Synergism of octane phenol polyoxyethylene-10 and oleic acid in apatite flotation

The addition of octane phenol polyoxyethylene-10 (OP-10) to oleic acid via a reagent-combination technology was carried out and it was shown that OP-10 exhibited synergistic effects in the flotation performance of oleic acid. Single-mineral flotation tests, zeta-potential measurements, total-organic-carbon determination, and scale-up of continuous tests using raw ore were also carried out. Single-mineral flotation tests showed that OP-10 exhibited virtually no collecting performance for apatite, but it improved the flotation performance of oleic acid following its addition to oleic acid in small amounts at low temperature. Zeta-potential measurements and total-organic-carbon determination results indicated that the addition of 2.5% OP-10 to oleic acid increased the absolute value of the apatite surface potential and improved adsorption of oleic acid on the apatite surface at low temperature. A scale-up of the continuous test showed that application of OP-10 with industrial fatty acids led to good synergistic effects and contributed to effective separation of phosphate ore.