Minerals Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Mineral liberation by 3D X-ray microtomography and SEM-based image analysis in low-grade iron ores with different mineralogy and texture","authors":"Daniel Uliana,&nbsp;Carina Ulsen","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109150","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>X-ray microtomography image analysis has demonstrated a great potential in in three-dimensional and non-destructive mineral samples characterization. Therefore, there is a drive from the international scientific community to develop new methodologies for three-dimensional image analysis, with the commitment to seek increasingly accurate results and better predictability in mineral processing. The main argument for this research approach is the mitigation of stereological bias, which is inherent in the analysis of two-dimensional (2D) images from optical and scanning electron microscopy techniques, despite being very robust, reliable and widely used techniques in mineral research for some decades. However, in addition to stereological bias, other sources of error should be considered, from sample preparation to the inherent limitations of the different analytical techniques. Thus, this work aims to contribute to the critical analysis of 2D and 3D mineralogical results and their impact on mineral liberation spectra of low-grade Brazilian iron ores with different mineralogical assemblages and textural relationships. Considering the four iron ore samples studied, no significant differences were observed in the overall 2D and 3D iron oxides liberation for sample IO-1 (not liberated) and sample IO-3 (with a high liberation degree). For sample IO-2 (with significantly higher liberation below 0.053 mm), the 2D results overestimate the overall liberation by 9 % when compared to 3D data. In sample IO-4, although the 2D liberation results range from 84 to 97 % in the range −0.15 + 0.020 mm, the 3D liberation values reach a maximum of 75–79 % in fractions below 0.053 mm, indicating a high stereological bias in all fractions, with an overestimation of 22 % of the overall liberation of the 2D results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109150"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142873923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clean and short flowsheet of recovering ultrafine ilmenite by high gradient magnetic separation coupling with magnetic fluid","authors":"Xiayu Zheng,&nbsp;Xingzhe Li,&nbsp;Li Du,&nbsp;Sheng Zhou,&nbsp;Yuhua Wang,&nbsp;Dongfang Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrafine ilmenite minerals (−0.019 mm) in vanadic titanomagnetite ore deposit in Panxi area of China were generally separated by hydraulic classification and discharged into tailings as these fine minerals will severely deteriorate subsequent flotation process, resulting in a great waste of titanium resources. Methods combining high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) followed by flotation were usually developed for recovering ultrafine ilmenite, which commonly had defects of long flowsheet, high reagent consumption and environmental pollution. In this study, high gradient magnetic separation coupling with magnetic fluid (HGMSCMF) was adopted to recover ultrafine ilmenite in Panxi area. Effect of MnCl₂ concentration (magnetic susceptibility of fluid), applied induction and pulsating frequency on TiO₂ grade and recovery of magnetic products in HGMSCMF were systematically investigated. Under optimal conditions of MnCl₂ concentration 40 %, applied induction 0.8 T and pulsating frequency 300 r/min, magnetic concentrate assaying 46.09 % TiO₂ could be obtained under TiO₂ recovery of 43.58 % through three stages of HGMSCMF. Numerical simulation of capture of ilmenite and titanaugite particles by matrices were conducted, based on which variation of ratio of captured ilmenite particles with MnCl₂ concentration and applied induction were studied. Theoretical results corresponded well with experimental results and indicated good adaptability of HGMSCMF to mineral particle size. A clean and short flowsheet incorporating recycling of magnetic fluids for continuous recovery of ultrafine ilmenite was developed. HGMSCMF presented great superiority and application prospect in cleaner and efficient utilization of ultrafine ilmenite, as well as other refractory weakly magnetic minerals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109156"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142873921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multi-task model for mill load parameter prediction using physical information and domain adaptation: Validation with laboratory ball mill","authors":"Yiwen Liu ,&nbsp;Gaowei Yan ,&nbsp;Shuyi Xiao ,&nbsp;Fang Wang ,&nbsp;Rong Li ,&nbsp;Yusong Pang","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109148","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate