US3885673A - Electrostatic separation of potash ores - Google Patents

Electrostatic separation of potash ores Download PDF

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Publication number
US3885673A
US3885673A US747788A US74778868A US3885673A US 3885673 A US3885673 A US 3885673A US 747788 A US747788 A US 747788A US 74778868 A US74778868 A US 74778868A US 3885673 A US3885673 A US 3885673A
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United States
Prior art keywords
ore
ammonium
amine
ammonium salt
percent
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Expired - Lifetime
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US747788A
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English (en)
Inventor
Robert Berthon
Michel Bichara
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ALSACE MINES POTASSE
MINES DE POTASSE D'ALSACE SA
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ALSACE MINES POTASSE
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
    • B03C—MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
    • B03C7/00—Separating solids from solids by electrostatic effect
    • B03C7/003—Pretreatment of the solids prior to electrostatic separation
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01D—COMPOUNDS OF ALKALI METALS, i.e. LITHIUM, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, RUBIDIUM, CAESIUM, OR FRANCIUM
    • C01D3/00—Halides of sodium, potassium or alkali metals in general
    • C01D3/04—Chlorides
    • C01D3/08—Preparation by working up natural or industrial salt mixtures or siliceous minerals

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT For recovering an enriched KCl fraction from potash ores by electrostatic separation, the ore is conditioned with a reagent comprising an aliphatic amine of 8 22 carbon atoms and an ammonium salt of a lower aliphatic carboxylic acid, e.g., laurylamine and ammonium acetate.
  • This invention relates to a process for the beneficiation of potash ores, and in particular to an electrostatic process for the recovery of enriched fractions of potassium chloride from ores, such as sylvinite.
  • ores can be electrostatically separated into their constituents if such constituents have been previously differentially charged.
  • the electrostatic method permits the concentration of the desired potassium chloride. But ordinarily, in order to obtain a satisfactory degree of separation, the differences between the charges induced on the ore components must be accentuated by subjecting the ore to a prior conditioning step.
  • Another type of process often recommended comprises conditioning the potash ore with a chemical agent before the electrostatic separation.
  • Agents most often used are organic acids having an aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aromatic or hydroxy-aromatic radical, salts or esters of such acids, the molecule of which can also contain other carboxylic groups and/or sulfonic groups.
  • Other type of surface active agents can also be employed, in particular, long chain aliphatic amines, especially amines obtained from mixtures of fatty acids prepared from natural products (tallow, coprah oil, fish oil, etc.)
  • all of these various conditioning chemical agents present the same disadvantage.
  • Another object is to improve the efficiency of the separation.
  • the potash ores are conditioned with an ammonium salt of a lower aliphatic carboxylic acid and an aminated reagent comprising at least one primary or secondary aliphatic amines of 8 22 carbon atoms or salts thereof.
  • the lower aliphatic carboxylic acid portion of the ammonium salt preferably comprises 1 4, preferably 1 3 carbon atoms, and the salt can be monobasic or polybasic depending on the number of acid groups in the acid, all acid groups being completely neutralized.
  • ammonium salt is somewhat effective when added to the ore in form of an aqueous solution, it is preferably used in solid form, for not only is it more efficient in this latter form, but the drying of the ore at about 100 C becomes unnecessary. Consequently, for subsequent treatment, the ore can be heated to lower temperatures, e.g., 50 to C.
  • aliphatic amines primary or secondary, saturated or unsaturated amines having from 8 22 carbon atoms can be used as well as salts of such amines as, for example, acetateor hydrochloride.
  • amines which can be used those prepared from commercial fatty acids, either pure or technical grade, are perfectly suitable, such as lau rylamine, palmitylamine, stearylamine or oleylamine.
  • Lower purity products for example, amines produced from naturally occurring fatty acid mixtures or those found in industrial residues or byproducts, such as fatty amines of coprah, tallow, various animal or vegetable oils, can also be used.
  • the fatty amines coming from petroleum chemicals are also suitable.
  • amines can be used either as they occur, that is to say, in solid or liquid form, depending on their molecular weight, or dissolved in an organic solvent having no effect on the electrostatic separation, such as hexane, benzene, or trichlorethylene. It is advisable to avoid the use of aqueous solutions or dispersions of these amines, to impede the formation of ore agglomerates and the splitting of the clay-like materials which would otherwise coat the ore particles, thereby inhibiting the separation of valuable constituents. Furthermore, as already said for ammonium salt, the addition of water requires the ore to be dried at about C, whereas it is possible to operate at much lower temperatures by using a low boiling organic solvent.
  • the amine reagent and the ammonium salt can be added to the ore together or separately. This addition can take place in any type of equipment wherein a uniform distribution of reagents on ore particles can be obtained, for example, a mixer, a rotary drum, etc.
  • the quantity of amine reagent is generally about 50 500 g/t (grams per metric ton) of ore and the quantity of ammonium salt about 100 1,000 g/t of ore. Within these ranges, a man skilled in the art can select the optimum proportions for the particular ore by a few routine tests.
  • amine and ammonium salts include but are not limited to all of the fatty amines such as the amines commercially available from Armour and Company under the trade name Armeens can be used, and preferably those containing less than 16 car-. bon atoms.
  • the corresponding amine acetates sold under the trade name Armac" are also suitable.
  • ammonium formiate, oxalate and acetate are more advantageous due to their relatively lower cost
  • ammonium salts of the acids such as propionic, malonic, butyric, isobutyric and pivalic can also be associated with any of the cited amines.
  • the ore is comminuted in a conventional manner, but preferably dry comminuted in order to avoid an additional drying of the ore.
  • Comminution must be sufficient to liberate the various ore constituents, and in any case, it is advisable that the particle size does not exceed about 2 mm (9 mesh Tyler). It is also advantageous to select a comminution method which produces a relatively low proportion of very fine particles 150 mesh Tyler).
  • the latter is electrically charged, for example, by contact electrification.
  • This charging can be conducted either in a rotary drum or in a vessel where the ore is maintained in fluidized state by means of hot air.
  • the operation is performed at about 50 100 C in order to dry the ore or remove the organic solvent used during the conditioning step.
  • the charged reagentized ore is then fed to the electrostatic separator.
  • a freefall-type electrostatic device is generally preferred, inasmuch as the latter yields a higher output and a more efficient separation of fine particles.
  • the field strength in this separator may vary from 2 to 6,000 V/cm but a strength of about 3,000 V/cm is generally sufficient to obtain good results.
  • the separation can be accomplished between 50 and 100 C, preferably between 60 and 80 C, that is substantially at the same temperature as that of the electrical charging of ore particles.
  • the ore does not cool down between these two steps and when severe climatic conditions or exploitation requirements are liable to cause a cooling of the treated ore, the latter must be heated just before it is fed into the separator. In any case, all convenient measures must be taken so that the desired ore temperature is maintained in the electrostatic separator.
  • EXAMPLE III A sylvinite ore containing 18.2 percent K 0 and 5.2 percent of insoluble materials was comminuted so that substantially all the particles have a size lower than 1.2 mm (14 mesh Tyler). The ore was conditioned in a mixer with 100 g of laurylamine and 1,000 g of solid ammonium acetate per metric ton of ore.
  • the conditioned ore was fluidized by means of a hot air stream, thereby heating the ore temperature to about 90 C, and simultaneously electrically charging same.
  • the charged ore was fed to a free-fall type separator with a field strength of 3,000 V/cm, and after a single pass, there is obtained three fractions: (a) 26.7 percent by weight of potassium chloride concentrate containing 58 percent K 0 and 1.5 percent insoluble materials; (b) 6.3 percent of middlings at 14.4 percent K 0 and 5.2 percent insoluble materials; and (c) 67 percent of a sodium chloride residue at 6.5 percent insoluble materials and containing only 1.7 percent K 0.
  • ammonium salt is ammonium acetate, ammonium formiate or ammonium oxalate.
  • ammonium salt is ammonium acetate, ammonium formiate or ammonium oxalate.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
  • Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
  • Extraction Or Liquid Replacement (AREA)
US747788A 1967-07-28 1968-07-26 Electrostatic separation of potash ores Expired - Lifetime US3885673A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR116039A FR1545668A (fr) 1967-07-28 1967-07-28 Procédé de séparation électrostatique de minerais potassiques

