Estudo do desempenho de poliamina sobre a desestabilização de suspensões coloidais ricas em ferro e sílica

Abstract

The purpose of this Professional Master's project was to study the performance of polyamine on the destabilization of iron ore tailings suspensions, which are considered colloidal suspensions rich in iron and silica to improve the coagulation of the tailings thickening process. Optimizing and improving the thickening process allows you to recover a greater volume of water for the mine, decreasing the volume of water to be sent to tailings dams. For this study, a type of polyamine was chosen to be an auxiliary coagulant to the commonly used anionic polyelectrolyte, which is anionic polyacrylamide. The performance study was carried out in the tailing suspension in distilled water, thus simulating a colloidal suspension found in the iron ore tailings thickening processes. The waste was characterized using the X-ray dispersive energy (EDXRF) and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). To evaluate the interactions between the polyamine and the colloidal suspension of ore tailings, a study of the residual turbidity was performed using a nephelometric turbidimeter, Zeta potential (ζ), determination of the total elementary residuals by induced plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP -OES) and particle size determination by laser diffraction (LALLS). During the study project, the polyamine was characterized to identify the determination of molecular weight by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), solid content and Brookfield viscosity. The study concluded that the polyamine acts as an excellent destabilizer through the neutralization of electrostatic effects, improving the efficiency of removing turbidity at levels of 10 NTU.