Effect of sonochemical pretreatment of slurry depressors on sylvin flotation performance

The main source of potassium fertilizers is sylvinite ores consisting primarily of halite (NaCl), silicate and clay-carbonate slurries (clay-salt slurries). Processing of natural potash ores is mainly carried out by the flotation method, which separates KCl, NaCl, and clay-salt slurry. The research is aimed at revealing the effect of sonochemical pretreatment of the depressor reagents, CMC and starch, on dynamic viscosity, aggregate size, electrokinetic potential of these reagent solutions and sylvin flotation performance. It has been established that sonochemical treatment of depressor solutions decreases the size of aggregates of starch molecules by more than 133 times and that of aggregates of CMC molecules from 6 to 4 nm. It has been revealed that sonochemical treatment of anionic CMC solution shifts the electrokinetic potential towards the area of negative values with an increase in acoustic power, while sonochemical treatment of any acoustic power has no effect on the zeta potential of nonionic starch. It has been found that the sonochemical treatment lowers the dynamic viscosity of CMC and starch solutions: the viscosity of CMC solution at a maximum acoustic power of 420 W decreases by 44 % and the viscosity of starch solution at the same acoustic (ultrasonic) power decreases by 70 %. Furthermore, sonochemical pretreatment of sylvin flotation depressors contributes to an increase in KCl recovery and a decrease in the slurry content in the flotation concentrate. The possibility of reducing the consumption of ultrasonic treated depressor is also demonstrated. It is expedient to test the obtained findings in pilot-plant conditions.