Improving the parameters affecting the agitator of the copper ore flotation cell of the Daralo copper complex concentration plant

Authors

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Hydrodynamic components in column flotation have a great impact on the performance and efficiency of the process. In this study, the flotation process was modeled using the commercial software ANSYS Fluent. The modeling was performed in two phases using the volume of fluid (VOF) module. In the initial step, the independence of the solution from the grid was investigated, and then the validation of the developed numerical model was investigated. For different methods of using blades inside the flotation cell, the flow field, bubble diameter, and gas retention were investigated. The results showed that horizontal blade placement has the best performance in reducing axial mixing in the column. Using this blade placement method, the axial speed can be reduced by 75%. The presented results also showed that increasing the mixer rotation speed from 700 rpm leads to increased separation forces, and as a result, the recovery of copper particles inside the flotation cell decreases. On the other hand, increasing the speed of the agitator leads to increased instability of the foam phase. This can be attributed to the production of larger diameter bubbles due to the increase in the speed of the agitator. Larger bubbles mean higher surface energy and, as a result, lower copper particle recovery. Also, as the agitator moves closer to the lower part of the flotation cell, the effect of the turbulence created by the agitator rotation on the phase increases, making the foam phase more unstable and reducing the recovery of copper particles.

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Journal of Solid and Fluid Mechanics
Volume 16, Issue 4
September and October 2026
Pages 415-429

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