P. Somasundaran

Surfactants have been used for many industrial processes such as flotation, enhanced oil recovery, soil remediation and cleansing. Flotation technology itself has been used in industry since the end of the 19th century, and even today it is an important method for mineral processing and its application range is expanding to other areas. This technology has been used in the treatment of wastewater, industrial waste materials, separation and recycling of municipal waste, and some unit processes of chemical engineering. The efficiency of all these operations depends primarily on the interactions among surfactants, solids and media. In this book, the fundamentals of solution chemistry of mineral/surfactant systems are discussed, as well as the important calculations involved. The influence of relevant physico-chemical conditions are also presented in detail.

Reagents in Mineral Technology provides comprehensive coverage of both basic as well asapplied aspects of reagents utilized in the minerals industry. This outstanding, single-source reference opens with an explicit account of flotation fundamentals,including coverage of wetting phenomena, mineral/water interfacial phenomena, flo tationchemistry, and flocculation and dispersion of mineral suspensions. It then discusses flotation of sulfide and nonsulfide minerals, with attention to formation ofclithiolates, formation of metal thiol compounds, application of fatty acids, sulfosuccinic acids,amines, and other collectors. Reagents in Mineral Technology also reviews adsorption of surfactants on minerals .. .details adsorption of polymers .. . and considers the chemistry and application of chelation agentsin minerals separations. Additional chapters consider grinding aids, frothers, inorganic and polymeric depressants,dewatering and filtering aids, analytical techniques, and much more. Unique in its depth of coverage, Reagents in Mineral Technology will prove an invaluablereference for mineral engineers and processors; analytical, surface, colloid, and physical chemists;petroleum, petrochemical, metallurgical, and mining engineers; and for use in advancedundergraduate- and graduate-level courses in these and related fields.