Frothers
Frothing, also known as froth flotation, is the process of selectively separating hydrophobic valuable minerals from hydrophilic waste gangue. In its simplest form, froth flotation is a method whereby minerals can be “skimmed” from the surface of “slurry” that is “foamed” with the assistance of specific chemicals, water and air bubbles.
In mineral processing, frothers are used to produce small persistent air bubbles. The role of the frother is to produce a stable and mobile froth so that the targeted hydrophobic particles can be picked up and floated to the top of the float cell where they are concentrated for further processing. Frothers separate hydrophobic from hydrophilic materials, recovering an array of minerals containing valuable commodities such as like copper, lead, zinc, nickel, silver, gold, molybdenum, phosphate and potash.
Quadra’s range of flotation frothers include:
- alcohols
- glycols
- ethers
- terpenes
Quadra also provides custom tailored blends, formulated specifically for your needs and covers the full range of requirements, from low strength for selective flotation through to high strength for coarse particle recovery with favorable collapse time.
Custom frother formulations
QUADRAFROTHTM products represent custom blended solutions tailored to the needs of our customers and is the perfect complimentary addition to the POLYFROTH® lineup. The most intricate of blended alcohols, glycols and pine oils make the QUADRAFROTHTM products completely versatile in all applications:
- Weak, strong
- Hydrophobic vs. Hydrophilic balance (HLB)
- Non-persistent
- Optimized collapse-time
- Non-flammable
- Renewable chemistries
Exclusive FROTHER Supply Partners
Quadra’s core flotation frother supply partners include Indorama Ventures (formerly Huntsman Mining Chemicals) and Celanese Corporation.
Indorama produces the POLYFROTH® range of frothers for froth flotation.
This unique range of frothing properties and selectivity is what gives the different Indorama POLYFROTH® frothers their application and performance benefits in all mineral sectors of the mining industry, including base metal sulphides, precious metals (gold, silver, PGEs), industrial minerals, coal and various other non-sulphides. As a group they offer high metallurgical grades with low water carry-over into the concentrate, they have low volatility and low level of toxicity and odor, and most are non-flammable. POLYFROTH® frothers are available in a variety of strengths.
Celanese MIBC is the preferred frother choice for many sulfide ores and coals, offering fast kinetics and excellent selectivity while forming dry but easy-to-break froths.
MIBC is used as a frother in the flotation process in the mining of ores, such as copper and molybdenum sulfide, as well as coal. Compared to other frothers, Celanese’s MIBC product offers fast kinetics and excellent selectivity, and it forms dry but easy-to-break froths – increasing both the yield and the efficiency of mineral and metal recovery efforts. This technique results in an industry-leading way to separate valuable minerals from extracted ore.
QUADRA’S TECHNICAL SUPPORT & SERVICES
The Quadra Mining team of experienced metallurgists and flotation professionals are available to our customer base for product selection and process optimization support.
Our hydrodynamic audit gives fast insight into flotation performance. Hydrodynamic studies in flotation incorporate the investigation of a combination of bubble size, bubble size distribution and bubble velocity in flotation cells. Evaluating these parameters in combination with operational conditions gives a snapshot of cell performance.
Other technical services include:
- Ore characterization
- Process development
- Optimization and pilot testing in mineral separation and hydrometallurgy
