International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057

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International Journal of Mineral Processing

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / i j m i n p r o

Detachment of coarse particles from oscillating bubblesThe effect of particle

contact angle, shape and medium viscosity
D. Xu a, I. Ametov a,, S.R. Grano b
a
Ian Wark Research Institute, The ARC Special Research Centre for Particle and Material Interfaces, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
b
Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper examines the detachment of coarse particles from oscillating bubbles as a function of particle
Received 21 December 2010 hydrophobicity and shape, as well as medium viscosity. The detachment experiments were conducted using a
Received in revised form 8 July 2011 novel electro-acoustic technique for both ground quartz particles and spherical glass beads of various
Accepted 10 July 2011
diameters and hydrophobicity. The detachment force for both types of particles, calculated from the
Available online 6 August 2011
maximum vibration amplitude at which a particle detaches from a bubble, increased with an increase in the
Keywords:
contact angle of particles and viscosity of the suspending medium. At low vibration frequencies, the quasi-
Coarse particle otation static model predicts the experimental detachment force reasonably well. In contrast, at high vibration
Bubble-particle detachment frequency and, particularly, in high viscosity medium, the quasi-static model does not predict the
Stability of bubble-particle aggregates experimental detachment force. It is hypothesised that the magnitude of the detachment force is determined
by the dynamic contact angle, which is governed by the velocity of movement of the three phase contact line.
Larger detachment forces were observed for the quartz particles compared to that of the spherical glass beads
of the same size range and similar contact angle value.
The stability of the bubble-particle aggregates at high viscosity has been related to the dynamic contact angle
of particles. At high viscosity, the rate of movement of the three phase contact line, which governs the
dynamic contact angle, is reduced thus resulting in more stable bubble-particle aggregates.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The essence of froth otation is the capture of minerals by rising
bubbles. To ensure the efcient recovery by otation, sub-processes
such as bubble-particle collision and attachment of particles to
bubbles must occur. Moreover, the formed bubble-particle aggregates
must be stable. In the technological otation process these three sub-
processes occur simultaneously.
The collision and attachment sub-processes have been investigat-
ed in detail by Dai et al. (2000), Duan et al. (2003) and Pyke et al.
(2003). However, the detachment sub-process, particularly in relation
to coarse particle otation, is not well understood.
In this paper, the detachment of model coarse particles from
bubbles is investigated using a novel electro-acoustic technique. The
effect of particle contact angle and shape as well as medium viscosity
on the detachment of particles from bubbles is studied. The
experimental detachment force, calculated from the critical detach-
ment amplitude, is used to quantify the detachment of particles from
bubbles. The theoretical detachment force, based on the balance of
forces acting on a particle-bubble aggregate, was also evaluated. The
Corresponding author. Fax: + 61 8 8302 3683.
E-mail address: igor.ametov@unisa.edu.au (I. Ametov).
analysis of forces, which may affect the stability of the bubble-particle
aggregates, is presented in the following introductory section.
1.1. Forces at three phase contact line
A particle, originally attached to a bubble, will detach from the
bubble when an external detachment force exceeds the attachment
force acting within the particle-bubble aggregate. The balance of forces
acting on the particle-bubble aggregates will determine their stability.
For coarse particle otation, the essential problem is whether or not the
adhesive force acting on the three phase contact line is large enough to
prevent the destruction of the aggregate under the dynamic conditions
in the otation environment. A quasi-static model, often used to
describe the balance of forces within the particle-bubble aggregate, does
not take into account the dynamics of movement of the three phase line
of contact at the particle surface and, therefore, the force balance
approach may underestimate the detachment force under some
circumstances. This particular hypothesis is explored in this paper.
The forces acting on a spherical particle at a static planar liquid/gas
interface have been presented in many papers (Huh and Scriven,
1969; Schulze, 1977, 1984), which correspond to the asymptotes of
RP/Rb 0 (RP is the particle radius, Rb is bubble radius). However, it
has been pointed out that in froth otation the ratio of the particle to
bubble radius is nite and should be taken into account in the

