Flotation Collector

• Role Mechanism: Polyamines can act as collectors in the flotation process. They have a strong affinity for certain mineral surfaces. For example, in the flotation of sulfide minerals, polyamines can chemically bond with the surface of sulfide minerals through functional groups such as amino groups. This is because the surface of sulfide minerals has certain chemical activity, and the amino groups in polyamines can interact with metal ions on the mineral surface to form a stable chemical bond, thereby adsorbing on the mineral surface.
• Advantages: Compared with traditional collectors, polyamines have higher selectivity and collection efficiency. They can selectively collect target minerals in a complex ore system, improving the separation effect of useful minerals from gangue minerals. For example, in the flotation of copper sulfide ores, polyamines can effectively collect copper minerals while having little effect on other gangue minerals, improving the grade and recovery rate of copper concentrates.

Flocculant

• Function in Solid-Liquid Separation: In mineral processing, after the grinding and flotation processes, there is a need for solid-liquid separation. Polyamines can play an important role as flocculants. They can bridge fine mineral particles in the slurry to form large flocs. The long molecular chain of polyamines contains multiple active groups, which can adsorb on the surfaces of different mineral particles. As a result, the fine particles are connected together to form larger aggregates, which facilitates the sedimentation and filtration of the particles, thereby realizing efficient solid-liquid separation.
• Impact on Process Efficiency: The use of polyamines as flocculants can significantly improve the efficiency of solid-liquid separation. It shortens the sedimentation time of minerals, increases the filtration speed, and reduces the moisture content of the filtered solids. In the treatment of iron ore slurry, for example, the addition of polyamines can make the fine iron ore particles flocculate quickly, and the sedimentation rate is much faster than that without the addition of flocculants. This not only improves the production efficiency but also reduces the energy consumption and equipment wear in the solid-liquid separation process.

Depressant

• Selective Inhibition of Minerals: Polyamines can also be used as depressants in mineral processing to selectively inhibit the floatability of certain minerals. In some complex polymetallic ore systems, it is necessary to inhibit the floatability of some associated minerals to achieve the separation of target minerals. Polyamines can adsorb on the surface of minerals to be inhibited, changing the surface properties of the minerals and reducing their affinity with collectors, thereby inhibiting their flotation. For example, in the separation of lead-zinc ores, polyamines can be used to selectively inhibit zinc minerals, allowing lead minerals to float preferentially, thus achieving the separation of lead and zinc.
• Improvement of Separation Indexes: The use of polyamines as depressants can effectively improve the separation indexes of minerals. It can reduce the mutual interference between different minerals in the flotation process, improve the purity of concentrates, and increase the recovery rate of useful components. In the processing of complex copper-lead-zinc ores, the 合理 use of polyamines as depressants can make the grade of copper concentrates increase by several percentage points, and at the same time, the recovery rate of copper can also be improved.

Dispersant

• Prevention of Particle Agglomeration: In the grinding and classification processes of mineral processing, polyamines can be used as dispersants to prevent the agglomeration of mineral particles. During the grinding process, fine mineral particles are easily agglomerated due to surface forces and van der Waals forces. Polyamines can adsorb on the surface of mineral particles, forming a protective film to prevent the direct contact of particles, thereby reducing the probability of agglomeration. In the classification process of fine-grained ores, the use of polyamines as dispersants can make the particles evenly distributed in the slurry, which is conducive to the accurate classification of particles of different sizes.
• Improvement of Process Stability: The use of polyamines as dispersants can improve the stability and efficiency of mineral processing processes. It ensures the uniform fineness of the ground products, improves the efficiency of subsequent flotation and separation processes, and reduces the fluctuation of product quality. In the production of kaolin, for example, the addition of polyamines as dispersants can make the kaolin particles evenly dispersed, improving the whiteness and fineness of the kaolin products and meeting the quality requirements of different application fields.