prediction of mill load parameters is crucial to improving grinding efficiency and saving energy. Traditional prediction models have challenges such as poor interpretability, low prediction efficiency and differences in data distribution. This study innovatively proposed a multi-task prediction model that integrates physical information and domain adaptation. By constructing a physical-data-driven hybrid model, the physical relationship between mill load parameters is embedded into the model as prior knowledge to improve the prediction accuracy of the model. At the same time, multi-task learning is used to predict the material-to-ball volume ratio and the pulp density at the same time, which improves efficiency and reduces repetitive work. The domain adaptation method is introduced to ensure that the model maintains stable prediction performance when the data distribution changes. Laboratory ball mill data verification shows that the proposed model not only improves the prediction accuracy, but also adapts well to variable working conditions, showing significant superiority.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109148"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"First full-scale cHGMS separator for separation of ilmenite","authors":"Bohua Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiangjun Ren ,&nbsp;Qiwei Lai ,&nbsp;Fan Yi ,&nbsp;Luzheng Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109151","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109151","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our previous research on centrifugal high gradient magnetic separation (cHGMS) has fully confirmed its effectiveness to improve the separation selectivity of HGMS process, but they were confined in pilot-scale investigations. In this work, the first full-scale CenMag-300 cHGMS separator was used to clean a primary ilmenite concentrate, which was produced from a pulsating HGMS (PHGMS) roughing process. The separation results demonstrated that it was able to improve the TiO₂ grade from 15.25 % in feed to 32.49 % in concentrate at TiO₂ recovery reaching 81.07 %, which is much superior to that of cyclic SLon-100 PHGMS separator. The outcome from this investigation confirmed the feasibility of cHGMS technology for industrial operation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109151"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flotation separation of homogenized fluorite and calcite using sodium silicate and AlCl3 as a combined depressant","authors":"Xu Yang ,&nbsp;Yubiao Li ,&nbsp;Jinfeng Chen ,&nbsp;Peng Chen ,&nbsp;Shaoxian Song","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Effective flotation separation of fluorite and calcite is a critical challenge due to their comparable physicochemical characteristics and surface <em>iso</em>-transformation. The effects of sodium silicate (SS) and Al³⁺ on the flotation separation of homogenized fluorite and calcite were investigated based on flotation experiments and various measurements such as Zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), solution chemistry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), microcalorimetry. The results showed that the combination of SS and Al³⁺ significantly depressed calcite flotation, but only slightly affecting fluorite flotation. The surface potential of calcite was found to be increased in the presence of Al³⁺, enhancing the adsorption of SS. A higher affinity for the formation and adsorption of aluminum oxide on the surface of calcite compared to fluorite was indicated by SEM results, increasing the selective depression of SS on calcite. The DFT findings verified the formation of Al − O bonds upon the interaction between Al³⁺ and calcite. However, no Al − O bonds occurred on fluorite surface. The distinct adsorption energies were attributed to variations in the surface bonding characteristics of Al³⁺ with O on the calcite and F⁻ on the fluorite. The microcalorimetry analyses revealed that the adsorption of Al³⁺ on calcite surface exhibited more negative adsorption enthalpy and faster adsorption kinetics, improving the adsorption of SS species on calcite surface, ultimately reducing the floatability of calcite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109146"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing multi-sphere clump informed by particles geometry via correcting dynamic properties and mechanical interactions in DEM","authors":"Xuanquan Chen ,&nbsp;Shunchao Qi ,&nbsp;Yuntao Wang ,&nbsp;Yonghao Liu ,&nbsp;Jiawen Zhou ,&nbsp;Xingguo Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Multi-sphere clumps are favored to approximate irregular particles in discrete element model (DEM) due to algorithmic simplicity and efficiency, which, however, leads to approximation errors in dynamical properties and contact forces for motion integration. The latter becomes substantial when cost-effective