Efficient Flotation of Engineered Artificial Minerals from Metallurgical Slags by Exploiting Interaction Scanning (FlotEnAMIS)

作为SPP 2315的一部分，FlotEnAMIS将基于一种新型的功能原子力显微镜(AFM) /原子力光谱和界面工程方法来了解矿渣中工程人造矿物（EnAMs）的表面特性，并找到合适的浮选试剂体系，以便从释放的细粒工程矿渣中有效地浮选分离细颗粒。由于enam的合成性质，它们在浮选分离中往往有未知的反应，因为过去大多数基本的泡沫浮选研究只涉及自然界中发现的矿物相。此外，随着矿渣工程（矿渣化学和矿渣热动力学处理）的进行，矿渣的组成和晶体形态可能会发生广泛的变化，这些变化会以一种迄今未知的方式通过改变表面化学来影响浮选反应。因此，FlotEnAMIS的目标是作为一种使能技术：(i)在渣设计阶段深入研究单个EnAMs在小实验室规模渣样品中的分离能力，并在过程模拟和数字孪生中实现可用的分离特性。与此同时，FlotEnAMIS将使（ii）对工程人工矿物的相性质变化所带来的表面性质和与浮选试剂的相互作用进行基础研究，这将（iii）通过直接观察选择性疏水作用，有助于对浮选及其潜在的物理和化学原理的一般科学理解。另一个好处是（四）FlotEnAMIS能够扫描，换句话说，绘制用于自动矿物学调查的相同样品的浮选分离能力，这些样品正在检测矿物相及其释放特性。因此，作为SPP2315的各种项目建议所遵循的一般地质冶金方法的一部分，FlotEnAMIS将增加作为预测矿物加工的矿渣工程结果而获得的矿渣成分特性信息。假设在渣工程和渣设计研究的早期阶段，典型的批量实验室浮选试验工作将需要大量的代表性样品，这些样品通常至少在渣生产的中试规模中，因此不可能在渣工程中测试更大的变化来测试浮选分离能力。因此，需要一种现代的微尺度方法，这种方法也可以彻底改变浮选试剂制度的发现。FlotEnAMIS的第一阶段（前三年）将重点关注Li-Si-Al-Ca-Mg-Mn-O体系中的含锂矿渣，即氧化物矿物浮选领域及其典型浮选试剂，以扫描电双层和疏水相互作用。

FlotEnAMIS as part of SPP 2315 will be based on a novel functional atomic force microscopy (AFM) / atomic force spectroscopy and interface engineering approach to understand the surface properties of engineered artificial minerals (EnAMs) in slags and find suitable flotation reagent regimes for an efficient flotation separation of fine particles from liberated finely grained engineered slags. Due to the synthetic nature of the EnAMs, they often have unknown responses in flotation separation as most fundamental froth flotation studies of the past have been dealing with mineral phases found in nature only. In addition, there is a broad range of possible compositional and crystal morphological variations coming along with the slag engineering (slag chemistry and slag thermal kinetic treatment) which furthermore affect the flotation responses by means of altered surface chemistries in a so far unknown way. Hence, FlotEnAMIS is aiming to serve as an enabling technology to: (i) in-depth study the separation ability of individual EnAMs within small lab-scale slag samples in the slag design stage and make available separation properties to be implemented in process simulations and digital twins. At the same time, FlotEnAMIS will enable (ii) fundamental investigations of the surface properties and interactions with flotation reagents imposed by the variations in phase properties of the engineered artificial minerals, which will (iii) contribute to the general scientific understanding of flotation and its underlying physical and chemical principles by direct observation of the selective hydrophobization. Another benefit is (iv) FlotEnAMIS is able to scan, in other words map, the flotation separation abilities on the same samples which are used for automated mineralogy based investigations, which are detecting the mineral phases and their liberation properties. Thus, FlotEnAMIS is going to add to the information obtained for the slag component properties as a result of the slag engineering towards predictive mineral processing as part of the general geometallurgy approach followed in various project proposals of SPP2315. It is assumed that in the early stage of slag engineering and slag design research, the typical batch lab flotation test work would require way too large amounts of representative samples, which are typically at least in the pilot scale of slag production making it merely impossible to test larger variations in slag engineering to test the flotation separation ability, hence the need for a modern microscale approach which could also revolutionize the finding of flotation reagent regimes in general. The first phase of FlotEnAMIS (first three years) will be focusing on lithium containing slags in the Li-Si-Al-Ca-Mg-Mn-O system, i.e. in the field of oxide mineral flotation and its typical flotation reagents in order to scan for electrical double layer and hydrophobic interactions.