Publications (1)

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US3885673A true US3885673A (en) 1975-05-27

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US747788A Expired - Lifetime US3885673A (en) 1967-07-28 1968-07-26 Electrostatic separation of potash ores

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US (1) US3885673A (fr)
CA (1) CA922670A (fr)
DE (1) DE1758707B1 (fr)
ES (1) ES356584A1 (fr)
FR (1) FR1545668A (fr)
GB (1) GB1238505A (fr)
OA (1) OA03887A (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2342020A1 (fr) * 2008-10-31 2011-07-13 Cytec Technology Corp. Procede permettant d'accroitre la separation electrostatique a destination de minerais

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2450720A (en) * 1943-12-30 1948-10-05 Erie Mining Co Froth flotation of silicious gangue from an alkaline magnetic iron ore pulp with an amine
US2762505A (en) * 1953-01-21 1956-09-11 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Electrodynamic method for beneficiating sylvinite ore
US2927010A (en) * 1957-12-30 1960-03-01 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Process for the beneficiation of sylvite ores
US3008573A (en) * 1960-03-31 1961-11-14 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Electrostatic separation process
US3063561A (en) * 1960-01-25 1962-11-13 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Beneficiation of ores
US3477566A (en) * 1966-03-11 1969-11-11 Kali Forschungs Anstalt Process for the electrostatic separation of the sylvite (kci) component of a mineral

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1056551B (de) * 1957-01-25 1959-05-06 Kali Forschungsanstalt Gmbh Verfahren zur elektrostatischen Aufbereitung von Kalisalzen

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2450720A (en) * 1943-12-30 1948-10-05 Erie Mining Co Froth flotation of silicious gangue from an alkaline magnetic iron ore pulp with an amine
US2762505A (en) * 1953-01-21 1956-09-11 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Electrodynamic method for beneficiating sylvinite ore
US2927010A (en) * 1957-12-30 1960-03-01 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Process for the beneficiation of sylvite ores
US3063561A (en) * 1960-01-25 1962-11-13 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Beneficiation of ores
US3008573A (en) * 1960-03-31 1961-11-14 Int Minerals & Chem Corp Electrostatic separation process
US3477566A (en) * 1966-03-11 1969-11-11 Kali Forschungs Anstalt Process for the electrostatic separation of the sylvite (kci) component of a mineral

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2342020A1 (fr) * 2008-10-31 2011-07-13 Cytec Technology Corp. Procede permettant d'accroitre la separation electrostatique a destination de minerais

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA922670A (en) 1973-03-13
ES356584A1 (es) 1970-01-16
GB1238505A (fr) 1971-07-07
FR1545668A (fr) 1968-11-15
OA03887A (fr) 1975-08-14
DE1758707B1 (de) 1970-05-14

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