A study of the effect of preconditioning of pulp through high-intensity shearing on fine coal flotation kinetics

In order to gain an insight into the effect of pulp preconditioning through high-intensity shearing on flotation kinetics of fine coal, laboratory batch flotation experiment is made based on analysis of both flotability and size composition of samples. The experiment is made by varying pulp conditioning speed and time and with the yield and ash values of flotation concentrate and constant of flotation rate as assessment indicators. Results of experiment shows high-intensity shearing can lead to effective rise of flotation rate and cut of flotation time; a good fit between conditioning speed and time can further increase yield of concentrate and improve selectivity of flotation process; for treating easy-to-float fine coal, the pulp preconditioning time required is shorter while for treating the fine coal with a relatively poor floatability, the pulp preconditioning time needs to be appropriately extend; and compared to the classical first-order flotation kinetics model, the KELSALL separate-speed model is more consistent with the heterogeneous floatability distribution features of fine coal. The work made herein can help improve performance of fine coal flotation installations ion current use.