The use of machine vision to describe and evaluate froth phase behaviour and performance in mineral flotation systems

Abstract

Within froth flotation, it is widely acknowledged that froth stability affects flotation performance. As a result, it is expected that through the effective management of froth stability, it would be possible to both control and optimise a flotation cell and bank. However, for this to be possible, the relationships between the operating conditions, froth stability behaviour and flotation performance attributes need to be well understood. In addition, froth stability would need to be measured using a robust method suitable for on-line operation. Within the literature, no robust methods are available to measure either the concentration of solids on the froth surface, or froth stability in a manner suitable for on-line operation. Thus, two novel non-intrusive machine vision measurements have been developed in this work to quantify these attributes.