Flotation, as an important method for fine-grained mineral sorting, is often used in the separation of non-coal minerals due to the complexity of mineral mineralization and occurrence. In the separation of coal, the fine-grained clean coal from coking coal is usually separated from gangue. Flotation machines are also developing along their respective paths due to the different sorting needs of coal and non-coal minerals.

At present, foreign flotation machine brands mainly include Metso, Wemco, etc., while Chinese brands mainly include BGRIMM, CCTEG Tangshan Research Institute, etc.

International Flotation Machine and Related Brands

In 1904, flotation equipment was first commercially applied in Australia，around 1920, in order to meet the demand for copper in the booming power industry at that time, various types of mechanical stirring flotation machines were developed abroad, it was not until 1960 that the price of copper metal rose again, and flotation equipment began to develop towards large-scale production.

From the introduction of modern flotation concepts in 1903 to 1960, the flotation equipment used during this period was mostly small mechanical stirring flotation machines and inflatable flotation machine. At that time, the most widely used flotation machines were Minerals Separation flotation machine, Callow flotation machine, Fahrenwald Denver flotation machine, Fagergren WEMCO flotation machine, Galiger Agitair flotation machine, and Mikanobul flotation machine.

After 1960, research on new structures and large-scale flotation equipment began, including representative Denver DR flotation machines developed by Denver, WEMCO 1+1 flotation machine developed by WEMCO, and Outukumpum flotation machines. The Denver flotation machine went through several twists and turns and was eventually acquired by Metso, while the Wemco flotation machine was acquired by FLSmidth.

Chinese Flotation Machine and Related Brands

Flotation machines in China are mainly developed in two directions. The non-coal field is mainly developed by BGRIMM, and the coal field is mainly developed by CCTEG Tangshan Research Institute.

After decades of development, due to the wide variety of minerals in the non-coal field, the adaptability requirements for flotation equipment are also relatively high. BGRIMM has more than ten models and nearly a hundred specifications of flotation machines and flotation machine combination units, including CHF-X, JJF, KYF, SF, XJZ, XCF, LCH-X, CLF, YX, and BF, which are on par with WEMCO internationally.

CCTEG Tangshan Research Institute has also made in-depth research on equipment in the field of coal flotation in the early stage. Its representative equipment are XJM flotation machine and XJM-S flotation machine, which have made outstanding contributions to the development of flotation machines in the field of coal in China. However, due to the company's system problems and limited development ideas in the past decade, on the one hand, it has led to the loss of a large number of technical personnel, unable to complete more breakthroughs in new processes, new technologies and new materials, on the one hand, the research institute has been focusing on the coal field, with almost no research in non-coal fields. On the other hand, there has been little progress in the internationalization of flotation machines, and there are also many negative impacts. The flotation machines purchased by Techgart from Tangshan Research Institute are mainly substandard in terms of materials, which has caused a very bad impact internationally.

Regarding the integration and development of coal and non-coal equipment, as mentioned in previous articles, the flotation machine, as a universal equipment for mineral sorting, although there are some differences in the flotation of different minerals, more communication and integration will promote the long-term development of mining equipment.

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