Improvement of ilmenite flotation via the benzohydroxamic acid synergistic mechanical activation

[Display omitted] •The method of promoting ilmenite flotation involves adding BHA to the mill was proposed.•The BHA synergistic mechanical activation can promote ilmenite flotation significantly.•The mechanism of BHA synergistic mechanical activation on ilmenite flotation was revealed. In this paper, the effect of the benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) synergistic mechanical activation on ilmenite flotation was systematically investigated. Flotation results revealed that the flotation recovery of ilmenite significantly increased with the addition of BHA before grinding as compared to the conventional process flow. Similar trend was observed in the flotation test of artificial mixed mineral. The addition of BHA to the mill has little effect on the size distribution of ilmenite, but it can increase the content of crystal surface (104) with the lowest surface energy of ilmenite. The results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis showed that the addition of BHA before grinding resulted in improving the intensity and kinds of characteristic absorption peaks of BHA on the ilmenite surface. The addition of BHA to the mill effectively facilitated the interaction between ilmenite and BHA. Besides, the result of flotation kinetics demonstrated that the flotation kinetics of ilmenite could be well evaluated with the first-order kinetic model. And the flotation kinetic constant was improved by adding BHA before grinding, which was conducive and beneficial for enhancing the ilmenite flotation.