0301-7516/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.minpro.2011.07.003
 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057 51

where b is the bubble radius apex, and is expressed in terms of

the
8 particle radius and9the central angle: b = Rp sin , H = Rb
s
<  2 =. The forces on the left-hand side of Eq. (2)
Rp
1 + 1 sin2
: Rb ;
form the adhesive force (Fad), which bonds the particle to the bubble.
These forces are a function of the position of the three phase contact
line, i.e., for a particle with a specic contact angle, the adhesive force
will change with the central angle, . The right-hand side of Eq. (2)
includes forces independent of the position of the three phase contact
line, which describes the weight of the particle less its buoyancy. They
represent the detaching force (Fde), which tends to detach the particle
from the bubble, and it may have additional components, including
the force due to the acceleration of turbulent eddies which is
essentially represented by an acceleration a:

4 3
Fa = R a 3
3 P P

In our tests, the additional detachment force is the vibration force,

which is explained in the next section below. The expression of the
vibration force is consistent with the expression of the detachment
force used by Holtham and Cheng (1991).

1.2. Detachment force for a bubble-particle aggregate in a vibrating

system

The detachment force is an important parameter in mathematical

modelling of the otation process. The magnitude of the detachment
force, evaluated using a centrifuge technique, has been reported in the
literature (Nutt, 1960; Nishkov and Pugh, 1989; Schulze et al., 1989).
Fig. 1. Geometry of the particle attached to a bubble with a deformed meniscus. Holtham and Cheng (1991) developed a vibration technique, which,
(Nguyen, 2003). from their point of view, was a more realistic representation of the
conditions in a otation cell. They used a small loudspeaker driven by
geometry (Nguyen, 2003). The geometry of the bubble-particle an audio signal generator and power amplier as the source of
aggregate is shown in Fig. 1 (Nguyen, 2003). According to Nguyen sinusoidal vibration, the amplitude and frequency of which could be
(2004), forces acting on the particles attached to a bubble are controlled simultaneously. Holtham and Cheng (1991) claimed that
summarised in Table 1. In the equations in Table 1, P is the density of the bubble-particle detachment force measured using their technique
particle, l is the density of liquid, is the particle contact angle, is correlated well with the force theoretically predicted by Nutt (1960).
central angle at the particle, is the liquidgas surface tension and H According to Holtham and Cheng (1991), a bubble-particle aggre-
is the height of the meniscus above the three-phase line of contact. gate, vibrated by external forces, may be considered to behave as a
At equilibrium, the sum of all the forces acting on the particle- spring-mass system. When a bubble-particle aggregate is vibrated
bubble equals to zero. Thus, (assuming the bubble is rigid), the aggregate motion may be described as
a simple harmonic motion, with the vibration velocity given by Eq. (4):
Fb + Fcap + FP = Fg 1
V = A sint + 4
Inserting all the expressions in Table 1 into Eq. (1), and rewriting
the particle volume immersed in the liquid phase by the whole
where the is the angular frequency, A is an amplitude, t denotes
volume less the particle volume immersed in the gas phase, one can
time and is the phase of oscillation, which determines the starting
convert Eq. (1) into a expression for the force balance, i.e.,
point on the sine wave.
The vibration acceleration is described by Eq. (5):
R3p l g
3

2Rp sin sin 23 cos + cos 2
  3 2
2 2 4R3p g av = A cost + 5
+ l gH Rp sin2 =
b 3
Therefore, the force may be represented by Eq. (6):

Table 1
2
Forces acting on a particle attached to a large bubble (static). Fv = ma = m A cost + 6
Attachment forces (Fatt) Detachment forces (Fdet)

The static buoyancy force of the immersed part: The force of gravity: Thus, the maximum vibration force is given by Eq. (7):


R3 g
Fb = P3 l 2 + 3 cos cos3 Fg = 43 R3P P g
The capillary force on the three-phase line: 2
Fcap = 2RP sin sin( )
Fv; max = m2f A 7
The hydrostatic pressure of the liquid of height H
 
above the contact area: FP = R2P l gH 2 sin2
b where f is the oscillation frequency and m is mass of the particle.
52 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057

