Tecnología ultrasónica para incrementar la eficiencia en la recuperación de minerales: síntesis de avances recientes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68038/17pn0f47Palabras clave:
tecnología ultrasónica, procesamiento de minerales, cavitación acústica, flotación por espuma, intensificación de procesosResumen
La tecnología ultrasónica ha emergido como una herramienta de intensificación con potencial para mejorar la eficiencia en el procesamiento de minerales, particularmente en procesos de concentración como la flotación por espuma. El ultrasonido induce efectos fisicoquímicos (cavitación acústica, flujo acústico, generación de microburbujas y modificación de reactivos) que permiten limpiar superficies minerales, mejorar la dispersión de reactivos y optimizar la interacción partícula-burbuja. Esta revisión sistemática sintetiza los avances científicos publicados entre 2017 y 2025 sobre la aplicación de esta tecnología en la recuperación de mineral Chen et al., 2024). es. Se analizan los fundamentos fisicoquímicos, los parámetros operativos críticos y las principales aplicaciones reportadas en distintos tipos de minerales y residuos complejos. Los hallazgos indican que el ultrasonido ofrece mejoras documentadas en recuperación y ley de concentrados, con beneficios adicionales en la reducción del consumo de reactivos y en la sostenibilidad ambiental del procesamiento. Se concluye que constituye una alternativa viable para la modernización de la industria minera, aunque su implementación a escala industrial requiere un control riguroso de los parámetros operativos y estudios adicionales de escalamiento.
Referencias
Aldrich, C., & Feng, D. (1999). Effect of ultrasonic preconditioning of pulp on the flotation of sulphide ores. Minerals Engineering, 12(6), 701–707. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-6875(99)00053-9
Altun, N. E., Hwang, J., & Hicyilmaz, C. (2009). Enhancement of flotation performance of oil shale cleaning by ultrasonic treatment. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 91(1–2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2008.10.003
Barma, S. D., Baskey, P. K., Rao, D. S., & Sahu, S. N. (2019). Ultrasonic-assisted flotation for enhancing the recovery of flaky graphite from low-grade graphite ore. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 56, 386–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.04.033
Celik, M. S. (1989). Effect of ultrasonic treatment on the floatability of coal and galena. Separation Science and Technology, 24(14), 1159–1166. https://doi.org/10.1080/01496398908049894
Chen, C., Zhang, S., Liu, Q., Chen, L., Xian, Y., & Wang, Y. (2024). Ultrasonic pretreatment for enhancing flotation separation of elemental sulfur and silver-bearing lead minerals from an oxidative pressure leaching residue of zinc sulfide. Minerals Engineering, 205, Article 108495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108495
Chen, L., He, J., Zhu, L., Yao, Q., Sun, Y., Guo, C., Chen, H., & Yang, B. (2023). Efficient recovery of valuable metals from waste printed circuit boards via ultrasound-enhanced flotation. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 169, 869–878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2022.11.046
Chen, Y., Truong, V. N. T., Bu, X., & Xie, G. (2020). A review of effects and applications of ultrasound in mineral flotation. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 60, Article 104739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.104739
Deng, J., Luo, D., Bai, J., & Rong, K. (2024). Effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on flotation purification of quartz. Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing, 60(3), Article 190008. https://doi.org/10.37190/ppmp/190008
Djendova, S., & Mehandjiski, V. (1992). Study of the effects of acoustic vibration conditioning of collector and frother on flotation of sulphide ores. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 34(3), 205–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-7516(92)90074-7
Donskoi, E., Collings, A. F., Poliakov, A., & Bruckard, W. J. (2012). Utilisation of ultrasonic treatment for upgrading of hematitic/goethitic iron ore fines. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 114–117, 80–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2012.10.005
Ebrahimi, H., & Karamoozian, M. (2020). Effect of ultrasonic irradiation on particle size, reagents consumption, and feed ash content in coal flotation. International Journal of Coal Science & Technology, 7(4), 787–795. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40789-020-00307-2
Gungoren, C., Özkan, Ş. G., & Ozdemir, O. (2017). Different approaches in the use of ultrasonic treatments in flotation. Afyon Kocatepe University Journal of Sciences and Engineering, 17(2), 727–735. https://doi.org/10.5578/FMBD.57268
Hassani, F., Noparast, M., & Tonkaboni, S. Z. S. (2019). Enhancement of phosphate flotation by ultrasonic pretreatment. Iranian Journal of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, 38(5), 251–266. https://doi.org/10.30492/IJCCE.2019.32272
