Metal contaminants may be problematic in a number of industries, particularly in the mining industry. Fines production and dust control may be similarly problematic in many industries, including the mining industry. Reaction products formed from a saccharide polymer and diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC) under room temperature to heating conditions in the presence of a hydroxide base or a radical initiator may be effective for promoting removal of metal contaminants from clay-containing substances, such as through froth flotation. The reaction products may also be effective for mitigating fines production and providing dust control by forming a coating upon a plurality of particulates.

The present invention provides improved methods for purifying and/or removing oily particles, and/or contaminants suspended or dissolved in water. In particular the process relates to an additive composition that has the appropriate surfactant characteristics for effectively removing an oil phase from an oil/aqueous mixed phase via foam fractionation. According to the invention, a hydrophobically modified polymer that acts as an associative thickener is combined with surfactant in appropriate ratios to facilitate oil removal for water purification in any of a number of commercial, environmental and industrial applications.

One or more surfactants and one or more adjuvant gases in the hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes, which are added thereto in the state of nanobubbles and microbubbles, both the gases used and the nanobubbles and the microbubbles thereof, are in a variable proportion depending on the physicochemical requirements of each of the stages of the process where it is applied. The nanobubbles and microbubbles, of the proposed composition, make it possible to significantly increase the physicochemical properties of these gases such as: flotation speed, oxidizing power, reducing power, contact area provided and coalescence speed.

Described herein are methods for flotation of an ore. The methods include providing an aqueous suspension having an ore in the form of particles, water, and a first frothing agent including a poly(tetrahydrofuran), in a flotation cell to obtain a provided aqueous suspension. The method further includes introducing air into the provided aqueous suspension to obtain a froth. Further described herein are specific aqueous suspensions having ore particles and poly(tetrahydrofuran) and uses of poly(tetrahydrofuran) as a frothing agent for an aqueous suspension having an ore in the form of particles.

A flotation process for treating coal slime in which coal slime, a collecting agent and a frothing agent are fed into an ore slurry pretreater, and salt-containing waste water of coal chemical industry discharged from a coal chemical enterprise is fed as dilution water into the ore slurry pretreater and mixed together to complete mineralization; the mineralized ore slurry is subjected to a rough separation operation, the products obtained in the rough separation operation are subjected to a fine separation operation, and the ash content of the fine separation tailings is tested with an ash analyzer; the tailings are returned into the ore slurry pretreater for separation again if the ash content of the fine separation tailings is greater than 20%; otherwise the tailings are discharged as fine separation tailing products if the ash content of the fine separation tailings is smaller than 20%; the fine separation tailing products discharged through a pipeline enter into a pressure filter for dehydration, and filter cakes are discharged as a finally accepted concentrate product after the dehydration in the pressure filter.

The present invention provides improved methods for purifying and/or removing oily particles, and/or contaminants suspended or dissolved in water. In particular the process relates to an additive composition that has the appropriate surfactant characteristics for effectively removing an oil phase from an oil/aqueous mixed phase via foam fractionation. According to the invention, a hydrophobically modified polymer that acts as an associative thickener is combined with surfactant in appropriate ratios to facilitate oil removal for water purification in any of a number of commercial, environmental and industrial applications.

Provided is a method for recovering gold in a cyanide tailing by hierarchical ramified flotation. The method divides a cyanide tailing into coarse and fine-grained products through screen classification, making preparation for hierarchical ramified flotation. The method then conducts flotation of the coarse and fine-grained products with suitable process parameters and reagent systems, and selects a suitable coarse-grained flotation product as a carrier of fine-grained flotation to maximize the recovery efficiency of fine grains. The method improves the overall recovery rate of gold with the hierarchical ramified flotation of coarse and fine grains, series-carrier flotation and combined reagent enhanced flotation. The method has an advanced process, a good separation effect, and can effectively recover fine-grained gold in the cyanide tailing.

Separation columns and methods for PFAS removal from water resources. Each column comprises perforated trays, level-controlled gates and air spargers placed on the top of each tray. Air bubbles of optimum size injected on the surface of each tray rise to the top of each tray, separating PFAS, thus creating a PFAS-enriched foam at the top. The amount of air or other gas injected at each stage of the column is optimally determined to increase the gas-water contact time and decrease enriched foam production. The foam is collected from the surface and undergoes a simple low-pressure evaporation process to break the bubbles. Multi-stage air injection using a sparger or distributer to inject air or other gas bubbles in each tray produces higher turbulence on each tray and more fresh and small bubbles of controlled size along the column height, thus enhancing contaminant removal and reducing operating costs.

Method of separating individual cathode active materials from a mixture of cathode active materials by froth flotation has been developed. They are based on using appropriate chemical reagents that selectively hydrophobize individual cathode active materials to be recovered, so that they can be collected by air bubbles used in flotation and separated from other mixtures. The chemical reagents are amphiphilic molecules with specialized head groups have a strong affinity to metal elements on surfaces of cathode materials. This method enables a separation of individual cathode active material from a mixture of cathode active materials.

A novel reagent blend and a method by which a fatty acid collector can be used at temperatures below which the fatty acid normally begins to solidify. The reagent blend may comprise fatty acid, an emulsifying reagent, and glycol ether. The emulsifying reagent may comprise 5% of the reagent blend, while the glycol ether may comprise 1% of the reagent blend. The reagent blend may be used for mineral flotation without the addition of heat.