2. Experimental Table 2
Viscosity and density of glycerol/water mixtures.

2.1. Materials Percentage of glycerol (v/v) Viscosity, (mPa s) Density, (g/cm3)

0 0.9 1.0
Samples of quartz (GEO Discoveries, Australia) were ground and 10 1.0 1.0
screened to two coarse size ranges of interest, namely the size range of 20 1.3 1.1
150300 m and 600850 m. The quartz particles were then cleaned 40 3.0 1.1
50 7.6 1.13
using concentrated hydrochloric acid three times (2 h each time) and
rinsed with Milli-Q water until the pH became neutral. Trimethylchlor-
osilane (TMCS) solutions in cyclohexane were used for particle generated at the end of the capillary tube. According to Nutt (1960), this
methylation (Crawford et al., 1987). Since TMCS readily reacts with kind of apparatus is unsuitable for collective grains of very ne particles
water, the methylation reaction was performed in a glove box under because of additional adhesive forces between particles (Nutt, 1960),
nitrogen atmosphere. Different concentrations of TMCS were prepared which may falsify the results. Thus, in this work only one particle was
by diluting required volumes of TMCS in cyclohexane. The quartz employed in each test. The particle-bubble aggregate was subjected to
samples were weighed into a beaker and heated in an oven at 110 C vibration via the sinusoidal signal introduced to the loudspeaker.
overnight to remove the physisorbed moisture. Quartz particles with Measurements were carried out at frequencies of 30, 50 and 90 Hz.
various contact angles were obtained using solutions of different TMCS The amplitude at which the particle detached from the bubble was
concentrations and reaction times. All glassware was cleaned and identied as the critical detachment amplitude. The average critical
methylated in advance, using the same procedure as for the particles. detachment amplitude was determined by conducting the test for ten
In order to investigate the effect of particle shape on the randomly chosen particles from the same sample. The error in this
detachment sub-process, spherical glass beads within the same measurement is addressed later. Measurements were carried out in
particle size range (600850 m) were employed. The glass beads water and glycerol water mixtures.
were cleaned using the same procedure as for the ground quartz
particles. The methylation procedure was also the same. 2.5. Calculation of the dynamic detachment force

2.2. Contact angle measurements As explained in Introduction section, the detachment force in a
vibration system is the sum of the apparent weight and the maximum
Advancing contact angles of quartz particles were measured using a vibration force, i.e.,
DCAT 11/DCAT 11EC apparatus (DataPhysics Instruments, Germany). The


contact angles were determined from the rate of liquid penetration into a F = Fv; max + F g 9
particle-packed capillary, i.e. the Washburn approach. The advancing det; max

contact angles for two-liquid system were evaluated using Eq. (8):
where Fv,max is the maximum vibration force acting on the bubble-

 particle aggregate and Fg is the particle immersed weight (the
2 1 2
2 x2 =t
cos 1 =  2  1 cos 2 8 mathematical expressions and variables for both forces were presented
1 2 21 x =t 2 above, i.e. F, max = m(2f)2A, Eq. (6) and F'g = 4/3rp3(p l) g.

where x is the height of a liquid rising through a packed bed after a
time t, is the surface tension of the liquid, is the viscosity of the
liquid, and is the liquid density. The subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the
liquid in which the contact angle is determined and the calibrating
(perfectly wetting) liquid respectively. Cyclohexane was previously
shown to be a perfectly wetting liquid for glass beads (Parsons et al.,
1992) and was, therefore, chosen for the current studies. Advancing
contact angles of particles were determined with an error of 3%.
2.3. Viscosity measurement
Glycerol was used to increase the medium viscosity. Detachment of
the coarse particles from bubbles was conducted in water and glycerol/
water mixtures. The viscosity of glycerol/water mixtures were
measured using a Haake RotoVisco RV1 rheometer, (Thermo Electron,
Germany) at room temperature. The Couette, a concentric cylinder
sensor, was used with a rotating bob and a stationary cup (gap
width 1.5 mm). The shear rate ranged from 0 s 1 to 800 s 1. The shear
stress (and viscosity) values were obtained from the continuously
measured torque using the instrument's software. The viscosity and
density of the glycerol/water mixtures as a function of the percentage of
glycerol are shown in Table 2.
2.4. Measurements of stability of the bubble-particle aggregates
3. Results
3.1. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude
To address the experimental errors associated with the measurement
of the detachment force using the electro-acoustic apparatus, thirty
independent tests were conducted using randomly selected quartz
particles in the 600850 m range with mean contact angle values of
493 and 89 3, determined by the Washburn technique. The results
of the tests were processed statistically to obtain the distribution of the
critical detachment amplitude (Fig. 3). The distribution of critical
amplitude was tted by the GaussAmp distribution model (an amplitude
version of Gaussian function, line in Figs. 35), represented by Eq. (10):
xxc 2
y = y0 + Ae 2w2 10
where y0 is the offset, xc is the centre, w is the full width of the peak at
half height (FWHH) and A is the height of the peak. The tted
Loudspeaker
Amplifier
Bubble-particle
Aggregate

