Plant Trials of the MAXGen Flotation Mechanism in a Lead Flotation Circuit

Abstract

A new flotation mechanism has been developed for the BQR flotation cells using 3D print prototype models with the bench and pilot scale studies, which are marketed by DELKOR. Various tests have been conducted at DELKOR lab, Bengaluru to finalize the mechanism to be adopted for BQR cells. Before the launch, plant trials with the new mechanism (named as MAXGen mechanism) were conducted at the Rampura-Agucha plant at Hindusthan Zinc Limited, Rajasthan, India. The mechanism shows good flotation kinetics, fine bubble size distribution, and lower power consumption to improve the grade-recovery of the product stream. This paper highlights how a 5 m3 flotation cell with the MAXGen mechanism at the cleaner-3 position influences the behavior of the lead flotation circuit in terms of grade and recovery of the entire plant based on the data gathered during the plant trials.