Arr-maz Products. L.p.

Yu Xiong

Guoxin Wang

Zhengxing Gu

A process of phosphate flotation comprising: pulping phosphate ore with water to about 55% to 75% solids to produce an ore slurry; conditioning the ore slurry with a new reagent scheme to produce a conditioned slurry; subjecting the conditioned slurry to flotation to produce an underflow and an overflow; and collecting the overflow as phosphate concentrate. The new reagent scheme may comprise a combination of fatty acid, fuel oil, and fatty acid soap, and may not comprise a pH modifier. The process may also work effectively at a lower percent solids than conventional reagent schemes.

Reagent scheme for sedimentary phosphate flotation

The invention is related to a flotation process using an improved collector to remove alkaline earth metal carbonate impurities from phosphate ores. The flotation feed may be conditioned with the improved carbonate collector at acidic pH, and subjected to a reverse flotation. The cell overflow may be collected as waste in which carbonate minerals dominate, and the cell underflow may be the phosphate concentrate. The collector may be a combination of chemicals, comprising: (1) any kind of fatty acids, either conventional fatty acid, saponified fatty acid, or modified fatty acid; (2) chemicals with sulfonate or sulfate groups, such as dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DDBSA) or its salt, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium coco sulfate (SCS), etc.; and (3) phosphorous-bearing chemicals, such as sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), sodium hexametaphosphate (SFMP), trisodium phosphate (TSP), Tetrasodiumpyrophosphate (TSPP), etc. With the improved collector, the separation selectivity and phosphate recovery may be significantly improved.

Growing community of inventors

Lakeland, FL, United States of America

Yu Xiong