The process of detachment of particles from bubbles was examined Computer

using an electro-acoustic technique (Fig. 2). In this technique, a capillary
tube was attached to the membrane of a loudspeaker, connected to an Fig. 2. A schematic diagram of the apparatus used to study the detachment of particles
amplier and a computer. A bubble (typically 2 mm in diameter) was from bubbles.
 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057 53

80
40
57o-63o
86o-92o 87o-93o

30 60
Percentage (%)

46o-52o

Percentage (%)
20
40

10

20
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Amplitude (mm)
0
0.50 0.75 1.00
Fig. 3. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude, shown as the percentage of
amplitude in ranges (steps 0.1) of the total measurements for randomly selected quartz
Amplitude (mm)
particles in the 600850 m range with mean contact angles of 49 3 and 89 3 in
water (based on thirty different particles for each contact angle range at 50 Hz Fig. 5. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude, shown as the percentage of
oscillation frequency). amplitude in ranges (steps 0.1) of the total measurements for a single glass bead in the
600850 m range with mean contact angles of 60 3 and 90 3 in water (based on
thirty repetitions for each single particle at 50 Hz oscillation frequency). The dot point
parameter values of each gure are shown in Table 3. A broad in the gure shows the average amplitude for each glass bead.

distribution of the critical detachment amplitude was observed for

particles with both, low and high mean contact angle values. The
variation in the critical detachment amplitude was attributed to the
difference in the contact angle and particle size of individual particles
selected for the detachment tests. Particles with low mean contact
angle showed the broadest distribution of the critical detachment
amplitude (FWHH = 0.25 mm), possibly due to the greater variation
in contact angle of individual particles as a result of less uniform
coverage of the quartz surface with trimethylsilane groups. Variations
in the particle size and contact area may also be contributing factors.
To investigate the reason for the variation in the distribution of
critical detachment amplitude, a number of detachment tests using a
single particle were carried out, the outcomes of which are presented
in Fig. 4. Evidently, even for a single quartz particle, the distribution of
the critical detachment amplitude is rather broad (FWHH = 0.10),
compared to a spherical glass bead of similar size (FWHH = 0.06,
Table 3 and Fig. 5). The variability in critical detachment amplitude for
the single quartz particle may be attributed to the difference in the
contact area between the particle and the bubble in each test due to
50
74o-80o
40
Percentage (%)
the angular shape of the quartz particles. In contrast, the narrower
distribution of the critical detachment amplitude for a single glass
bead is likely to be a result of the uniform area of contact between the
bubble and the spherical particle in each test. Small variations in the
magnitude of the detachment amplitude may originate from the
slightly inconsistent coverage of the glass beads with trimethylsilane
groups.
3.2. Critical detachment amplitude as a function of contact angle
The mean critical detachment amplitude as a function of contact
angle for quartz particles in the 150300 m and 600850 m size
ranges is presented in Fig. 6(a) and (b) respectively. The contact angle
of particles and vibration acceleration are presented in Table 4.
Evidently, for particles in the same size range, the acceleration at
which a particle detaches from a bubble increased with an increase in
the mean particle contact angle. This suggests that particles with high
contact angles form more stable bubble-particle aggregates when
attached to the bubbles. With regards to the particle size, the
considerably higher acceleration was required for the quartz particles
83o-89o in the 150300 m range compared to coarser quartz (600850 m),
thus reecting the well established fact that aggregates of bubbles
with coarse particles have low stability (Nguyen, 2003).

30
3.3. Effect of medium viscosity

The effect of medium viscosity on critical detachment amplitude

20 for coarse particles (600850 m) of various mean contact angle
values is presented in Fig. 7. For particles with mean contact angle of

Table 3
10
Parameter values of tted distribution of critical detachment amplitude for ground
quartz and glass beads.

