Reverse flotation of iron ore using amphoteric surfactant: 2-((2(decyloxy)ethyl)amino)lauric acid

2-((2-(decyloxy)ethyl)amino)lauric acid (C10H21CH(NH(CH2)3OC10H21)COOH, (LDEA), a novel amphoteric surfactant, has been first utilized as the collector for on-site the reverse flotation of Anqian mixed magnetic concentrates. The separation performances were investigated systematically by flotation conditioning tests, open-circuit flowsheet experiment, and locked cycle flowsheet test. The flotation condition test's results showed that the optimal roughing conditions were pulp pH of 10, starch dosage 1000 g/Mg, and LDEA dosage of 500 g/Mg at 25 °C. Under the optimized flotation conditions, through one roughing - three scavengings locked cycle flowsheet, the iron concentrate with a total iron grade of 68.08% and recovery of 88.20% was obtained. In contrast, the iron grade of the tailings was only 12.32%. Compared with the flotation results of anionic commercial surfactant RA-715 used as the collector, the LDEA has a better separation performance. The iron grade and recovery increased by 0.07% and 0.86% in the iron concentrate, and the grade of the tailings decreased 3.72%, respectively. Besides, the LDEA possesses more advantages, such as a simple flotation process, no activator (CaO) addition, lower collector consumption, and lower pulp temperature. The study revealed that the novel amphoteric surfactant LDEA was an effective flotation collector with good collecting and separation ability on natural iron ores at a comparatively lower temperature.

Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa Nr 461252 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2021).