See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/266524368

A comparison of flotation froth stability measurements and their use in the

prediction of concentrate grade

Article · January 2006

CITATIONS READS

14 1,482

6 authors, including:

Sameer Harish Morar Dee Bradshaw

Mount Isa Mines The University of Queensland
9 PUBLICATIONS   260 CITATIONS    182 PUBLICATIONS   3,774 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Brett Triffett
OZ Minerals
9 PUBLICATIONS   138 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

“Designer Tailing” Research Project, Improving the Management of Tailings through Collaborative Research View project

Regrinding Chemistry and Particle Breakage Mechanism in Increased Surface Hydrophobicity on Fine and Ultra- Fine Particles in Mineral Flotation (Sponsored by
Australian Research Council and Newcrest Mining Limited) View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sameer Harish Morar on 14 January 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

A comparison of flotation froth stability measurements and their use in the
prediction of concentrate grade

S. H. Morar, D. P. Hatfield
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

N. Barbian
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

D. J. Bradshaw
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

J. J. Cilliers
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

B. Triffett
Rio Tinto Technology, Melbourne, Australia

ABSTRACT: Froth stability is a qualitative concept and is known to play an important role in flotation
performance. Higher froth stability improves recovery at the expense of grade, and lower froth stability
improves selectivity. Recently various techniques have been developed to measure froth stability on an
industrial scale. This paper compares three independent measures of froth stability, where two are froth
surface descriptor outputs from a machine vision system, SmartFroth™ and one is a froth property, related to
the air recovery and is obtained from froth surface descriptors and measured values. The froth surface
descriptor stability measures are then evaluated for use in an empirical grade prediction model. This
investigation was performed on a set of test work where air, frother dosage and froth depth were varied at
Northparkes Copper Mine, NSW, Australia.

