Preparation and impact on coal flotation of octanol emulsion

In this study, the method for the preparation of octanol emulsion using high shear emulsification with sorbitan oleate and sodium oleate complex as an emulsifier was studied. The effects of different factors on stability of emulsion were studied as well. Emulsion was used in the slime flotation. Based on single-factor experiment, composed emulsifier (referred to as SOS15) with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance 15 was chosen as an emulsifier. The optimum parameters to prepare octanol emulsion with SOS15 emulsifier were an SOS15 concentration of 3.5 wt%, an oil/water mass ratio of 3:7, and the shear rate of 3000 r/min. The stability of the octanol emulsion with stability index S of 0.96 was well. The particle size measurement showed that emulsion had a small particle size and a uniform distribution. The particle size distribution of octanol emulsion was concentrated in 0.1~0.45 μm, and the average particle size was 0.2 μm. Flotation test results indicated that when the combustible recovery was the same, the dosage of the emulsified octanol would be only 66.66% of octanol, the concentrate ash reduced by 1%, and the flotation perfect index increased by 1.32%.