Study On The Interaction Between Copper Sulfate And Butyl Xanthate During Pyrite Flotation

Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral in nature,which is usually recovered by flotation.Before the flotation reagents in flotation system interact with minerals,there will be complex interaction between reagents.The existing research mainly studies the interaction between reagents from the perspective of single or similar reagents according to the step-by-step dosing sequence of adding regulator first and then collector,which does not match with the current situation of synchronous dosing of regulator,collector and frother,which is common in actual production,resulting in the lack of sufficient theoretical support for formulation of reagent parameters and unsatisfactory mineral processing recovery.In this paper,copper sulfate as activator and butyl xanthate as collector in pyrite flotation process are studied.Through the single mineral flotation test,the influence of the interaction between reagents on the flotation behavior of pyrite was studied from the macro point of view when copper sulfate and butyl xanthate were added step by step or simultaneously.The results show that the recovery of pyrite increases first and then decreases with the increase of pulp p H.The recovery of pyrite decreased when the reagents were added synchronously,and the recovery of pyrite was higher when the reagents were added synchronously than when the reagents were added step by step under strong alkaline conditions.By means of contact angle,zeta potential,scanning electron microscopy,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,the surface electrical properties,wettability,surface layer compositions and atomic chemical states of pyrite before and after the interaction of reagents were studied from the microscopic point of view.The results show that the main hydrophobic substance of pyrite surface is cuprous xanthate,and there are cupric xanthate,dixanthogen and iron xanthate.The product adsorbed on the surface of pyrite can change its surface electricity and wettability.With the increase of p H value,the absolute value of surface potential and contact angle of pyrite increase.The zeta potential is higher in the step action than in the synchronous action,and the hydrophobicity of pyrite in acidic solution is better than that in alkaline solution.The electrochemical test results show that the open circuit potential of pyrite under the step-by-step action is lower than that under the synchronous action,the corrosion current density of pyrite under the step-by-step action is twice that under the synchronous action,and the corrosion voltage is also higher than that under the synchronous action.Finally,the effects of reagent interaction on the interface interaction energy and particle interaction of pyrite were studied by molecular simulation and EDLVO theory,and the effects of interaction between butyl xanthate and copper sulfate on the floatability of pyrite were studied from the perspective of molecular level and interface potential energy.The results show that the total energy of the system decreases after the reagent molecules interact with the surface of pyrite,and the ability of interaction between the reagent molecules and the surface of pyrite is stronger than that of synchronous interaction.Flotation reagents can change the interaction potential energy between pyrite particles,which can greatly reduce the electrostatic repulsion potential energy of pyrite particle interface and increase the hydrophobic attraction potential energy of pyrite particle interface.The effect of the interaction between copper sulfate and butyl xanthate on the surface properties and flotation behavior of pyrite was systematically studied.The flotation theoretical system of simultaneous addition of copper sulfate and butyl xanthate is established,which provides a scientific basis for the formulation of reagent parameters in actual production.It has important theoretical and practical significance for enriching and improving the basic theory of pyrite flotation separation and promoting the efficient utilization of pyrite resources.