Flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite and flotation process thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of mineral flotation and high-purity quartz sand purification, in particular to a flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite and a flotation process of the flotation agent. Aiming at the problems that the flotation effect of the existing flotation agent is not ideal and the flotation conditions are limited, the invention provides the following technical scheme: the flotation agent has the following structure; wherein R1 is straight chain branched chain alkyl or alkoxy, and the value range of the carbon chain length n is more than or equal to 8 and less than or equal to 20; the value range of the length n of the carbon chain is 12 < = n < = 18; the flotation agent provided by the invention is good in water solubility, high in flotation efficiency, simple in flotation process step, easy to operate, capable of efficiently separating vein quartz and albite, suitable for large-scale production, capable of improving the purity and the recovery rate of mineral separation, capable of meeting the requirements of high-end fields such as semiconductors for quartz purity and relatively high in industrial application conversion value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of mineral flotation and high-purity quartz sand purification, in particular to a flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite and a flotation process thereof. Background Art

[0002] Quartz is a hard mineral found throughout the Earth's crust, accounting for approximately 20% of its reserves. Due to its abundant reserves, ultra-high hardness, excellent transparency, and low dielectric loss, it is widely used in glass, construction, ceramics, chemicals, and fillers. High-purity quartz sand is also used in cutting-edge fields such as semiconductors, precision instruments, and chemical reactions and testing. Due to its complex geological origins, natural quartz ores are often associated with feldspar, mica, garnet, and iron oxide. To obtain pure quartz products, it is crucial to select sources with relatively pure mineral composition. However, high-quality mineral sources are scarce and facing depletion, making it challenging to separate high-quality quartz from medium- and low-grade sources. This is particularly challenging, as feldspar, which has a structure very similar to quartz, is particularly challenging to separate.

[0003] Flotation is currently the most effective method for separating quartz and feldspar. It exploits the difference in surface charge between quartz and feldspar, adding a special flotation agent that adsorbs onto the mineral surface, causing the hydrophobic surface to float. The hydrofluoric acid method, with its excellent separation efficiency, has been widely used in industry. However, hydrofluoric acid is highly corrosive and can irreversibly damage flotation equipment. Furthermore, fluoride-containing wastewater can pollute surrounding water bodies, increasing wastewater treatment costs. With advances in research, methods with fluorine and no acid, methods with no fluorine and no acid, and methods with no fluorine and no acid have been developed for the flotation of quartz and feldspar. For example, CN115805140B uses a dispersant, a calcifying agent, and an anionic collector to capture quartz at a pH of 10.6-11; CN113926590B uses a mixture of a cationic collector, an anionic collector (sodium petroleum sulfonate), and a depressant (sodium hexametaphosphate) to float quartz and feldspar; and CN113441283B uses a short-chain diamine as a depressant to float quartz under neutral conditions. While these emerging flotation systems reduce the amount of hydrofluoric acid used to some extent, their flotation results are less than ideal. Furthermore, the mixed use of multiple flotation agents and depressants complicates the flotation system. Furthermore, most flotation agents, such as dodecylamine, sodium dodecylsulfonate, and sodium dodecyl sulfate, are highly toxic chemicals with low water solubility, requiring elevated temperatures for flotation, increasing industrial flotation costs. In light of this, the present invention proposes a flotation agent and flotation process for separating vein quartz from albite. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to address the problem in the background technology that the flotation effect of existing flotation agents is not ideal and the flotation conditions are limited, and to propose a flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite and a flotation process thereof.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is a flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite, wherein the flotation agent has the following structure: ; Wherein R1 is a straight-chain or branched alkyl group or alkoxy group, and the carbon chain length n of R1 ranges from 8≤n≤20.

[0006] Preferably, the carbon chain length n is in the range of 12≤n≤18.

[0007] The present invention also proposes a flotation process using the above-mentioned flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite, comprising the following steps: Step 1: crushing the vein quartz ore and the albite ore through a pair of rollers, and then screening out the vein quartz sand and the albite sand; Step 2: The sieved vein quartz sand and albite sand are passed through a magnetic separator to remove magnetic impurities; Step 3: The vein quartz sand and albite sand after magnetic separation are washed, filtered and dried with pure water; Step 4: Slurry preparation for flotation: Mix the washed vein quartz sand and albite sand and add them into the flotation tank, start stirring and adjust the pH value to weak acidity; Step 5: Add flotation agent during the stirring process, start aeration flotation after stable adsorption, and collect the floating and precipitated ore sand.

[0008] Optionally, the particle size range of the vein quartz ore and the albite ore in step 1 is 100-200 mesh.

[0009] Optionally, the field strength of the magnetic separation in step 2 is 0.1-0.5T.

