An experimental study of particle-bubble interaction and attachment in flotation

Abstract

The particle-bubble interaction is found in industrial applications with the purpose of selective separation of materials especially in the mining industry. The separation is achieved with the use of bubbles that collect particles depending on their hydrophobicity. There are few experimental studies involving a single interaction between a bubble and a particle. The purpose of this work is to understand this interaction by the study of a single bubble interacting with a single particle. Experiments were conducted using ultra-pure water, glass particles and air bubbles. Single interactions of particles with bubbles were observed using two high speed cameras. The cameras were placed perpendicular to each other allowing to reconstruct the three-dimensional position of the particle, the bubble and the particle-bubble aggregate. A single size of particle was used varying the size for the bubbles. It was found that the attachment of a particle to a bubble depends on its degree of hydrophobicity and on the relative position of the particle and the bubble before they encounter.