High-energy ultrasound to improve the quality of purifying the particles of iron ore in the process of its enrichment
The iron-magnetite raw material extracted in Ukraine is characterized by a complex texture, structure, and a high content of harmful impurities such as silicon dioxide, potassium oxides, sodium, magnesium, and sulfur. At the same time, the requirements for the quality of iron ore concentrates entering the further metallurgical processing are increasing, as the high quality of magnetite concentrates can significantly reduce the cost of metallurgical production. Meanwhile, the quality of concentrates decreases mainly due to the formation of technogenic micron splices in the iron ore pulp. The main reason for the formation of gaps is the presence of ion-electric and molecular fields on the surface of the ore particles. The formation of technogenic gaps reduces the difference in the properties of the surface of the ore and nonmetallic grains; it changes their magnetic susceptibility and, consequently, the efficiency of separation methods. Analysis of the results of studying the influence of the dynamic effects of high-energy ultrasound on the ore pulp showed the promising use of this approach. To improve the efficiency of cleaning the surfaces of minerals, it is proposed to pre-treat the iron ore slurry with the help of high-energy ultrasound. The optimum values of the intensity and the duration of ultrasonic treatment in the purification of mineral particles have been determined. When cleaning mineral particles, the intensity should be 1.2 W/cm2, and the processing time should not exceed 60 seconds. In this case, the yield of the purified product is increased by 0.8 %, and its quality grows by 0.9 %. It has been proven that the efficiency of ultrasonic treatment is associated with the renewal of particles surfaces, which leads to an increase in the contrast of magnetic and flotation properties of minerals. The study has shown that ultrasonic treatment of the iron ore pulp in the Kremenchuk iron ore region of Ukraine allows reducing the content of harmful impurities: potassium oxide - from 0.19 to 0.035-0.04 %; sodium oxide - from 0.14 to 0.027 %.