[0010] Optionally, the drying temperature in step three is 105-110° C. and the drying time is 2-4 hours to ensure the accuracy of the weighing ratio.

[0011] Optionally, the pH after adjustment in step 4 is 3-6, and the pH adjuster is 7-15 mM hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

[0012] Optionally, the concentration of the flotation agent is 0.125×10 -5 M~2×10 -5 M.

[0013] Optionally, in step 5, the stable adsorption time is 1-15 minutes, the aeration flotation time is 3-8 minutes, and the aeration volume is 0.2m 3 / h~0.6m 3 / h, stirring speed is 1500r / min~2500r / min.

[0014] The present invention also provides a flotation process, which is applicable to other quartz and feldspar separation systems.

[0015] In summary, this application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: The present invention uses a polyamine head flotation agent with good water solubility, can be dissolved without heating, and can be effectively adsorbed on the surface of albite under weakly acidic conditions. Compared with traditional flotation agents that require strong acidity and heating, the present invention reduces equipment corrosion and energy consumption, solves the equipment damage and high cost problems caused by poor water solubility and strong acidity of traditional flotation agents, and achieves selective separation of vein quartz and albite. Furthermore, the flotation agent has excellent water solubility and can effectively separate vein quartz and albite under weakly acidic conditions at room temperature. In addition, the method is a single flotation agent system, which is simple to operate and requires a low amount of flotation agent, and has extremely high industrial application conversion value. Furthermore, the flotation system is a single flotation agent system, which does not require other inhibitors or collectors. This simplifies the process flow, avoids the environmental hazards caused by the traditional mixing of multiple highly toxic flotation agents, reduces the difficulty and cost of wastewater treatment, and has good environmental benefits. In summary, the flotation agent proposed in the present invention has good water solubility and high flotation efficiency. The flotation process is simple and easy to operate. It can efficiently separate vein quartz and albite, is suitable for large-scale production, can improve the purity and recovery rate of mineral separation, and meets the requirements of high-end fields such as semiconductors for quartz purity. It has high industrial application conversion value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is the XRD pattern of single vein quartz and albite in Example; Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the yield of vein quartz and albite from single ore flotation in Examples 1-4; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The present application will be described in further detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. The application can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the disclosure of the present application more thoroughly understood and comprehensive. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art of the present application. The terms used herein in the specification of the application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0018] In this application, the technical features described in an open manner include closed technical solutions composed of the listed features, and also include open technical solutions containing the listed features.

[0019] In this application, when referring to numerical ranges, unless otherwise specified, the numerical ranges are considered continuous and include the minimum and maximum values ​​of the range, as well as every value between such minimum and maximum values. Further, when a range refers to an integer, every integer between the minimum and maximum values ​​of the range is included. In addition, when multiple ranges are provided to describe a feature or characteristic, the ranges can be combined. In other words, unless otherwise specified, all ranges disclosed herein should be understood to include any and all subranges subsumed therein.

[0020] The present invention provides a flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite, wherein the flotation agent has the following structure: ; The flotation agent is a commercial product of laurylamine dipropylene diamine, which was purchased from Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd.

[0021] Example 1

[0022] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the present invention proposes a flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using the above-mentioned flotation agent, comprising the following steps: Step 1: Crushing and screening: crushing the vein quartz ore and the albite ore by rollers, and screening out the vein quartz sand and albite sand with a particle size of 100-200 mesh; Step 2: Magnetic separation and impurity removal: The sieved vein quartz sand and albite sand are passed through a 0.3T magnetic separator to remove magnetic impurities; Step 3: Washing and drying: The vein quartz sand and albite sand after magnetic separation are washed and filtered three times with pure water and dried at 105°C; Step 4: Slurry preparation for flotation: Mix the washed vein quartz sand and albite sand and add them into the flotation tank, add 1.4L of pure water, start stirring, and use 10mM HCl and NaOH solutions to adjust the pH value to 3.5; Step 5: Flotation separation: During the stirring process, 17.5 μl, 35 μl, 70 μl, 140 μl, and 280 μl of 0.1 M flotation reagent were added respectively. After adsorption for 1 minute, aeration flotation was started for 4 minutes. The floating and precipitated ore sands were collected and dried at 105°C.

[0023] Example 2

[0024] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, based on Example 1, the flotation process of this embodiment adjusts the screening size in step 1 to a particle size of 120 mesh for screening vein quartz sand and sodium feldspar sand; adjusts the pH value of the HCl and NaOH solutions in step 4 to 4; and the remaining steps are the same.

[0025] Example 3

[0026] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, based on Example 1, the flotation process of this embodiment adjusts the pH value of the HCl and NaOH solutions in step 4 to 4.5; the remaining steps are the same.

