Influência da cadeia hidrocarbônica de coletores amazônicos na flotabilidade de apatita, calcita e quartzo

Abstract

Flotation is a concentration process of species present in the ore, which is explored the differences in the surface characteristics of minerals. In this paper we present a fundamental study, which takes into account the pure mineral. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of the hydrocarbon chain of collectors obtained from Amazonian species in the floatability of apatite, calcite and quartz. Composition of fatty acids of these oils was verified by gas chromatography and physico-chemical characterization was established according to methods AOCS (American Chemical Society Oils). The microflotation tests were conducted in modified Hallimond tube using extended-height to avoid hydrodynamic drag of the particles. We compared the results with those obtained using sodium oleate as a collector. With the results was correlated the fatty acid composition and the type of hydrocarbon chain in relation to its length and unsaturation of vegetable oils studied their performance in microflotation. Was verified that the passion oil for presenting, mostly fatty acids and long-chain hydrocarbon with two unsaturations, had selectivity and recovery rate higher than the collector babassu oil, which in its constitution has mostly fatty acids saturated and smaller hydrocarbon chain.