The ore resources are becoming poorer, thinner and more mixed. As a result, it is more important to find flotation separations of refractory ores. Because of the complexity of flotation system, the single collector capacity is often stretched in flotation process.

Recently, people found that the mixed use of two or more than two kinds of collector can play an amazing effect on the flotation of poor fine ore. Finally, the combined collectors are researched and developed by a large number of people.

 

Commonly used flotation collectors for tungsten ore can be divided into five types: anionic collector, cationic collector, amphoteric collector, nonpolar collector and complexing (or chelated) collectors, of which the well known collectors are fatty acid, sulfonic acid, phosphoric acid, chelate, amine, oil etc.. The wide variety of combined collectors can be conceived. Generally speaking, most combinations of collectors are fatty acid–centred, namely, the main mothe agents are fatty acids. Main reasons are that fatty acids are cheap and have strong collector ability. AS for the poor selectivity of fatty acids, the combined use of other types of collectors can greatly improve the problem.

 

Combinations of fatty acid collectors and other agents are divided into four types:

 

1, The combination of anionic collector and cationic collector: such as the combination of sodium oleate and laurylamine hydrochloride combination, the combination of oleic acid and laurylamine.

 

2, The combination of anionic collector and other anionic collector: for example, results showed that the combined use of sodium stearate and sodium oleate in scheelite flotation has greater collecting ability towards scheelite and fluorite than only use of sodium oleate.

 

3, The combination of anionic collector and chelated collector: for example the combined use of GYB and GYR in flotation of scheelite and wolfmirate.

 

4, The combination of anionic collector and non-ionic collector: the common combination is sodium oleate and kerosene or diesel, as this kind of combination can enhance hydrophobic interaction.

 

Combined collector is one of the important development directions of the flotation reagen. It has great significance in improving the existing pharmaceutical properties, improving production index, reducing the cost, solving practical problems in production and so on.