Study of Microemulsified Systems Applied to Mineral Flotation

An investigation of calcite and fluorite microflotation using microemulsified systems is reported. Several reagents that are commonly used in mineral froth flotation, such as sodium silicate, quebracho, and pH modifiers, were tested. The main objective of this research was to simplify the conventional flotation process by the use of microemulsions. This application is based on their capacity to contain variable amounts of water, oil, and surface-active material in a single phase and their ability to decrease interfacial tension, a fact that favors their application in separation processes. The microflotation assays were accomplished in a modified Hallimond tube under specific operating conditions. The results obtained are pioneer and demonstrated the viability of the use of microemulsions in mineral flotation, leading to an improvement of the conventional process.