Frother distribution in an industrial coal flotation circuit

In reuse of process water in flotation plants, the inability to measure residual frother concentrations in both flotation and plant water circuits in real time has created challenges for flotation process control. We previously developed a simple and fast method to measure frother concentration based on the guest-host interactions between frother molecules and specially formulated liquid comprising cyclodextrin and pyrene. In the present study, the formulation and analysis procedure were upgraded to further improve the measurement sensitivity. The potential of the present method was demonstrated through methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) concentration measurement at six different locations across an industrial coal flotation circuit. The measured MIBC distribution was in good agreement with that obtained using the colorimetric method developed by Finch and coworkers at McGill University. The implications of the established MIBC distribution in the coal flotation circuit for frother dosing and water reuse were discussed.