0 Figure Contact Particle type Parameters

0.5 1.0 1.5 angle ()
y0 xc w A
Amplitude (mm)
3 49 3 Angular quartz 1.3 0.19 0.25 22.1
3 89 3 Angular quartz 0.77 1.22 0.10 37.2
Fig. 4. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude, shown as the percentage of
4 77 3 Angular quartz 0.94 0.80 0.08 47.7
amplitude in ranges (steps 0.1) of the total measurements for a single quartz particle in
4 86 3 Angular quartz 1.17 1.18 0.08 44.3
the 600850 m range with mean contact angles of 77 3 and 86 3 in water (based
5 60 3 Spherical glass bead 0.94 0.58 0.05 75.0
on thirty repetitions for each single particle at 50 Hz oscillation frequency). The dot
5 90 3 Spherical glass bead 1.47 0.92 0.06 68.1
point in the gure shows the average amplitude for each particle.
54 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057

2.4 2.0
2.0 (a)150-300 m
1.6

Critical Amplitude (mm)

1.2 1.5
Critical Amplitude (mm)

0.8
0.4
0.0 1.0
1.2
(b) 600-850 m
1.0
55o
0.8
0.5 76o
0.6
0.4 83o

0.2 90o
0.0
0.0
30 60 90 0 2 4 6 8
.
Viscosity (mPa s)
Contact Angle (Degree)
Fig. 7. Critical detachment amplitude for 600850 m quartz particles as a function of
Fig. 6. Critical detachment amplitude for quartz particles determined in water
particle contact angle and viscosity of the medium. The tests were conducted at an
( = 0.9 mPa s) and as a function of mean contact angle at 50 Hz detachment
oscillation frequency of 50 Hz. The bubble diameter was 2 mm.
frequency, for (a) 150300 m and (b) 600850 m size ranges.

83 and 90 the critical detachment amplitude gradually increased
with an increase in the medium viscosity. For quartz particles with
lower mean contact angle value (55 and 76) the critical detachment
amplitude was substantially higher at 3.0 mPa s compared to 0.9 mPa
s, but remained virtually unchanged with a further increase in
medium viscosity (to 7.6 mPa s). It is likely that the different trend for
particles with lower mean contact angle originates from the variations
in particle contact angle and particle size. In these tests, the critical
detachment amplitude in water was measured for ten randomly
selected particles, and then ten new particles were chosen for
measurements in the glycerol/water mixtures. The experiments in
water and glycerol/water mixture were repeated for the same set of
particles with the aim to eliminate the possible effect of variations in
particle size and contact angle. The outcomes of the tests are
presented in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively.
The critical detachment amplitude in 50% glycerol/water mixture
( = 7.6 mPa s) was higher than in water ( = 0.9 mPa s) for both,
quartz particles and glass beads (Fig. 9). There is no overlap between
the critical amplitude determined in high viscosity medium and in
water for each case. Evidently, the critical detachment amplitude is
higher in high viscosity medium regardless of the particle shape or
contact angle. The stability of the particle-bubble aggregate is
therefore enhanced in high viscosity medium. A possible mechanism
that the viscosity may affect the movement of three phase contact line
(TPCL), playing a role in the satiability of particle-bubble aggregates
under dynamic condition, is outlined below in the discussion. It is also
3.4. Effect of vibration frequency on the detachment of coarse particles
Another way to manipulate the dynamics of movement of the
three phase contact line is to alter the vibration frequency of particle-
bubble aggregates. Therefore, the detachment behaviour of quartz
particles was also studied at various frequencies (30 Hz, 50 Hz, and
90 Hz) in both water and high viscosity medium (glycerol/water
mixture). The critical detachment amplitude, determined in water
and 50% glycerol/water mixture, as a function of vibration frequency
and mean contact angle value of the particles is presented in Fig. 10.
At any frequency, the critical detachment amplitude increased
with an increase in the mean contact angle value of the particles. As
reported previously, lower critical amplitudes were observed in
water, compared to glycerol/water mixture. With an increase in
vibration frequency, the magnitude of the critical amplitude of
detachment decreased for all quartz particles, regardless of contact
angle value, for both the water and glycerol/water mixtures. This
decrease was particularly evident for tests conducted in water. The
difference between the value of the critical amplitude for the
80
(a)
60
40
Percentage (%)

notable that the critical amplitude is lower for glass beads than for 20
ground quartz particles although they have similar contact angle and
particle size (86 in Fig. 8, 90 in Fig. 9). A possible explanation is 0
explored in the discussion below. (b)
60

40

Table 4 20
Mean contact angle of quartz particles, and their acceleration.