1 INTRODUCTION quantitative measurements of these parameters using

Froth stability is known to play an important role in
determining the mineral flotation performance and is
qualitatively assessed and measured in a number of
ways.
Typically, the stability of flotation froths is a
trade-off between recovery and selectivity. A stable
froth will have a high recovery, whilst an unstable
froth will be selective. Additionally, flotation froths
should, from the point of view of handling, remain
stable within the flotation cell, so as to support and
transport the collected solids, and then break down
once collected in the flotation cell’s launder. The
stability of the froth phase plays an important role in
flotation performance by providing a further degree
of separation between the floatable and non-
floatable, or entrained, materials in the froth (Harris,
1982). Barbian et al. (2005) have shown that on this
system, higher froth stability conditions, which
occur at a lower air flow rate, have resulted in
improved flotation performance.
Typically, operating conditions are manipulated
based on a visual assessment of the froth surface.
This assessment is made using qualitative visual
parameters such as froth colour, bubble size, surface
bursting rate and froth velocity. Recently,
developments have been made in providing
a machine vision, SmartFroth™ (Sweet et al., 2000,
de Jager et al., 2003, Hatfield, 2006).
This paper sets out to compare two froth surface
descriptors that indicate stability to a physical froth
property on an industrial scale. Recent research has
shown the usefulness of these stability measures for
the estimation of the froth stability in the context of
industrial flotation cells.
1.1 Froth stability
Froth stability can be defined as a measure of the
lifetime of a froth, or the persistence of the froth
(Subrahmanyam and Forssberg, 1987). Harris (1982)
defined two types of froth, the first being unstable,
and the second being ‘metastable’ or persistent
froths.
Unstable froths continuously break down due to
liquid drainage from between the bubbles, while
‘metastable’ froths are more persistent, and have a
longer lifetime in the absence of disturbances.
The froth phase can be characterised by the froth
bulk, and the froth surface. The froth surface
stability is related to the bursting of the bubbles and
thus loss of air into the atmosphere.
 The stability of the froth bulk is reflected by the
bubble size on the froth surface. Higher coalescence
rates within the froth bed will result in larger
bubbles on the froth surface. As bubbles get larger,
the surface area available for attached particles
decreases, thus increasing the solids concentration
per unit area on the bubble lamella or decreasing the
loading capacity of the froth reduces froth stability .
1.2 Factors affecting stability
It has been established and is widely accepted that
many factors lead to froth instability. Solution
chemistry and the nature and concentration of
attached particles on the froth are expected to be the
dominant factors in this system.
1.2.1 Solution chemistry
The solution chemistry is a major factor of froth
stability. Bubbles in pure water are inherently
unstable. The presence of surfactant, or frother,
changes the surface chemistry at the air / water
interface by decreasing the surface tension at this
interface.
The major factor that affects the solution
chemistry is the nature and concentration of the
surfactant (Sweet et al., 1997).
1.2.2 Particle effects
Particle effects on froth stability are well known, but
not well understood. The main particle properties
that govern the particle effect on froth stability are
particle hydrophobicity, state of aggregation, bubble
loading, particle size and shape.
Johannsen and Pugh, (1992) and Schwartz and
Grano, (2002) have shown that increasing particle
hydrophobicity increases the stabilising effect of
particles up to a ‘critical’ hydrophobicity, where
highly hydrophobic particles start to destabilise the
froth.
The bubble loading effect has been attributed to
an in increase in the viscosity of the bubble film
(Subrahmanyam and Forssberg, 1988, Hatfield,
2006), and to the formation of a tightly bound
hydrophobic particle layer, which retards drainage.
Despite the work conducted in this field to date,
many aspects of the effect of particles on the froth
stability, including the magnitude of this effect, are
not yet well understood.
1.3 Relating stability to grade
The concentrate is made up of two solid
components; the attached solids due to true flotation,
and the transported solids in an entrained fraction.
The recovery of entrained material has been
shown to be proportional to the recovery of water
(Engelbrecht and Woodburn, 1975).
Stable froth, due to an increased bubble film
viscosity, and reduced coalescence is expected to
entrain more water than unstable froth. Thus, it is
expected that stable froth carries an increased
amount of entrained material.
Reducing water recovery reduces the gangue
recovery due to entrainment and thus increases
grade.
1.4 Stability measurement
Bikerman (1953) proposed a method of measuring
froth stability, defined as the ratio of foam volume to
gas flowrate (∑). It is performed by observing the
rate of froth breakdown from an equilibrium height
in a sparged column.
The dynamic foam stability is expressed as:
Vf H ⋅A
Σ= = max
Qa Qa
where Vf is the foam volume at equilibrium, Qa is
the gas flow rate to the column, Hmax is the froth
height at equilibrium and A is the column’s cross
sectional area.
1.4.1 Air recovery
Froth stability can be indicated by the fraction of air
recovered to the weir as unbroken bubbles.
The fraction of air that overflows the weir as
unbroken bubbles (α) can be estimated (Ventura-
Medina, Barbian and Cilliers, 2003) as:
V v f ⋅ hlip ⋅ w
α= =
Qa Qa
where V is the volume of overflowing froth, Qa is
the air feed to the flotation cell, vf is the velocity of
the top surface of the froth, hlip is the height of froth
overflowing at the weir and w is the width of the
weir.
Typically, α is determined by obtaining vf using a