DEMs are pursued with an acceptable minimum number of subspheres per clump (SPC). This study endeavors to eliminate these errors while maintaining DEM accuracy for low-SPC clumps. Investigations are conducted on a new database where diversely shaped particles are triangulated and stored with local geometries of each vertex. Surface error is defined to quantify the deviation between each boundary subsphere of clump and its surrounding mesh vertices. Errors in dynamic properties are eliminated by optimizing subsphere density distribution via an unconstrained linear system. Contact force errors are alleviated by correcting stiffness via an average curvature radius weighted by local characteristic areas of surrounding vertices, and by correcting penetration depth via a local shape-weighted surface error as an offset approximation. A vertex-subsphere information mapping is established for real-time corrections in DEM. Results show that the enhanced clumps significantly improve DEM accuracy at low SPC. Once SPC <span><math><mrow><mo>≥</mo><mspace></mspace></mrow></math></span> 100, the predicted compression-rebound responses during dynamic collisions and stress–strain-strength behaviors from triaxial tests closely match the converged predictions at SPC = 300. Detailed analysis reveals that the correction of dynamic properties, surpassing the common voxel-grid approximation, achieves machine precisions and is crucial for updating particles motion/orientation in collision dynamics, while the correction of contact forces is more critical for quasi-static simulation by predicting more realistic microscopic force chains. Our findings suggest that the enhanced clumps at SPC = 100 can yield sufficiently high-accurate and cost-effective DEM, being promising for modern large-scale computations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109153"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"QSAR study on molecular design and flotation prediction of collectors for copper sulfide","authors":"Wei Xiong ,&nbsp;Wenfei Wang ,&nbsp;Hong Zhong,&nbsp;Xin Ma,&nbsp;Shuai Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of flotation collectors is usually time-consuming and costly. Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) is one of the most powerful methods for designing and modifying molecules. Introducing QSAR into the development of collectors can significantly compensate for the above shortcomings. The molecular structure, conceptual density functional theory (CDFT) and electrostatic potential (ESP) are chosen as descriptors of xanthate in this article. Pearson correlation coefficient is used to filter descriptors to prevent overfitting, and a QSAR model is established for xanthate. The results of the model show that for the common xanthates, hydrophobicity and dipole moment can describe the relationship between their structure and flotation performance (<em>R²</em> = 0.9647). For the amide xanthates, the hydrophobicity, dipole moment, and non-polar region surface area can describe the relationship between their structures and flotation performance (<em>R²</em> = 0.9478). The accuracy of the model was verified using the test set, and the predicted flotation index (<em>FI)</em> values of sodium isobutyl xanthate (SIBX), potassium <em>O</em>-(6-(hexylamino)-6-oxohexyl) xanthate (PHAHX), potassium <em>O</em>-(6-(butylamino)-6-oxohexyl) xanthate (PBAHX) and potassium <em>O</em>-(4-(butylamino)-4-oxobutyl) xanthate (PBABX) were 0.7099, 0.8614, 0.8061, and 0.7631, respectively. And the relative errors with the experimental values were only 7.89 %, 1.85 %, 4.00 %, and 2.57 %, respectively, demonstrating the reliability of the established model. The QSAR model provides a theoretical basis for the subsequent design of collectors with better flotation performance and predicts the collecting capacities of collectors for chalcopyrite and pyrite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109152"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation into sliding behavior of bubbles on a hydrophilic surface containing discretely distributed hydrophobic patches","authors":"Zhongren Wu ,&nbsp;Ai Wang ,&nbsp;Siyuan Yang ,&nbsp;Yijun Cao ,&nbsp;Chao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Flotation of coarse particles with poor mineral liberation, aiming at gangue rejection at early stage, has attracted great attentions. Bubble detaching probability ultimately determines the coarse particle separation efficiency. To date, the bubble detaching behavior from the surface of coarse particles with poor liberation remains unclear. In this study, three sizes of bubbles (650 μm, 900 μm and 1200 μm) were generated to comparatively study their sliding behavior on a hydrophilic quartz substrate containing discretely distributed hydrophobic dots with a diameter of 100 µm and an edge distance of 400 µm. It was found that bubbles experienced stretching phase and sliding