Abstract:
Biosurfactants is a microbial surfactant and are considered potential substitutes of synthetic chemicals from petrochemical origin. The main advantages of biosurfactants over their chemical counterparts are their lower toxicity, better environmental compatibility, biodegradability, and effectiveness in a wide range of temperatures and pH. In addition, it also has higher surface-activity. One important class of biosurfactants, which has been investigated is the rhamnose containing microbial surfactants, also called rhamnolipid, a glycolipid-type. It’s produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Due to their features as well as structural similarities, rhamnolipids seems to be well suited to apply in the mineral processing industry as a substitute case for conventional chemical frothers. In this work two Evonik’s biosurfactants, AROSURF® SR 1975 and REWOFERM® SL 446 were investigated as frother, comparing with MIBCOL, in Zn flotation tests with a Nexa’s ore sample. Results showed that both Evonik's biodegradable frothers were able to improve the tests results, increasing %Zn in the concentrate and also recovery under certain circumstances. In addition, tests with reduced dosage in 20% of Evonik’s frothers showed promising in terms of flotation improvement, reduced consumption and even more sustainable.