Particle size range (m) Mean contact angle () Acceleration (ms 2) 0

0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2
600850 49 14.7 Amplitude (mm)
76 57.2
83 97.9
Fig. 8. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude, shown as the percentage of
90 120.9
amplitude in ranges (steps 0.1) of the total measurements for quartz particles in the
150300 21 109.5
600850 m size range with mean contact angle values of (a) 77 3 and (b) 86 3 in
35 130.7
water ( = 0.9 mPa s, white bars) and glycerol/water mixture ( = 7.6 mPa s, light grey
49 173.2
bars). The tests were conducted at an oscillation frequency of 50 Hz. The bubble
55 202.6
diameter was 2 mm.
 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057 55

100 4. Discussion
80
(a)
4.1. Experimental and theoretical detachment forces
60

40 The calculation of theoretical adhesive force has been described above.

Percentage (%)

The attachment force of a particle attached to a bubble, which is a function

20
of central angle can be described as the left-hand side of Eq. (2), i.e.,
0

80 (b) R3p l g
3

Fad = 2Rp sin sin 23 cos + cos 10
  3
60 2 2
+ l gH Rp sin2
40 b

20
0 angle is demonstrated in Fig. 12. With a decrease in the central angle, the
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Amplitude (mm)
Fig. 9. Distribution of critical detachment amplitude, shown as the percentage of
amplitude in ranges (steps 0.1) of the total measurements for glass beads in the 600
850 m size range with mean contact angle values of (a) 60 3 and (b) 90 3 in
water ( = 0.9 mPa s, white bars) and glycerol/water mixture ( = 7.6 mPa s, light grey
bars). The tests were conducted at an oscillation frequency of 50 Hz. The bubble
diameter was 2 mm.
detachment amplitude in water and in the glycerol/water mixture
increased with an increase in the vibration frequency and mean
particle contact angle.
3.5. Critical amplitude of detachment for spherical glass beads
It was noted previously that the distribution and magnitude of the
critical detachment amplitude for glass beads was both narrower and
lower than compared with ground quartz particles of similar contact
angle and the same particle size range. The effect was attributed to the
more uniform area of contact between the bubble and the spherical
particle. To verify this hypothesis, a series of tests was conducted as a
function of vibration frequency (30, 50 and 90 Hz) and medium
viscosity. Similar to ground quartz particles, the critical detachment
amplitude of spherical glass beads increased with an increase in the
mean contact angle and decreased with an increase in vibration
frequency (Fig. 11). With regards to the effect of viscosity, the highest
value of the critical detachment amplitude was observed at 7.6 mPa s.
A possible mechanism, which addresses the effect of viscosity on the
detachment of the particles from bubbles, is discussed below.
The typical variation of the attachment force as a function of central
1.2 1.4
adhesive force increases, reaches a maximum and then decreases. As long
as the equilibrium described by Eq. (10) is stable, the detachment force, up
to the maximum value, is counterbalanced by the internal reaction of the
bubble-particle system. Therefore, the maximum adhesive force, denoted
as the tenacity, is a stable property of the meniscusparticle system, which
can be determined from the criterion Eq. (11).
dFad
=0 11
d
However, it has also been pointed out by Nguyen (2004) that
Eq. (11) is only valid when the hysteresis of contact angle (the
difference between the advancing and receding contact angles) is
smaller than the receding contact angle. In our work, Eq. (11) is used,
which may contribute the difference between tenacity and experi-
mental detachment force (Fig. 13).
Conversely, when the particle detaches from the bubble, the
detachment force equals the attachment force. The experimental
detachment force calculated using Eq. (9) and the theoretical
adhesive force determined by Eq. (11) are compared in Fig. 13.
For particles in both size ranges (150300 m and 600850 m),
the experimental detachment force and theoretical attachment force
(tenacity) show reasonable agreement. The small discrepancy in
values is likely to be due to the particle size distribution and, possibly,
the particle geometry, since the average particle size was used in the
calculations, which were based on the assumption that the particles
are spherical. Another contributing factor may be the capillary
pressure which favours the detachment process and was neglected
in the calculations in both cases. It is reasonable to conclude that at

2.4 1.6
(a) 30 Hz 1.2
(a) 30 Hz =0.9 mPa.s
1.6
=3.0 mPa.s
0.8
0.8 =0.9m Pa.s =7.6 mPa.s
Critical Amplitude (mm)