machine vision estimate of the froth velocity,
measuring hlip on the launder and obtaining Qa,
which is a manipulated parameter into each flotation
cell. The width of the launder, w, is constant for each
flotation cell.
Air recovery is a key component used in the
modelling of froths and foams (Neethling et al.,
2003). The most notable use of the air recovery
parameter is in the recovery of liquid, which has
been reported to work well within the laboratory,
however, large errors were observed on an industrial
scale. The errors were largely attributed to the
bubble size measurement.
1.4.2 Cross correlation peak
Cross correlation is a well known image processing
technique that compares two consecutive images to
find the relative alignment that maximises their
correlation with each other.
The algorithm, as described in de Jager et al,
(2004) produces a normalised height map, where the
location of the maximum value shows the image
displacement needed to maximise the image
correlation. The normalised peak is the cross
correlation peak measurement. Since this
measurement is a measure of how similar two
images are, it is hypothesised that, when applied to
froth flotation, it can be used as an indicator of froth
stability. The resultant value is valid between zero
and one, where one would represent no changes in
the image, and thus, as applied here, a stable froth.
It is expected that this measurement is more
sensitive to changes in bubble arrangement and
shape, than bubble bursting on the froth surface.
1.4.3 Burst fraction
The burst fraction measurement is based on a
velocity corrected image subtraction as described in
(de Jager et al, 2004) to reveal an image which
shows the difference between the two consecutive
images.
The pixel values within this image, when
normalised, are the basis for a second stability
measurement, when applied to froth flotation.
It is expected that this measurement is most
sensitive to bubble bursting events on the surface of
the froth rather than the movement of bubbles
relative to each other, or differences in bubble
arrangement and shape, as steps are taken to
minimise the measurement of these effects in the
algorithm.
2 EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM
A plant campaign was carried out in the rougher
cells of the flotation circuit at Northparkes Mine,
New South Wales, Australia. The ore processed in
Northparkes is a copper sulphide ore, mainly
consisting of bornite (Cu5FeS4) and chalcopyrite
(CuFeS2). The rougher cells are rectangular (2.66 x
3.34 m long).
The feed conditions were kept constant through all
the experiments. The feed was maintained at a 750
m3/hr flowrate with a solids content of 33% by mass.
The head copper grade was about 0.5% by mass.
Composite samples were taken of the feed to the
bank, concentrate from each cell and tails in the
downstream cell over a period of 90 minutes for
each experiment. Additionally, samples containing
the solids on the bubble lamella on the froth surface
were taken using glass slides. The samples were
filtered and dried, then analysed for solids, copper,
sulphur and silica content.
Image data of the froth was captured on each cell
in the bank over a 20 minute period for off-line
processing using digital video cameras, illuminated
by 500 watt halogen lights, mounted to observe the
froth before it overflowed into the launder. The
image data was processed using SmartFroth (Sweet
et al., 2000, de Jager et al., 2003, de Jager et al.,
2004).
The variables manipulated during the study were
air flowrate Q, froth depth h and frother dosage C.
Within each condition, air flowrate was varied
between 1070 and 1270 m3/hr. Frother dosage in the
high frother condition was increased from 100 to
135 ml/min and the froth height in the low froth
height condition was decreased from 200 to 155
mm.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows the variables manipulated in the
experimental work, with the metallurgical results.
3.1 Stability measurement comparison
It should be noted that ‘cross correlation peak and
‘burst fraction’ measurements are froth surface
descriptors, and are properties of a set of froth
images, used to indicate physical behaviour.
The results shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2
compare the stability measures of these two froth
surface descriptors with ‘air recovery’. These
measurements were taken at a variety of operating
conditions, for all the cells down the rougher bank.
The results suggest a trend relating the froth surface
descriptor stability measures to the calculated air
recovery over the launder.
The cross correlation peak measure shows a non-
linear relationship with air recovery with an R2 value
of 0.682.
The burst fraction measure shows various linear
relationships with air recovery at different operating
conditions, which suggests that burst fraction is
dependent on operating condition. This implies that
air recovery can be predicted when treated as a
function of burst fraction, froth depth and frother
dosage.
The overall R2 value is 0.594, and thus cross
correlation peak shows a better relationship with air
recovery.
The surface bubble size distribution can also be
used as an indicator for bulk froth stability, due to
the resulting froth surface bubble size being a factor
of the number of coalescence events that occur
below the froth surface. It is a good indicator when
the bubble size distribution is uniform; however,
deviations may occur over wide bubble size
distributions due to inaccurate measurement of
smaller bubble sizes, as reported by Neethling et al.
(2003).
The cross correlation peak measurement,
however, does not show a linear correlation with air
recovery. This may be due to a non-linearity
between surface burst rate and bulk froth stability.
The non-linear relationship between the air
recovery and the cross correlation peak shows that,
at low froth stabilities, the bulk froth stability is
proportional to the surface burst rate, however at
more stable surface conditions, the rate of increase
of bulk froth stability is less than the change of froth
surface stability.

