Application and Mechanism of Anionic Collector Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) in Phosphate Beneficiation

Phosphate ore is a valuable strategic resource. Most phosphate ore in China is collophane. Utilization of mid-low grade collophane is necessary to maintain social sustainable development. The gravity-flotation combination separation process can be utilized to separate mid-low grade collophane, but the process consumes a large quantity of acid in the reverse stage. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used as a dolomite collector in this study to reduce the acid consumption of collophane flotation. SDS effectively removed dolomite from the gravity concentrate when no other reagents were present. Flotation test results showed that, compared to the conventional gravity-flotation process, the proposed SDS-based process reduced phosphoric acid dosage from 6.1 kg/t to 3.9 kg/t with similar separation results. The SDS action mechanisms on dolomite were further investigated by zeta potential analysis, single mineral flotation tests, infrared spectrum detection, and theoretical analysis. The results indicate that the SDS adsorption on dolomite is mainly physical adsorption, and that favorable separation effects between collophane and dolomite may be attributed to physical adsorption and entrainment. In addition, it also indicates that the physical adsorption can be utilized to remove dolomite from phosphate on account of zeta potential differences when the separate feed is coarse.