The effect of tailings recirculation on the kinetic response of laboratory-scale reactor-separator flotation cells well-described by a plug-flow regime

The application of intensified flotation cells, also known as reactor-separator cells, has become widespread. The tailings recirculation back to a feed conditioning tank is a unique characteristic of these cells compared to mechanical cells and columns. This short communication evaluates, by simulation, the impact of the volume of this conditioning tank on the overall (exhaustion) kinetic response of a flotation cell that is well-described as a plug-flow reactor. The results show that the overall flotation response only converges to that of a plug-flow reactor when the volume of the conditioning tank is negligible regarding the cell volume. However, the exhaustion response proves to be representable as a first-order system, with an apparent rate constant k_app. This apparent rate constant is strongly correlated with the rate constant in the evaluated cell, allowing for comparisons with other flotation machines and systems.