Table 1. Values for the operational variables and performance indicators for rougher bank
Air flowrate Froth depth Frother dosage Solids Recovery Grade Recovery
[m3/hr] [mm] [ml/min] [% feed solids] [% Cu] [% Cu]
Standard condition 1070 200 100 0.91 37.1 82.1
1170 200 100 1.08 33.5 84.6
1270 200 100 1.16 29.6 82.7
High frother 1070 200 135 0.84 38.7 63.6
1170 200 135 1.01 30.2 71.1
1270 200 135 1.33 37.9 75.1
Low froth depth 1070 155 100 0.98 35.0 77.8
1170 155 100 1.21 27.1 81.8
1270 155 100 1.31 27.2 77.5

3.2 Surface burst rate versus bulk froth stability

The burst fraction, which indicates the surface
bursting, is related to and correlates negatively with
air recovery, since the air that is not recovered
represents the loss of air due to bubbles bursting on
the froth surface.

3.3 Measuring flotation performance

Figure 1. Cross correlation peak versus air recovery
for the rougher bank at different air flowrates
Figure 2. Burst fraction versus air recovery for the
rougher bank at different air flow rates
Flotation performance can be characterised by the
grade-recovery relationship of a bank.
There are two components that make up the
concentrate. The first is the material that reports to
the concentrate by true flotation, and the second is
the material that is floated due to entrainment. Both
of these characteristics have an important bearing on
the grade of the concentrate. Being able to detect
either component effectively would be invaluable
towards optimising flotation performance.
Much research has been performed using machine
vision to analyse the froth surface to interpret the
concentrate grade to provide on-line high frequency
grade data(Hargrave and Hall, 1997, Aldrich et al,
1997, Morar et al, 2005).
Machine vision measurements have shown the
potential to detect the concentrate grade, and the
fraction of entrained material.
The burst fraction and cross correlation peak have
been related to overall grade and shown in Figures 3
and 4. The overall grade shows a large amount of
scatter at the different conditions. This scatter can be
attributed to the inclusion of the entrained material
in the concentrate grade, which is decoupled by the It can be seen from the regression statistics that
top of froth grade measurement. This implies that the cross correlation peak is significant to a greater
bulk froth stability is an important factor for the true than 99% degree of confidence, whereas the velocity
flotation component of the concentrate grade for this parameter is significant to greater than a 95% degree
system. of confidence. Figure 5 shows the predicted
Within this system, the froth velocity showed a concentrate grade against the actual concentrate
strong relationship with the fraction of entrained grade.
material in the concentrate.
Table 2: Regression statistics for grade prediction
model for the standard and low froth depth
conditions
Coefficients Std. error t Stat P-value
Intercept -68.9 20.24 -3.40 2.68E-03
Corr peak 123.2 21.53 5.72 1.11E-05
Y vel -4.6 0.73 -6.28 3.14E-06

Table 3: Regression statistics for grade prediction

model for the high frother condition
Coefficients Std. error t Stat P-value
Intercept -83.0 30.77 -2.70 2.46E-02
Corr peak 138.4 31.65 4.37 1.79E-03
Y vel -2.7 1.11 -2.46 3.61E-02
Figure 3. Air recovery versus concentrate grade

Figure 3 shows the relationship between air

recovery and concentrate grade, with an R2 value of
0.464.

