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Abstract

The amenability of carbonate separation from a sedimentary phosphate ore via the bioflotation process was investigated. The conventional flotation experiments using oleic acid as a collector could not give good results as in the presence of bacteria. Therefore, two types of bacteria were tested in beneficiation of carbonaceous phosphate ore. Flotation experiments were carried out using statistical designs for optimising the main operating parameters. The main parameters used in this study were micro-organism concentration, pH and collector dosage. The optimisation process was conducted using rotatable central composite design (RCCD) as a tool for optimisation. The design results showed that selective separation of carbonate from phosphate can be obtained using bacteria. An optimum concentrate containing 0˙7%MgO and ∼31%P₂O₅ with a recovery of ∼93% can be obtained at pH 5˙5, a micro-organism concentration of 10 × 10⁷ cells and a collector dosage of 2 kg t^–1.

Keywords

DOLOMITE PHOSPHATE STATISTICAL DESIGN CCD BACTERIA MICRO-ORGANISM BIOFLOTATION

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Optimisation of bioflotation of carbonaceous impurities from phosphate ore

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