Three Flotation Separation Methods of Feldspar And Quartz

The effective separation of feldspar and quartz has always been a major difficulty in the mineral processing industry. In the production process, flotation is often used for the separation of feldspar and quartz. According to the different pulp media, there are three main methods for flotation separation of feldspar and quartz, namely alkaline flotation, acid flotation, and neutral flotation.

1. Alkaline flotation

Separation of quartz and feldspar in alkaline pulp with a pH value of 11-12, alkaline earth metal ions as active agent and alkyl sulfonate as a collector, reverse flotation preferentially floats quartz. At the same time, adding a suitable non-ionic surfactant can significantly increase the recovery rate of quartz. Under alkaline conditions, the neutral complex formed by the metal ion and the alkyl sulfonate plays a key role. These neutral complexes and free sulfonate ions are combined together to be adsorbed on the surface of the quartz, and under high alkali conditions, a hydrated layer is formed on the surface of feldspar.

2. Acid flotation

The acid flotation method is to preferentially flotation feldspar using an anion and cation mixed collector at a pH of 2-3 acid slurry. According to the different chemicals used, the method can be divided into fluorine flotation and non-fluoride flotation.

Fluorine flotation

With strong acidity and fluoride ion participation inactivation, cation collectors have been used to preferentially flotation feldspar. The key to achieving flotation selectivity is to adjust the pH value of the slurry solution.

Non-fluorine flotation

Under strong acid conditions, mixed-use of anionic collector dodecyl sulfonate and diamine cationic collector. The anionic collector is then complexed with the diamine collector adsorbed on the surface of the feldspar to form a co-adsorption, which improves the hydrophobicity of the surface of the feldspar.

3. Neutral flotation

In a neutral medium, both feldspar and quartz are negatively charged. In the neutral medium, the key to the separation of feldspar and quartz is to choose a suitable and effective inhibitor, which can desorb the oleate ion adsorbed on the quartz surface and prevent the adsorption of amine cation collectors on the quartz surface.

The above are the reasons why feldspar and quartz are difficult to select and the common flotation methods. In actual production practice, quartz and feldspar have similar physical properties, chemical composition, and structure. It is recommended to conduct the beneficiation test first, select the technological process and supporting equipment scientifically and reasonably according to the test results, and strictly follow the technical parameters to achieve the ideal beneficiation benefit.