Diseño y construcción de una celda de flotación para la planta piloto de obtención de metales preciosos del laboratorio de mineralogía de la facultad de ciencias

Abstract

With the present technical project, the design and construction of a flotation cell that will be part of the pilot plant for obtaining precious metals for the Mineralogy Laboratory of the Faculty of Sciences of ESPOCH was achieved. This work began with a bibliographic review of equipment suitable for the flotation process, in addition, three model proposals were established where the optimal characteristics for its use in the laboratory were evaluated and a Denver sub-A cell of a circular cell was chosen. After this, the engineering calculations of the selected proposal were carried out, as well as the creation of plans and the construction of the equipment made of carbon steel A-36 and stainless steel A-316, due to its characteristics and the ease of obtaining it in the market. Consequently, the samples to be used in the validation were extracted from the Asociación Minera Rica Suave mine in the city of Portovelo; it is important to mention that the flotation cell has a total volume of 38 liters of which 17 are used for its operation and a maximum sample capacity of 3 kg. The equipment complies with all the design factors indicated, this was verified through the validation of the cell by verifying the performance and the obtention of metals which was attained by means of the JEOL SEM scanning electron microscope, which verified that the concentration obtained presents the precious gold metal; therefore, it is concluded that the design of the equipment and the procedure are propitious for obtaining precious metals. Finally, it is recommended to read the manuals to avoid any damage during its use and to periodically perform preventive maintenance of the equipment.