Pre-separation of low-grade collophane by an enhanced gravity separator

High-efficiency separation of low-grade collophane becomes an inevitable trend with the depletion of high-grade phosphate ore. The work innovatively introduced enhanced gravity separation technology into the pre-separation process of low-grade collophane and discussed the influences of various factors on the enhanced gravity pre-separation effect. The influential significances of parameters, parametric interactions, and performance optimization were investigated using the RSM (Response Surface Methodology). The results showed that the P2O5 grade of the low-grade collophane could be increased from 14.84% to 20.26% with a recovery of 79.55%, and the P2O5 grade of tailings could be reduced to 7.27% under the optimal conditions—f of 44.50 Hz, P of 0.02 Mpa, and V of 22.04 ml/s. Compared with conventional gravity separation, the P2O5 recovery significantly increased by nearly 30%, and the P2O5 grade of tailings has been reduced remarkably. The response surface analysis showed that the influential significances of parameters could be ranked as P > f > V, and parametric interactions could be ranked as fP > PV > fV. The results of verification experiments agreed with the optimization results, which proved the reliability of the prediction model. The enhanced gravity separation technology developed an excellent pre-separation effect of low-grade collophane.