Resumen

SOLANO-REYNOSO, Walter Mario; VILLAVICENCIO-CHAVEZ, Manuel Augusto  y  VELA-MARROQUIN, Aurelio Raymundo. Evaluation of a procedure for reducing the use of NaSH in the separation of molybdenite using nitrogen gas. Ing. invest. y tecnol. [online]. 2019, vol.20, n.2. ISSN 2594-0732.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fi.25940732e.2019.20n2.022.

The air has been replaced by nitrogen gas (N2) in the selective flotation phase of molybdenite and chalcocite (copper sulphide, Cu2S), making the molybdenite to float in bubbles due to its hydrophobicity. NaSH is used to depress copper sulphide (calcosine o calcocite, Cu2S), but due to the presence of oxygen (O2) in water and air it is hydrolyzed and HS- ions are formed, causing greater use of NaSH. The replacement by nitrogen gas prevents the reaction with oxygen. The test was done in a circuit of Rougher cells whose evaluation led to a lower use of NaSH of up to approximately 33%, reducing costs and the consequent contamination. Molybdenum is an element of transition metals and is important in the steel industry and lubricants, among others. The interest in molybdenite in recent years is due to its properties similar to that of higher graphene in some cases.

Palabras llave : Molybdenite; Rougher cells; sodium sulfide; copper sulfide; hydrophobicity; hydrophilicity.