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US 11,413,629 B2Granted
Froth flotation with anisotropic particle collectors
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsJulia Baldauf, Alexe Bojovschi, Benjamin S. Mashford, Christine Schieber, George Yiapanis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one example, a method includes providing a pulp composed of a combination of particulate materials including particles of a target material. The pulp is mixed with a collector composed of anisotropic particles having at least two separate spatial domains that have different physiochemical properties, and the mixture of pulp and collector is fed into an aqueous solution containing air bubbles.
Claims17
A system, comprising:
- a mixing chamber comprising:
- a first feed line coupled to a source of a pulp;
- and
- a second feed line coupled to a source of a collector;
- the source of the collector, wherein the source of the collector comprises anisotropic particles having at least two separate spatial domains that have different physiochemical properties;
- and
- a flotation chamber comprising:
- a third feed line coupled to a source of air;
- and
- a fourth feed line coupled to an output of the mixing chamber;
- wherein:
- the pulp comprises a combination of particulate materials including particles of a target material;
- and
- at least some particles of the anisotropic particles comprise:
- a plurality of hydrocarbon chains;
- and
- functional groups borne on a first subset of the plurality of hydrocarbon chains;
- the at least some particles of the anisotropic particles are arranged to provide a hierarchical surface structure comprising:
- a micro-scale surface comprising bodies of the at least some particles of the aniostropic particles;
- and
- a nano-scale surface extending from the micro-scale surface and comprising at least some of the plurality of hydrocarbon chains.
18 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a source of a pulp, wherein the pulp comprises a combination of particulate materials including particles of a target material;
- a source of the collector, wherein the source of the collector comprises anisotropic particles having at least two separate spatial domains that have different physiochemical properties;
- a mixing chamber having a first feed line that is coupled to the source of the pulp and the source of the collector;
- and
- a flotation chamber comprising:
- a second feed line coupled to a source of air;
- and
- a third feed line coupled to an output of the mixing chamber;
- wherein:
- at least some particles of the anisotropic particles comprise:
- a plurality of hydrocarbon chains;
- and
- functional groups borne on a first subset of the plurality of hydrocarbon chains;
- the at least some particles of the anisotropic particles are arranged to provide a hierarchical surface structure comprising:
- a micro-scale surface comprising bodies of the at least some particles of the aniostropic particles;
- and
- a nano-scale surface extending from the micro-scale surface and comprising at least some of the plurality of hydrocarbon chains.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.