Celdas Neumaticas

pneuflot ® f lotation technology

MBe Coal & Minerals teChnology gMBh
formerly hUmBolDt WeDag coal & minerals technology gmBh

MBe Coal & Minerals teChnology gMBh
formerly hUmBolDt WeDag coal & minerals technology gmBh
gottfried-hagen-str. 20, 51105 cologne / germany
tel +49 221 99892 700
info@mbe-cmt.de
www.mbe-cmt.de

Print rUn 1500
concePt anD Design affairen-gestaltung.de
PaPereuroBulk
PrinteD By Kettler Verlag, Bönen
PrinteD in germany 2011

pneuflot ®
flotation technology BrochUre

as the rich ore bodies are depleted, mineral industries need
to go finer sizes for sellable products. therefore flotation is
state-of-the-art processing method for many minerals.
this PneUflot brochure focuses on flotation technology,
advantages of PneUflot and applicationexamples. there
is also information about PneUflot scales, test work
possibilities and alternative areas where flotation can be
applied.
many PneUflot plants are installed in the coal industry.
With PneUflot technology coking coal and steam coal can
be produced in a very economic and efficient way.

05
07
09
11
13
15
19

f lotation technology
history of PneUmatic flotation
PrinciPleanD aPPlications
aUtomation
sizes anD facts
research anD DeVeloPment centre
scoPes of serVices

03

pneuflot ®
flotation technology

the froth flotation process is used to sepa rate coal and mineral mixtures with particles
showing different physico-chemical surface
properties towards water. these properties
are either natural or can be produced and
even enhanced by treatment withsurfaceactive reagents.
Basically, the flotation process itself takes
place when mineral particles attach to air bubbles and rise up. since the beginning of
the 20th century froth flotation has become
a widely used beneficiation method for
mineral processing and the most important
separation process for the majority of nonferrous metal ores and many industrial minerals. flotation is carriedout in flotation
machines. in these f lotation cells the mixture
of fine milled ore and water, called flotation
pulp, is agitated and air is drawn into the pulp
in the form of fine bubbles.

mechanical flotation machines are divided into agitation cells which receive
air from blower or “self-aerating” machines which use the depression
created by the impeller to induce air. Both types arecharacterised by a
mechanically driven high-speed impeller which agitates the pulp and
disperses fine air bubbles into it.
Pneumatic cells have no impeller and the pulp is “self-aerated” by creating
a vacuum using the Venturi principle. flotation reagents are surface-active
agents which selectively adhere to particle surfaces. they can intensify
water-repelling (hydrophobic) properties oreven reverse these properties,
making the particles water-attracting (hydrophilic).
the former are known as “collectors”, the latter type reagents are called
“depressors”. in addition, to influence selective adsorption, so-called
“activators”, ph-adjusters and reagents with a dispersing effect are
frequently used. tensides influence froth formation.
When particles with a water-repelling surfacecome into contact with air
bubbles inside the flotation cell, they immediately attach themselves to
the air bubbles and rise up to the pulp surface forming a froth layer. once
the froth has built up it overflows and will be discharged from the top of
the cell. the hydrophilic wetted particles are discharged in the underflow
at the bottom of the cell.
to guarantee an efficient flotationprocess obviously there is an upper limit
for the maximum particle size. most ores and minerals must be previously
milled to achieve the required grain size, which is dictated by the intergrowth
of the different components. nowadays the flotation process is also used
for solid-liquid separation. especially in the field of waste water treatment,
slow settling or suspended particles are collected...