[0027] Example 4

[0028] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, based on Example 1, the flotation process in this embodiment adjusts the screening size in step 1 to 100 meshes of the sieved vein quartz sand and sodium feldspar sand; adjusts the pH value of the HCl and NaOH solutions in step 4 to 5; and the remaining steps are the same.

[0029] Example 5

[0030] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, based on Example 1, step five in the flotation process of this embodiment is adjusted, specifically: Step five, flotation separation: 90 μl, 100 μl, and 110 μl of a flotation agent with a concentration of 0.1 M are added during the stirring process, and after adsorption for 1 minute, aeration flotation for 4 minutes is started. The floating and precipitated ore sands are collected and dried at 105°C; the remaining steps are the same.

[0031] In combination with the flotation processes of Examples 1 to 5, the chemical composition and mineral proportion of different samples, including pure minerals, floated products after flotation, and precipitated products, were analyzed to verify the separation effect of the flotation process on vein quartz and albite.

[0032] The contents of Na2O, Al2O3 and SiO2 were determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and the proportions of quartz and feldspar were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The test results are shown in Table 1.

[0033] Table 1 Chemical composition and mineral ratio analysis of Example 5

[0034] Combined with Table 1 above, we can see that: from the data of the floating series (floating products, mainly albite) in the table, such as floating-100, feldspar accounts for 97.70%, and quartz accounts for only 2.30%, indicating that albite can be efficiently enriched and floated with high purity.

[0035] In the sinking series (precipitation products, primarily vein quartz), -100 quartz accounted for 95.13% and feldspar accounted for 4.87%. The vein quartz precipitation was effective and highly enriched. This demonstrates that the present invention can achieve efficient separation of vein quartz and albite, improving the purity of the mineral product.

[0036] Overall, these data can verify the flotation process's effectiveness in separating vein quartz and albite, helping to optimize flotation conditions to improve separation accuracy. The flotation agent proposed in this embodiment has good water solubility and can be dissolved without heating, thereby overcoming the defects of traditional flotation agents that have poor water solubility and require heating, and reducing energy consumption and operation complexity.

[0037] Applicable pH range is mild: flotation can be effectively carried out under weakly acidic conditions (such as pH 4-6 in the embodiment), without the need for a strongly acidic environment, which reduces corrosion to the equipment and also reduces safety risks and equipment maintenance costs under strongly acidic conditions.

[0038] No other inhibitors or collectors are required, which simplifies the flotation system and avoids the environmental hazards and complex wastewater treatment problems caused by the mixed use of multiple highly toxic agents.

[0039] The above specific embodiments are merely several optional embodiments of the present invention. Based on the technical solutions of the present invention and the relevant inspirations of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art may make various alternative improvements and combinations to the above specific embodiments.

Claims

1. A flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite, characterized in that: The flotation agent has the following structure: ； Wherein R1 is a straight-chain or branched alkyl group or alkoxy group, and the carbon chain length n of R1 ranges from 8≤n≤20.

2. A flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carbon chain length n ranges from 12≤n≤18.

3. A flotation process using the flotation agent for separating vein quartz and albite according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1: crushing the vein quartz ore and the albite ore through a pair of rollers, and then screening out the vein quartz sand and the albite sand; Step 2: The sieved vein quartz sand and albite sand are passed through a magnetic separator to remove magnetic impurities; Step 3: The vein quartz sand and albite sand after magnetic separation are washed, filtered and dried with pure water; Step 4: Mix the washed vein quartz sand and albite sand and add them into the flotation tank, start stirring and adjust the pH value to weak acidity; Step 5: Add flotation agent during the stirring process, start aeration flotation after stable adsorption, and collect the floating and precipitated ore sand.

4. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: In the step 1, the particle size range of the vein quartz ore and the albite ore is 100-200 mesh.

5. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: The field strength of the magnetic separation in step 2 is 0.1-0.5T.

6. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: The drying temperature in step 3 is 105-110° C., and the drying time is 2-4 hours.

7. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: The pH after adjustment in step 4 is 3-6, and the pH adjusting agents are 7-15 mM hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

8. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: The concentration of the flotation agent is 0.125×10 -5 M~2×10 -5 M.

9. The flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: In the step 5, the stable adsorption time is 5-15 minutes, the aeration flotation time is 3-8 minutes, and the aeration volume is 0.2m 3 / h~0.6m 3 / h, stirring speed is 1500r / min~2500r / min.

10. A flotation process for separating vein quartz and albite using a flotation agent according to claim 3, characterized in that: The flotation process is applicable to other quartz and feldspar separation systems.

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