Characterization and degradation studies of xanthates in mining waters

采矿水中黄原酸盐的表征和降解研究

• 批准号: 519939-2017
• 负责人: Donkor, Kingsley
• 金额: $ 0.91万
• 依托单位: Thompson Rivers University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Plus Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=640456
• 关键词: Characterization; degradation; studies; xanthates; mining

Xanthates are compounds used to aid froth flotation in the mining industry to improve metal extraction ofsulphide minerals by selectively separating hydrophobic and hydrophilic minerals. We recently completed anNSERC Engage project with New Afton Mine (New Gold Inc.) in which we successfully developed a capillaryelectrophoresis (CE) method for separating the xanthates - amyl, isobutyl, isopropyl, and ethyl. The developedmethod enables us to separate and quantify the different xanthates. In the Engage work, a good detection limitwas achieved in the lower part-per-million (ppm) range. However, we would like to improve upon thisdetection limit to enable the quantification of even lower concentrations of xanthates which may be present inthe tailings samples. Thus, in the Engage Plus work efforts will be made to attain a detection limit in thepart-per-billion (ppb) range. Accurate testing of xanthates in this ppb range will help to understand ways ofimproving the use of potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) in the circuit and limit its overuse so that the mill circuitis not wasting xanthate nor starving the circuit. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) will alsobe developed to verify the accuracy of the CE results. We would also study the degradation process of variousxanthates using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). This will allow for quantification of thevolatile degradation products evolved from each of the xanthates under varying conditions. The findings fromthis method would provide ideas on the method best suited for an on-stream analyzer and steps will be taken tounderstand the limitations of such an application. Benefits from development of an on-stream analyzer havehuge implications in the mining industry. Mill management is particularly interested in examining the potentialon-stream analyzer application of the developed methods. A comprehensive understanding of the degradationprocess is expected from this work and can then be applied to flotation circuits to improve flotation efficiencyand minimize degradation of product, thus providing extensive monetary and industrial benefit.

黄药是矿业中用来辅助泡沫浮选的化合物，通过选择性地分离疏水和亲水矿物来改善硫化物矿物的金属提取。我们最近完成了与New Afton mine(New Gold Inc.)的NSERC Engage项目。其中，我们成功地建立了毛细管电泳法分离黄原酸酯-戊基、异丁基、异丙基和乙基。所开发的方法使我们能够分离和定量不同的黄药。在接合工作中，在较低的百万分之几(Ppm)范围内获得了良好的检测限。然而，我们希望改进这一检测下限，以便能够对尾矿样品中可能存在的更低浓度的黄药进行定量。因此，在Engage Plus工作中，将努力达到十亿分之一(Ppb)范围内的检测极限。对此ppb范围内的黄药进行准确的测试，将有助于了解改善戊基黄药(PAX)在回路中的使用并限制其过度使用的方法，从而使磨机回路既不会浪费黄药，也不会使回路饥饿。还将开发液相色谱-质谱仪(LC/MS)来验证CE结果的准确性。我们还将利用气相色谱-质谱法(GC/MS)研究各种黄原酸酯的降解过程。这将允许量化在不同条件下从每种黄药中释放的挥发性降解产物。这一方法的结果将为最适合在线分析仪的方法提供思路，并将采取措施了解这种应用的局限性。在线分析仪的开发带来的好处对采矿业有着巨大的影响。工厂管理层特别感兴趣的是检查开发的方法在流动分析仪上的潜在应用。预计这项工作将全面了解降解过程，然后将其应用于浮选回路，以提高浮选效率并将产品降解降至最低，从而提供广泛的金钱和工业效益。