Flotation Characteristics of Alkyl Sulfonates and Sulfates

Compared with fatty acids, alkyl sulfonates and sulfates are strong electrolytes. Therefore, alkyl sulfonates and sulfates appear in the form of ions. The solubilities and the CMC of alkyl sulfonates and sulfates are found in Table 2.7. 

Compared with fatty acids with the same alkyls, the flotation characteristics of alkyl sulfonates and sulfates can be given by the following  

Alkyl sulfonates make more sense in industry application. The reason is that flie raw alcohols of sulfates are costly. Meanwhile, the hydrolysis reaction of alkyl sulfates often takes place in water  

Based on H.L. Shergold, chemical adsorption starts to take place at low pH (2.6-3.0) in the flotation of hematite using dihexylsulfate. Adsorption isotherm shows that adsorption amount of dihexylsulfate increases obviously after the reagent dosage approaches HMC. The maximal adsorption density of dihexylsulfate is about 6 pmol cm.  

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