Labroratory of Mining Engineering
The Mining Engineering Department Laboratory is a newly established facility designed to support the completion of laboratory equipment and the modeling needs of various mining engineering fields, including mineral exploration, mineral extraction, rock mechanics, and mineral processing. Among its functional and essential instruments is the flotation cell, one of the primary pieces of equipment in mineral processing. Its main function is to separate valuable mineral particles from gangue based on differences in their surface properties. In this process, reagents such as collectors render the surface of the desired minerals hydrophobic. Air is then introduced into the cell, generating bubbles that attach to the hydrophobic particles. These bubble–particle aggregates rise to the surface as froth and are collected as concentrate, while hydrophilic particles remain in the pulp and are discharged as tailings. In summary, the flotation cell provides the appropriate environment for efficient particle–bubble attachment, selective separation, and the production of a concentrate with desirable grade. A view of the laboratory flotation cell is presented below:
