Experimental and numerical study on the stirred pulp-mixing process with addition accessory

Flotation column is a novel type of new effective separation equipment for fine particle ore. Stirred pulp-mixing is a core component of a cyclonic-static micro-bubble flotation column. The quality of stirred pulp-mixing performance directly influences the separation effect of the flotation column. In this paper, stirred pulp-mixing performance with the effect of addition accessory (baffles and guide cylinder) was experimentally and numerically studied. The analysis show that without the addition accessory, the impeller mainly form circulation in stirred pulp-mixing and can´t generate mixing flow with high shear rate and high turbulent kinetic energy in whole tank. With a guide cylinder, the axial flow is enhanced which speed up the interaction of flotation reagent with mineral as well as shorten mixing time. With the baffles, flow resistances increased, velocity decreased, as a result, prolonging mixing time. But, shearing rate is increased and the lower turbulent kinetic energy region is smallest, which makes it easy to break through the potential barrier of interfaces of solid and liquid phase in pulp-mixing process and also strengthen the interaction of flotation reagent with mineral surface.