System and method for saturation of a multicomponent medium with active microbubbles

A flotation system for separating mineral particles from a flow pulp, the flotation system comprising:

• an agitator having:
• a housing having a first end and a second end;
• an impeller that is coupled to a drive shaft and adapted to be rotated about a rotational axis and mounted within the housing, the impeller having:
• a first end with a first end face;
• a second end;
• a sidewall that axially extends between the first and second ends;
• a plurality of protuberances disposed on the first end face, the plurality of protuberances extending outwardly from the first end face substantially parallel to a mixing axis;
• a mixing chamber that is located adjacent to the plurality of protuberances;
• and
• at least one compressed gas channel outlet on the first end face of the impeller,
• a fluid inlet disposed at the first end of the housing for supplying a mixing fluid to the mixing chamber;
• a fluid outlet disposed at a sidewall of the housing for discharging a flotation mixture from the mixing chamber;
• a compressed gas inlet disposed at the sidewall of the housing and extending through the housing, and the compressed gas inlet including a spray nozzle extending through the housing and including a plurality of nozzle outlets for discharging compressed gas into the mixing chamber, and there is a gap between the nozzle outlets and the compressed gas channel inlet;
• a flotation chamber;
• and
• a conduit connecting the fluid outlet of the agitator to the flotation chamber,
• wherein the impeller further comprises at least one compressed gas channel connecting the at least one compressed gas channel outlet to a respective one of at least one compressed gas channel inlet along a curved path on the sidewall of the impeller, and the compressed gas inlet is configured for supplying compressed gas to the compressed gas channel inlet of each compressed gas channel.

A method of producing a flotation mixture having gas microbubbles stabilized by a surfactant, emulsion microbubbles stabilized by a surfactant, and microdroplets stabilized by a surfactant, wherein the method comprises:

• providing a solution of a multicomponent surfactant in an agitator for producing the flotation mixture, the agitator comprising:
• a housing having a first end and a second end;
• an impeller that is coupled to a drive shaft and adapted to be rotated about a rotational axis and mounted within the housing, the impeller having:
• a first end with a first end face;
• a second end;
• a sidewall that axially extends between the first and second ends;
• a plurality of protuberances disposed on the first end face, the plurality of protuberances extending outwardly from the first end face substantially parallel to a mixing axis;
• a mixing chamber that is located adjacent to the plurality of protuberances;
• and
• at least one compressed gas channel outlet on the first end face of the impeller,
• a fluid inlet disposed at the first end of the housing for supplying a mixing fluid to the mixing chamber;
• a fluid outlet disposed at a sidewall of the housing for discharging the mixture from the mixing chamber;
• and
• a compressed gas inlet disposed at the sidewall of the housing and extending through the housing;
• wherein the compressed gas inlet is a spray nozzle extending through the housing and including a plurality of nozzle outlets for discharging compressed gas into the mixing chamber, and there is a gap between the nozzle outlets and the compressed gas channel inlet,
• wherein the impeller further comprises at least one compressed gas channel connecting the at least one compressed gas channel outlet to a respective one of at least one compressed gas channel inlet along a curved path on the sidewall of the impeller, and the compressed gas inlet is configured for supplying compressed gas to the compressed gas channel inlet of each compressed gas channel;
• providing compressed gas to the mixing chamber;
• and
• rotating the impeller while the solution of a multicomponent surfactant and the compressed gas are provided, wherein when the compressed gas and the solution are supplied to the mixing chamber, the compressed gas becomes uncompressed gas and rotation of the impeller agitates the uncompressed gas and the solution and disperses the uncompressed gas and at least a portion of the solution to generate the flotation mixture.