Industry Application of Alkyl Sulfonates and Sulfates

Alkyl sulfonates can be used as oxide collector, sulfide collector, ffother, and emulsifier. It is reported that petroleum sulfonates are widely applied in the flotation of oxide minerals [10]. The foreign collectors such as Aero Promoter 800 and Reagent 800 are both petroleum sulfonates. The characteristics of various sulfonates had been discussed in the former chapters. Based on their characteristics, sulfonates can be divided into two varieties  

Oil-soluble sulfonates are characterized by high molecular weight. The number of C atoms of hydrocarbon chain exceeds 20 when hydrocarbon chain is alkyl. The collecting capabilities of these reagents are strong. And these reagents can be used as the collector for oxide minerals and nonmetallic minerals (such as fluorite, beryl, and apatite). 

Petroleum sulfonates are also called as green acids which are the by-product when lubricant is produced from petroleum. The flowchart of petroleum sulfonates is given as follows  

Aerofloat 801 and 899 are water-soluble sulfonates. Aerofloat 825 is oil-soluble sulfonate. They are usually used with fuel oil. It should be pointed out that petroleum sulfonates have been widely used to flotate iron ores in industry because of extensive sources. Some examples for the flotation of iron ores using petroleum sulfonates are shown in Table 2.8. 

Mineral processing plant Mineral type Flotation plan Collector Dosage (gA) pH Concentrate grade (%) Recovery rate of Fe (%) 

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