0.4
Critical Amplitude (mm)

=7.6m Pa.s
0.0 0.0
(b) 50 Hz 1.2
(b) 50 Hz
1.6
0.8
0.8
0.4
0.0 0.0
(c) 90 Hz 1.2
(c) 90 Hz
1.6
0.8
0.8
0.4
0.0 0.0
55 83 90 61 89
Contact Angle (Degree) Contact Angle (Degree)

Fig. 10. Effect of contact angle, viscosity and vibration frequency on critical amplitude of Fig. 11. Effect of viscosity and vibration frequency on critical amplitude of spherical
ground quartz particles (N = 10). Tests were conducted at oscillation frequencies of glass beads (N = 10) at oscillation frequencies of 30 Hz (a), 50 Hz (b) and 90 Hz (c),
30 Hz (a), 50 Hz (b) and 90 Hz (c), particle size 600850 m. particle size 600850 mm. Error bars do not exceed the size of the symbols.
56 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057

8 20
90o (a) =0.9 mPa.s
81o 15
Attachment Force (dyn)

6 o
76
10
49o

Force (*10-5 N)
5
4
0
(b) =7.6 mPa.s
20
2

10

0
10 20 30 40 50
Central angle (degree)
Fig. 12. Adhesive force described by Eq. (10) versus the central angle for particles with
different contact angle, dp = 725 m, and Rb = 2 mm.
low vibration frequency (50 Hz) and in low viscosity medium the
quasi-static model ts the experimental data well.
4.2. Effect of medium viscosity and vibration frequency on experimental
detachment force
The combined effect of viscosity and vibration frequency on the
detachment force and tenacity for ground quartz particles and
spherical glass beads is presented in Figs. 14 and 15 respectively. In
cases, the correlation between the quasi-static model (tenacity) and
experimental detachment force was reasonable at low frequencies
(30 Hz and 50 Hz). However, at high frequency (90 Hz), and
particularly in high viscosity medium, the quasi-static model seriously
underestimated the detachment force. Attention will now turn to the
possible effect of viscosity and vibration frequency on the central
angle and the velocity of the three phase contact line.
It has been demonstrated that the attachment force increases with
an increase in central angle (Fig. 12). The magnitude of the central angle
determines the position of the three phase contact line (Fig. 16). When a
particle, originally attached to a bubble, attempts to detach from the
bubble, the central angle decreases and the attachment force increases.
When the detachment force becomes equal to the attachment force, the
particle may detach from the bubble. It is hypothesised that there is a
60 70 0
55 83 90
Contact Angle (Degree)
Fig. 14. Tenacity () and experimental detachment force for ground quartz particles
(600850 m) in water ( = 0.9 mPa s) (a). and 50% glycerol/water mixture
( = 7.6 mPa s) (b) at oscillation frequencies of 30 Hz (), 50 Hz ( ) and 90 Hz ().
Error bars do not exceed the size of the symbols.
critical central angle, i.e., a critical position of the three phase contact
line, at which the particle detaches from the bubble.
In high viscosity medium, the velocity of the three phase contact line is
expected to be lower. Therefore, a longer time may be required for the
three phase contact line to reach the position at which the particle
detaches from the bubble before the vibration force changes direction.
Thus, at the same vibration frequency, the particle can withstand higher
amplitude of the applied oscillations before it detaches from the bubble. A
similar argument may be applied to explain the increase in the
detachment force with an increase in vibration frequency. When the
bubble-particle aggregate is vibrated at high frequency, there is
insufcient time for the three phase contact line to reach the critical
position before the vibration force changes direction. The effect of
vibration frequency on bubble-particle aggregate stability is somewhat
similar to the effect of viscosity, i.e., in both cases the velocity of movement
of the three phase contact line is affected. The greatest detachment force
was observed in glycerol/water mixture (=7.6 mPa s) at 90 Hz. This
supports the hypothesis that the force, required to detach a particle from a
bubble, is determined by the dynamic movement of the three phase
contact line under the experimental conditions of the current study.
If it is assumed that the bubble is rigid, the velocity of the bubble
may be expressed as:

8
Vb = A sin t + 12
Exp. 600-850 m
Tenacity 600-850 m
6 Exp. 150-300 m 30
Tenacity 150-300 m (a) =0.9mPa.s
Force (*10-5 N)

20
4
Force (*10-5 N)

10

0
2 (b) =7.6 mPa.s
20

10
0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0
Contact Angle (Degree) 61 89
Contact Angle (Degree)
Fig. 13. Comparison of theoretical adhesive force (tenacity) and experimental
detachment forces at an oscillation frequency of 50 Hz for ground quartz particles in Fig. 15. Tenacity () and experimental detachment force for spherical glass beads (600
water ( = 0.9 mPa s). The error bars for tenacity were obtained by performing the 850 m) in water ( = 0.9 mPa s) (a),) and 50% glycerol/water mixture ( = 7.6 mPa s) at
calculations using the particle diameter at the limit of each size range. 30 Hz (), 50 Hz () and 90 Hz (). Error bars do not exceed the size of the symbols.
 D. Xu et al. / International Journal of Mineral Processing 101 (2011) 5057
Fig. 16. A relationship between the central angle and the position of three phase contact
line.
The maximum velocity of the particle (assuming that the whole
particle volume immersed into the bubble when the particle-bubble
aggregate moves downward) may be described as:


Vp = A + dp sint +
where dp is the particle diameter. The velocity of the movement of
three phase contact line, in the vertical direction, is equivalent to the
velocity of the particle minus the velocity of the bubble, i.e.:
VTPCL cos90 = Vp Vb
Thus, the maximum velocity of the three phase contact line could
be expressed as:
2f dp
VTPCL;max =
sin m
where m is the central angle when the particle detaches from the
bubble. The detachment force is equal the maximum attachment force
when the particle detaches from the bubble, with the maximum
attachment force determined by Eq. (11). It is believed that the
maximum attachment force is approximately equal to the maximum
capillary force which according to Nutt, (1960) may be expressed as:
Fatt = Rp 1 cos
Since m = /2 (Nguyen, 2004), the velocity of the three phase
contact line, in the vertical direction only, may be calculated. The
velocity of the TPCL calculated at various vibration frequencies is
presented in Table 5.
Evidently, for the particles of a similar size and contact angle, the
velocity of the three phase contact line increases with an increase in
vibration frequency.
The dynamic contact angle of a solid substrate is proportional to
the speed of the three phase contact line movement, and, at the
constant speed of the TPCL, is higher in high viscosity liquid Blake and
Shikhmurzaev (2002). Thus, an increase in the vibration frequency
and medium viscosity is likely to result in higher dynamic contact
angle. Using the dynamic contact angle values in Eq. (16) would result
in higher attachment force (tenacity) and a better t of the
experimental detachment force to the model.
There are a number of factors which may be responsible for the
disparity between the quasi-static model and experimental data at
high viscosity and high vibration frequency apart from the hypothesis
discussed above. When particle-bubble aggregates are vibrated at
very high frequency (90 Hz), the hydrodynamics of this system is very
complex. The bubble may deform, which may resonate at certain
frequencies. The vibration force may be counteracted by such
resonance. On the other hand, viscous effect may dampen the overall
motion of the bubble-particle aggregate and reduce the drag force on
the particle. Thus, the bubble-particle aggregate is more stable when
vibrated at high frequency. Furthermore, the oscillatory motion may
induce turbulent eddies in the bubble-particle aggregate wake and
may cause the particle and surfactants such as frother to be swept
57
Table 5
Velocity of TPCL at different vibration frequencies for particles
with contact angle of 90.
Frequency (Hz) VTPCL (cm/s)
30 14
50 28
90 57
across the bubble surface, and consequently change the chemistry of
the bubble surface. The mechanism of why the stability of bubble-
particle aggregates is enhanced in high viscosity medium and at high
vibration frequency remains unclear.
5. Conclusions
13
The stability of bubble-particle aggregates depends on the particle
size and mean contact angle, as well as the viscosity of the suspending
medium and applied vibration frequency. The force, which is required
to detach a particle from a bubble, increases with an increase in the
mean contact angle of the particles and also the viscosity of the
14 suspending medium. At low vibration frequencies, the quasi-static
model predicts the experimental detachment force reasonably well. In
contrast, at high vibration frequency and, particularly, in high
viscosity medium, the quasi-static model does not predict the
experimental detachment force. It is hypothesised that the magnitude
of the detachment force is determined by the dynamic contact angle,
15 which is governed by the velocity of movement of the three phase
contact line.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from AMIRA International, the Australian
Research Council and University of South Australia are gratefully
acknowledged.
16
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