Study on the Particle Surface Fractal Characteristics of Sulfide Ores

Abstract

The fractal dimension is widely used in many fields as a parameter to characterize the geometric complexity and geometric distribution relationship of research objects. To study the surface characteristics of sulfide ore particles, the fractal theory was applied to quantitatively characterize the surface fractal dimension Ds of sulfide ore microparticles in three particle size ranges, 60–100 mesh, 100–140 mesh and >200 mesh, based on the area–perimeter method. Using an optical microscope, grain projection images of the particles were obtained. The grain shape and characteristics of sulfide ore particles were studied by means of an image processing system. The results demonstrate that the grain shape of sulfide ore particles can be expressed by fractal dimension, and the particle surface fractal dimension ranges from 2.4392 to 2.5492. It was found that the fractal properties begin to decrease due to the increasing of the particle size. The larger the fractal dimension, the finer the particles are. The fractal dimension of sulfide ore particles can be used as an important indicator of their particle shape distribution characteristics, which can provide important information for further study of the relevant physical and chemical properties of sulfide ore particles and provide a new theoretical method and basis for the adhesion and removal of sulfide ore dust. With the quantitative description of the fractal distribution of sulfide ore particles, a new way to study the adhesive force between particles is offered for further research.