Investigation of Polymeric Reagents for KCI Collection Furing Potash Flotation
Potash is an integral component of agricultural fertilizers, and remains in high demand throughout the world. Presently, the majority of potash refinement is achieved via froth flotation, which is typically facilitated by tallow amine collectors. Recent developments in mineral extraction have begun to incorporate polymeric reagents within the refinement process. However to date, the use of polymers has yet to be evaluated for potash flotation. In this research, the selectivity for KCl of four dimethylamine-epichlorohydrin and six polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (polyDADMAC) polymers were examined to investigate the feasibility to be used as collectors during potash flotation. It was found that the polyDADMAC polymer, C-592, exhibited a relatively high selectivity for KCl in comparison to the conventional tallow amine collector, with the concentrate grades of 86% and 89%, respectively. Furthermore, C-592 was also evaluated as a co-collector for potash flotation at a 1:1 ratio with a conventional tallow amine collector. At collector doses of 1.25, 0.63, 0.31, 0.16, and 0.06 g/kg, the co-collector solution resulted in KCl recoveries of 86%, 57%, 77%, 37%, and 21%, respectively. By comparison, the tallow amine collector resulted in KCl recoveries of 84%, 81%, 44%, 27%, and 20%, respectively. The co-collector solution therefore exhibited comparable KCl recoveries to those resulting from the tallow amine collector. These preliminary findings demonstrate a proof of concept for the use of polyDADMAC polymers as co-collectors for potash flotation, though further development is needed to improve their viability for industrial applications.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina