The collecting performances of N-dodecylethylene-diamine （ND） to quartz and hematite were studied via single mineral flotation. Experimental results show that ND has stronger collecting ability to quartz than hematite. Different floatability of quartz and hematite was presented in the existence of depressant. Compared with lauryl amine, ND has stronger collecting performances to quartz. Satisfied separation result of artificially mixed sample was acquired with iron grade of concentrate of 59.92% and iron recovery of 88.85% when pulp pH value was 7.27 with 41.7 mg/L collector and 3.33 mg/L starch. Polar group properties calculation results indicated that ND has stronger collecting capability and better selectivity than lauryl amine. Measurement results of zeta-potentials and infrared spectrum showed that hydrogen bonding adsorption and electrostatic adsorption occur between the surface of ND and quartz.
Gas holdup is one of the key parameters in flotation process. Gas holdup as measured by a differential pressure method was investigated and the relative errors compared to the average gas holdup from the volume expansion method. The errors were used to establish optimum measurement positions. The results show that the measurement position should be in the middle of the column and in the region half way from the center to the wall (the half-radius). The gas holdup along the axial direction is lower at the bottom and higher at the top of the floatation column. The gas holdup along the radial direction is lower near the wall and higher near the center of the flotation column. The average gas holdup measure- ment can be replaced by regional gas holdup values.
