TRAJECTORY MODELING OF NON-BROWNIAN PARTICLE FLOTATION USING AN EXTENDED DERJAGUIN-LANDAU-VERWEY-OVERBEEK APPROACH

Pressure flotation of nitrocellulose (NC) fines was quantified by traj ectory analysis. A model was formulated that incorporates recently dev eloped extended DLVO (ExDLVO) theory and the short-range hydrodynamic interactions of a particle near a bubble surface. A repulsive Lifshitz -van der Waals (LW) force was found to exist between particle and bubb le. Attractive long-range hydrophobic forces between NC particles and bubbles were responsible for particle adhesion. Model predictions of f lotation efficiency compared well with experimental results.