Hassanzadeh, A., Sajjady, S. A., Gholami, H., Amini, S., & Özkan, Ş. G. (2020). An improvement on selective separation by applying ultrasound to rougher and re-Cleaner stages of copper flotation. Minerals, 10(7), Article 619. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10070619
Jaffe, B., Roth, R. S., & Marzullo, S. (1954). Piezoelectric properties of lead zirconate-lead titanate solid-solution ceramics. Journal of Applied Physics, 25(6), 809–810. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1721741
Jiang, Y., Lu, J., Xie, Y., Lin, Z., & Wang, N. (2024). The effects of ultrasound modified kerosene on the flotation of flake graphite. Separation Science and Technology, 59(4), 612–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2024.2328677
Li, C., Li, X., Xu, M., & Zhang, H. (2020). Effect of ultrasonication on the flotation of fine graphite particles: Nanobubbles or not? Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 69, Article 105243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105243
Mao, Y., Chen, Y., Bu, X., & Xie, G. (2019). Effects of 20 kHz ultrasound on coal flotation: The roles of cavitation and acoustic radiation force. Fuel, 256, Article 115938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.115938
Noltingk, B. E., & Neppiras, E. A. (1950). Cavitation produced by ultrasonics. Proceedings of the Physical Society. Section B, 63(9), 674–685. https://doi.org/10.1088/0370-1301/63/9/305
Ozkan, S. G. (2012). Effects of simultaneous ultrasonic treatment on flotation of hard coal slimes. Fuel, 93, 576–580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.10.032
Ozkan, S. G. (2017). Further investigations on simultaneous ultrasonic coal flotation. Minerals, 7(10): Article 177. https://doi.org/10.3390/min7100177
Ozkan, S. G., & Kuyumcu, H. Z. (2006). Investigation of mechanism of ultrasound on coal flotation. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 81(3), 201–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.minpro.2006.07.011
Ozkan, S. G., & Kuyumcu, H. Z. (2007). Design of a flotation cell equipped with ultrasound transducers to enhance coal flotation. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 14(5), 639–645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2006.10.001
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., . . . Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, Article n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Plesset, M. S. (1949). The dynamics of cavitation bubbles. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 16(3), 277–282. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4009975
Shu, K. Q., Xu, L. H., Wu, H. Q., Wang, Z. J., Xu, Y. B., & Fang, S. (2019). Influence of ultrasound pre-treatment on ilmenite surface chemical properties and collectors' adsorption behaviour. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 57, 98–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.05.017
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Ulusoy, U., & Kurşun, H. (2021). Review: Comparison of ultrasonically aided zinc beneficiation by mechanical flotation and column flotation cell. EUREKA: Physics and Engineering, (1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.21303/2461-4262.2021.001608
Videla, A. R., Morales, R., Saint-Jean, T., Gaete, L., Vargas, Y., & Miller, J. D. (2016). Ultrasound treatment on tailings to enhance copper flotation recovery. Minerals Engineering, 99, 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2016.09.019
Yin, W., Ma, Y., & Wang, Y. (2023). Mechanism of ultrasonic cavitation to improve the effect of siderite on quartz flotation. Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing, 59(3), Article 165930. https://doi.org/10.37190/ppmp/165930
Yin, W., Wang, Y., Ma, Y., & Chen, K. (2024). Effects of ultrasonic treatment on the flotation behavior of magnesite and dolomite in a sodium oleate system. Green and Smart Mining Engineering, 1(1), 76–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsme.2024.03.002
Zhang, H., Du, M., Hu, H., Zhang, H., & Song, N. (2024). A review of ultrasonic treatment in mineral flotation: Mechanism and recent development. Molecules, 29(9), Article 1984. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29091984
Zhang, X., Cheng, H., Xu, K., Ding, D., Wang, X., Wang, B., & Ma, Z. (2024). Ultrasonic enhancement for mineral flotation: Technology, device, and engineering applications. Minerals, 14(10), Article 986. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14100986
Zhou, S., Tong, Z., Dong, L., Wang, H., Zhao, Y., & Duan, H. (2023). A comparative study on the influence of single and combined ultrasounds assisted flake graphite flotation. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 98, Article 106551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106551
Zhou, W., Cao, W., Li, C., Peng, Y., Cui, Y., & Liuyang, D. (2025). Ultrasonic pulp conditioning-induced nanoparticles: A critical driver for sonication-assisted ultrafine smithsonite flotation. Minerals, 15(9), Article 927. https://doi.org/10.3390/min15090927
Zhou, Z. A., Xu, Z., Finch, J. A., Masliyah, J. H., & Chow, R. S. (2009). On the role of cavitation in particle collection in flotation—A critical review. Minerals Engineering, 22(5), 419–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2008.12.010
