Dense Emulsions and Suspensions

These composite liquids consist of a dispersion of dense metal particles (e.g., ferrosilicon, mercury) or powdered heavy minerals (e.g., magnetite, barite) into a liquid (e.g., water, bromoform). Such heavy suspensions are either used in the laboratory or for commercial benefit or in the field . Certain companies (e.g., Cargille New Jersey, USA) have commercialized dense liquors with densities up to a specific gravity of 7 but they are not stable, are opaque and can only separate minerals with large grain of few millimeters satisfactorily. However, Desnoes inspired by the work of Orphy prepared suspensions of microdroplets of mercury (10 pm) into bromoform that provided better results. 

Dense medium-solvent mixture Density range (/kg.m h Solvent (additive) Barite-water 3200-4000 

Kukharenko, A.A. (1961) Min6ralogie des gisements alluvionnaires. Gosgeoltekhizdat, Moscou, 318 pages, traduction BRGM, No. 4453 and 5149,1961. 

Desnoes, A. Utilisation des suspensions denses de mercure dans le bromoforme au laboratoire. Revue de I lndustrie Min rale, Janvier, 1965. 

(1956) Contribution d I emde des suspensions denses. Doctorate Dissertation Thesis, University de la Sorbonne, Paris. 

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