Simulation of movement behavior of flotation bubbles under ultrasonic action

Abstract Ultrasonic pretreatment and synchronous ultrasonic flotation can strengthen the bubble mineralization process and improve the separation of fine minerals, but the effect of ultrasonic on the flotation bubble dynamics is unclear. In this paper, the ultrasonic probe was embedded in the flotation column as ultrasonic field source, and a numerical model based on this test bed was constructed with the CFD method. Based on this, the bubble movement behavior under different ultrasonic fields was studied, combined with the analysis of internal flow field velocity and pressure, the mechanism of ultrasonic action on the dynamic behavior of bubbles was revealed. The results showed that the ultrasound field changed the velocity inside the flow field, significantly increasing the bubble’s instantaneous displacement velocity at the turning point. Ultrasound changes the pressure field distribution, resulting in an alternating high and low-pressure distribution with uneven pressure gradients. Ultrasound ultimately causes bubbles to exhibit curved bubble motion trajectories and distributions, prolonging their motion trajectories and accompanying subtle bubble coalescence phenomena. These are beneficial for improving the contact probability between flotation bubbles and mineral particles.