644 + 003 0.269 - 002 0.269 + 000

TABLE III

Tailings flow rates

Bank Gangue Cu Ni

Bank 1 0.9569 + 003 0.54 - 002 0.54 + 000

Bank 2 0.5856 + 004 0.16 - 004 0.49 + 000
Bank 3 0.5865 + 004 0.15 - 004 0.49 + 000

TABLE IV

Enhancement factors

Bank Gangue Cu Ni

Bank 1 0.37 + 0 0 0 0.6017+003 0.215+ 001

Bank 2 0.840 - 001 0.1793 + 003 0.583 + 000
Bank 3 0.791 - 001 0.1689 + 003 0.549 + 000
100

TABLE V

F l o t a t i o n variables

Bank Cell vol. (Litres) Res. t i m e (Minutes) Pulp dens. ( k g / m 3)

Bank 1 0.24 + 004 0.54 + 001 0.217 + 001

Bank 2 0.24 + 004 0.24 + 001 0.595 + 001
Bank 3 0.24 ÷ 004 0.23 + 001 0.562 + 001

The c o m p u t e d flotation variables are given in Table V.

The total losses are:
~1=33.03; ~2=5.44× 10-5; ~3=7.4× 10 -3
The total recoveries are:
Pl = 1281.6; P2 = 3.28; P3 = 1.71

SUMMARY

{1) The optimisation of a flotation network using structural parameters

{connections between cells or banks) and b o u n d e d enhancement factors
and various external, system and mass balance constraints has been achiev-
ed using Linear Programming methods.
(2) Plant data have been used to generate the important bounds for en-
hancement factors.
(3) A flotation model has been used to determine flotation variables.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Circuit arrangement is an important design variable and varies ex-

tensively depending upon the type of objective function, constraints and
enhancement factor bounds and flow b o u n d requirements.
(2) Linear programming is an effective optimisation tool and provides
the optimal answers to the problem rapidly. Linear programming may be
extended to much larger circuits and hence becomes a powerful optimis-
ing procedure.
(3) Flotation models may be used to c o m p u t e flotation variables for
circuits. The Gamma model approach e.g. gives good results and remains
a fairly reliable method.

RECOMMENDATIONS

{1) The optimisation can be extended to include grade and/or separa-

tion criteria. (This has been accomplished recently, Green et al., 1983.)
 101

(2) Effective ways need to be sought for generating bounds for enhance-
ment factors. This may possibly be achieved by a study o f existing flotation
models or b y experimental means using either batch flotation cells or a single
continuously operating cell (possibly within a pilot plant or commercial
plant).

APPENDIX 1

At the optimum:
tijrnkj = m~. and tijmr] = ~rj
tij is the mass fraction of material recycled from cell j to i and must be the
-k, -r ,
same in m 6 s definition as mij s definition for physical consistency.
t~.k. -'r
• . tij = z.___L= mij.
mkj mrj
• ~-tk.rrtrj : m k j m rj

The same applies to concentrate flows.

NOMENCLATURE

ti] + c i j g k j
cii Mass fraction of concentrate fed from cell j to cell i
gkj Enhancement factor; Ykj/mhy
gk Enhancement factor vector (gkj)je ns
g Enhancement factor matrix (gkj)kePs j~ns
Lower bound to gkj
Upper b o u n d to gki
k Element of species set Ps
L Number of classes of material, i.e. elements of Ps
mkj Tailings mass flow for species k from cell j
mk Vector of tailings mass flow r a t e s ( m k j ) j ~ ns
Matrix of tailings mass flow rates (mkj)keps;jen~
tijmkj
Number of cells in a circuit
ns The set of cell numbers
n' Number of concentrate vent points
n It
Number of tailings vent points
I
ns {i: ~ci/> 0}
{i: /3zi~>0}
t6 Mass fraction of tailings fed from cell j to cell i
Ukj A m o u n t of species k feed fed to cellj
Uk Fresh feed mass flow rate vector (Ukj)j e ns
U Fresh feed mass flow rate matrix (U~cj)keps;j e ns
102

Ykj Concentrate mass flow for class k, from cell j

Yk Vector of concentrate mass flow rates ( Y k j ) j E n s
-b
Y~j cijYky
wk Objective function cost coefficient
w Vector of cost coefficients (wk)ke Ps
Gk ( a k ) i,je n s
C (Cij)i,jen s
L
Gk Uk/ Z #r, grade
r=l
Grade lower bound
Grade upper bound
J Objective function
T ( tij)i,y~ns
vi Pulp volume for cell i
V Pulp volume vector ( Vi)i~ ns
o~ky Production of species k at vent point j
Loss of species k at vent point l
~cj Vent fraction for concentrate from cell j
~Tj Vent fraction for tailings from cell j
[3C (~'c./)/e/2,
~T (f~Tj )J e "s
~krz Y k l / Y r l : Separation (concentrate)
mkl/rnrt: Separation (tailings)
Upper bound to 7rk/: 7rkl <_-7rk/U
~L Lower b o u n d to >__
I" Gamma function
n'
~k Total concentrate production Z [3cjYky for class k
jr1
/2'
Pk Total tailings losses Z {JTymky for class k
jr1
L
Pk Lower bound for Pk
Upper bound for ~k
Pi Pulp density at cell i
P Pulp density vector (Pi)i~ n s
rj Residence, holding times: p i Vi/mi
T Residence time vector (rj)ye n~
k
Xr Total separation: #k/#r
Total separation: ~k/~r
L
Xkr Lower bound to ×k
Upper bound to ×rk
( a~. )i,j~ ns Square matrix
( g k j ) k ~ Ps; i~ n s Non-square matrix
 103

E An element of a set; belonging to

>
Greater than or equal to
Less than or equal to

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