Bubbles growth and their stability in reactive flotation process

Reactive flotation is a process originally used to separate dolomite from phosphate. It depends mainly on the formation of CO2 bubbles as a product of acid reaction with dolomite surface in presence of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymeric membrane. Elasticity of PVA membrane is one of the critical factors that affect the bubble stability at the interface. The dynamic surface tension (DST) at different CO2 rates was used as a measure for the membrane elasticity. The DST, at different CO2 rates, was used to simulate the bubbles formation at the interface due to the surface reaction of dolomite with acidic media. The results indicated that the high evolution of CO2, due to vigorous reaction, negatively affects the membrane elasticity and leads to fast rupture of the formed bubbles.