phase during the process. The initial three-phase contact line before sliding increased over the bubble size, resulting in greater force required to initialize bubble sliding. During the sliding process, the three-phase contact line remained the same for the bubble of 650 μm, while it exhibited a stepwise increase for the bubbles of 900 μm and 1200 μm, indicating that the sliding could stabilize bubble attachment to some extent for larger bubbles by strengthen the adhering force. Further study showed that the enhanced bubble attaching stability was only valid with the Reynolds number below 6222. The finding indicates that bigger bubbles may be able to benefit coarse particle flotation in a tranquil flow by providing stronger lifting force for particle ascending. It is believed that the outcomes of this study could facilitate the optimization of coarse particle flotation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109149"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Direct flotation recovery of malachite using a novel N-substituted hydroxamic acid: Adsorption mechanism and DFT calculation","authors":"Kangjing Wu ,&nbsp;Yuxi Lu ,&nbsp;Shuai Wang ,&nbsp;Xin Ma ,&nbsp;Hong Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The weak collection ability of conventional benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) impedes its widespread application in the direct flotation of copper oxide minerals. Conversely, octyl hydroxamic acid (OHA) with enhanced hydrophobicity demonstrated superior collecting ability while exhibiting weak selectivity in malachite flotation. In order to achieve a balance between collecting ability and selectivity, we synthesized a novel <em>N</em>-cyclohexyl-<em>N</em>-hydroxyacetamide collector (ECHA) that featured similar structure of hydroxamate compounds and improved selectivity for the direct flotation of malachite. The bench-scale flotation results demonstrated that ECHA exhibited stronger collecting ability and excellent selectivity, 14.66% and 15.17% of copper recoveries increased than sodium butyl xanthate (SBX) and BHA, respectively. Contact angle tests, Zeta potential tests and solution chemistry analysis revealed that the interaction intensity of ECHA with malachite was significantly stronger than that of calcite and quartz. FTIR and XPS analysis showed that the reaction sites of ECHA were primarily located on the [–N(OH)CO–] group, suggesting possible chemisorption on the malachite surface. Additionally, DFT calculations indicated that the ECHA anion could potentially form a five-membered structure chelate complex with a Cu atom on the malachite surface through its [–N(OH)CO–] functional group. ECHA proved to be promising as an attractive collector in the direct flotation of malachite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109133"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A comprehensive multiscale review of shaft furnace and reformer in direct reduction of iron oxide","authors":"Masih Hosseinzadeh ,&nbsp;Norollah Kasiri ,&nbsp;Mehran Rezaei","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109123","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2024.109123","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The direct reduction of iron (DRI) process plays a pivotal role in the ironmaking and steelmaking industry and has emerged as a promising solution for reducing CO₂ emissions. This intricate process spans metallurgy and chemical engineering, encompassing multiple scales (macroscale, mesoscale, microscale, nanoscale) and various reaction systems, including catalytic gas–solid (reformer) and non-catalytic gas–solid (shaft furnace) processes. The shaft furnace operated as a multiscale moving bed reactor including iron oxide pellets where a complex interplay of 17 non-catalytic gas–solid reactions and several gas reactions is observed. This review covers all relevant fields of gaseous-based DRI and introduces essential mathematical models for shaft furnaces and reformers. Key non-catalytic gas–solid and shaft furnace models developed over the last century are compared and analyzed. The effects of crucial parameters such as solid structure, gas phase conditions, clustering, carbon formation, and lattice defects are discussed. In addition, the reformer in the DRI unit functions as a bottom-fired furnace, comprising a combustion chamber and tubes that carry three types of heterogeneous catalysts, operating as a fixed bed reactor. Diverse radiative and kinetic models have been discussed to characterize the combustion chamber and reactions in detail. Finally, the review discusses potential artificial intelligence (AI) applications in this context and identifies research gaps for future investigations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"222 ","pages":"Article 109123"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142790157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}