Hydro tropes as promoters in soap flotation

Abstract

Soaps, the salts of fatty acids are generally used as collectors in the flotation process to separate salt type minerals. Some times light diesel oil is mixed with soaps and the emulsion is used as collector. Addition of detergents to soaps not only enhances the collector efficiency but also reduces the consumption of soap. Urea a known hydro trope is found to improve the flotation efficiency of soaps. Our current testing is indicating that other hydro tropes such as tri sodium citrate and sodium salicylate are also effective in improving the flotation efficiency of soap and also the soap-LDO emulsion.