Figure 5. Predicted concentrate grade versus actual

concentrate grade

The results of the regression indicate that the

Figure 4. Cross correlation peak versus concentrate
grade
The two main components that affect concentrate
grade have been shown to relate well to machine
vision measurements, and have thus been used to
predict concentrate grade through the use of a linear
regression. Table 2 and 3 show the regression
statistics obtained from this model. The standard and
low froth depth conditions were fitted by the same
model, however, the high frother condition’s
regression line showed a statistically significant
difference from the standard and low froth depth’s
model. This is possibly due to the solution chemistry
factor affecting stability, which is independent of the
solids effect.
velocity and the cross correlation peak are both
significant to the relationship, however the standard
error for the concentrate grade is ±3.5% Cu.
The error may be decreased using an automatic
updating model that accounts for normal process
variations that may arise due to ore, grinding and
operating condition variations. This model could use
an on-stream analyser’s results to re-calibrate
against periodically.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Cross correlation peak is a better stability
measurement than burst rate for the prediction of
concentrate grade.
 The results suggest that the burst rate has a linear
relationship with the volume of air recovered. This
relationship has been shown to be dependent on
frother dosage.
Within this system, froth stability has been shown
to relate to the grade of the attached solids. This is
due to highly hydrophobic chalcopyrite particle
layers stabilising the froth.
Froth stability, in combination with a
measurement of froth velocity can be used to predict
concentrate grade to within ±3.5% Cu. The
relationship between the image analysis parameters
and the concentrate grade was, however found to be
dependent on frother dosage.
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful thanks go to Rick Dunn, and the staff of
Northparks Mine. This work was supported by Rio
Tinto. Thanks go to Rio Tinto and Anglo Platinum
for their support in the research and development of
SmartFroth.
6 REFERENCES
Aldrich, C, Moolman, D W, Bunkell S J, Harris, M C,
Theron, D A, 1997. Relationship between surface
froth features and process conditions in the batch
flotation of a sulphide ore, in Minerals Engineering,
Vol 10, 11:1207-1218.
Ata, S, Ahmed, N, Jameson, G J, 2003. A study of
bubble coalescence in flotation froths, in Int. J.
Miner. Process., 72:255-266
Barbian, N, Hadler, K, Ventura-Medina, E, Cilliers, J
J, 2005. The froth stability column: linking froth
stability and flotation performance, in Minerals
Engineering, Vol 18, 317-324.
Bikerman, J J, 1953. Foams: theory and industrial
applications. Reinhold, New York
de Jager, G, Hatfield, D P, Bradshaw, D J, Francis, J J,
Morar, S H, 2004. A method and a control system
for extracting valuable minerals from mined ore,
“SmartFroth”, Adams & Adams Patent Attorneys,
Pretoria, A&A REF: v16148 (1-9), Provisional
patent lodged 24 Feb 2004.
de Jager, G, Hatfield, D P, Bradshaw, D J, Francis, J J,
Rapacz, B M, 2003. The extraction of valuable
minerals from mined ore, “SmartFroth”, Adams &
Adams Patent Attorneys, Pretoria, A&A REF:
v15597 (1-11) 2003.
Engelbrecht, J A, Woodburn, E T, 1975. The effects of
froth height, aeration rate and gas precipitation of
flotation, in Journal of the South African Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy, October 1975, pp 125-132
Johansson, G, Pugh, R J, 1992. The influence of
particle size and hydrophobicity on the stability of
View publication stats
mineralised froths, in Int. J. Minerals Processing,
Vol 34 pp 1-21
Hargrave, J M, Hall, S T, 1997. Diagnosis of
concentrate grade and mass flowrate in tin flotation
from colour and surface texture analysis, in
Minerals Engineering, Vol. 10, 6:613-621.
Harris, P J, 1982. Frothing phenomena and frothers, in
Principles of Flotation (Ed: R P King), South
African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy pp 237-
250
Hatfield, D P, Bradshaw, D J, de Jager, G, 2003. The
relationship between concentrate yield and
descriptors from a machine vision system in
platinum flotation application, in Proceedings: XXII
International Mineral Processing Congress, pp 929-
936.
Hatfield , D P, 2006. Factors affecting froth surface
descriptors and the implications for froth structure
and flotation performance, PhD Thesis, University
of Cape Town.
Honaker, R Q, Ozsever, A V, 2003. Evaluation of the
selective detachment process in flotation froth, in
Minerals Engineering, 16:975-982.
Morar, S H, Forbes, G, Heinrich, G, Bradshaw, D J,
King, D, Adair, I, Esdaile, L, 2005. The Use of a
Colour Parameter in a Machine Vision System,
SmartFroth to Evaluate Copper Flotation
Performance at Rio Tinto's Kennecott Copper
Concentrator, in The AusIMM Centenary of flotation
proceedings
Neethling, S J, Lee, H T, Cilliers, J J, 2003.Simple
relationships for predicting the recovery of liquid
from flowing foams and froths, in Minerals
Engineering, 16:1123-1130.
Schwartz, S, Grano, S, 2002. Effects of particle
hydrophobicity on particle and water transport
across a flotation froth, in proceedings of Flotation
& Flocculation from Fundamentals to application,
Hawaii.
Subrahmanyam, T V, Forssberg, E, 1987. Froth
Stability, Particle Entrainment and Drainage in
Flotation – A Review, in Int. J. Mineral Processing,
23:33-53.
Sweet, C G, Bradshaw, D J, Cilliers, J J L, Wright, B
A, de Jager, G, Francis, J J, 2000. The extraction of
valuable minerals from mined ore. “Smartfroth”
Adams & Adams Patent Attorneys Pretoria, A&A
REF:V13676 (1-11) 1999, Full Patent Oct 2000.
Sweet, C G, van Hoogstraten, J, Harris, M, Laskowski,
J S, 1997. The effects of frothers on bubble size and
frothability of aqueous solutions, in Processing of
Complex Ores – Proceedings: 2nd UBC-McGill Int.
Symposium pp 235-245.
Ventura-Medina, E, Barbian, N, Cilliers, J J, 2003.
Froth stability and flotation performance, in
Proceedings: XXII International Mineral Processing
Congress pp 937-945.