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Thin liquid films (TLFs) of water are ubiquitous in daily lives as well as in many industrial processes. They can be formed between two identical phases, as in colloid films between two macroscopic surfaces and foam films between two air bubbles; and between two dissimilar phases, as in wetting films. Stability of the colloids, foams, and wetting films is determined by the surface forces in the TLFs. Depending on the nature of the surfaces involved, the stabilities can be predicted using combinations of three different forces, i.e., the van der Waals, electrical double layer (EDL), and hydrophobic forces. The objective of the present work is to study the roles of these forces in determining the stabilities of the TLFs of water confined between i) an air bubble and a hydrophobic surface and ii) an oil drop and a hydrophobic surface, with particular interest in studying the role of the hydrophobic force. The first part of the study involves the measurement of the surface forces in the TLFs confined between bitumen drops and mineral surfaces. Deformation of bitumen drops has been monitored by interferometry while it approaches a flat surface. By analyzing the spatiotemporal film profiles, both the capillary and hydrodynamic forces have been calculated using the Young-Laplace equation and the Reynolds lubrication approximation, respectively, with the surface forces being determined by subtracting the latter from the former. The results are useful for better understanding the effects of electrolyte and pH on bitumen liberation and recovery by flotation and for developing a filtration model from first principles. The second part of the study involves the surface force measurement in wetting (flotation) films. Surface forces in the TLFs of water on silica surfaces have been measured using the force apparatus for deformable surfaces (FADS) using an air bubble as a force sensor. The measurements have been conducted in the presence of various cationic surfactants such as dodecylamine hydrochloride (DAH), and alkyltrimethylammonium chloride (CnTACl), electrolytes, and polymers. The results show that film stability and hence the kinetics of film thinning can be greatly improved by the control of bubble ζ-potentials, whose role in flotation has long been neglected in flotation studies. Force measurements have also been conducted in the TLFs of water confined between oil drops and hydrophobic surfaces. Stability of this type of film plays an important role in a process of using oil drops rather than air bubbles to collect hydrophobic particles from aqueous phase. The force measurements conducted in the present work show that hydrophobic forces are much stronger in water films formed between oil drops and hydrophobic surfaces than in water films formed between air bubbles and hydrophobic surfaces, which can be attributed to the differences in the Hamaker constants involved. Doctor of Philosophy When two macroscopic surfaces in water are brought to a close proximity, a thin liquid film (TLF) is formed in between, with its stability being determined by the surface forces present in the film. TLFs are ubiquitous in daily lives and play a decisive role in many industrial processes such as mineral flotation, food processing, oil extraction, heat transfer, etc. In the present work, the surface forces present in wetting films have been measured by approaching an air bubble (or an oil drop) slowly toward a flat surface while monitoring the curvature changes during film thinning by interferometry and calculating the capillary forces using the Young-Laplace equations. By analyzing the results in view of the Frumkin-Derjaguin isotherm and the extended DLVO theory, it was possible to determine the changes in the van der Waals, electrical double-layer (EDL), and hydrophobic forces during film thinning. The results show that both the EDL and the long-range component of the hydrophobic force control the kinetics of film thinning and rupture while the contact angle formation is controlled by the van der Waals force and the short-range hydrophobic force. It has been found also that n-alkane drops form substantially larger contact angles than air bubbles on a hydrophobic surface due to the fact that the van der Waals force is attractive in the drop-surface interactions while the same is repulsive in the bubble-surface interactions. These observations have a profound implication in flotation, that is, oil drops can recover hydrophobic particles from an aqueous phase better than air bubbles.

This study investigated the effects of protein sources for milk replacers on growth performance and serum biochemical indexes of suckling calves. Fifty Chinese Holstein bull calves with similar BW and age were randomly allocated to 5 groups (1 control and 4 treatments) of 10 calves in each group. Five types of milk replacers were designed to have the same level of energy and protein. The protein source for milk replacers of the control group was full milk protein (MP). The protein source of milk replacers of the 4 treatment groups was composed of MP and one vegetable protein (VP) (30 and 70% of total protein). The 4 types of VP were soybean protein concentrate (SP), hydrolyzed wheat protein (WP), peanut protein concentrate (PP), and rice protein isolate (RP). Results of the experiment showed: 1) there was no significant difference on average daily gain (ADG) and feed:gain ratio (F:G) among the MP, SP and RP groups (P > 0.05), whereas the ADG and F:G of the WP and PP groups were significantly lower compared with the MP group (P 0.05). Thereby the 4 VP milk replacers had no adverse effects on body size of calves; 3) all groups showed no significant difference in the serum contents of urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, globulin, β-hydroxybutyrate, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1, and the ratio of albumin to globulin (A:G) (P > 0.05). In conclusion, SP or RP (accounts for 70% of the total protein) as calf milk replacers could substitute MP, whereas wheat gluten and PP had a significant adverse effect on growth performance in this experiment.

A first principle flotation model has been derived from the basic mechanisms involved in the bubble-particle and bubble-bubble interactions occurring in flotation. It is a kinetic model based on the premise that the energy barrier (E1) for bubble-particle interaction can be reduced by increasing the kinetic energy (Ek) for bubble-particle interaction and by increasing the hydrophobic force in wetting films. The former is controlled by energy dissipation rate (𝜀), while the latter is controlled by collector additions. The model consists of a series of analytical equations to describe bubble generation, bubble-particle collision, attachment and detachment, froth recovery, and bubble coalescence in froth phase. Unlike other flotation models that do not consider role of hydrophobic force in flotation, the first principle model developed at Virginia Tech can predict flotation recoveries and grades from the chemistry parameters such as 𝜁-potentials, surface tension (𝛾), and contact angles (𝜃) that may represent the most critical parameters to control to achieve high degrees of separation efficiencies. The objectives of the present work are to i) validate the flotation model using the experimental data published in the literature, ii) incorporate a froth model that can predict bubble coarsening due to coalescence in the absence of particles, iii) develop a computer simulator for a froth model that can predict bubble coarsening in the presence of particles, and iv) study the effects of incorporating a regrinding mill and using a stronger collector in a large copper flotation circuit. The model validation has been made using the size-by-class flotation rate constants (kij) obtained from laboratory and pilot-scale flotation tests. Model predictions are in good agreement with the experimental data. It has been found that the flotation rate constants obtained for composite particles can be normalized by those for fully liberated particles (kmax), which opens the door for minimizing the number of flotation products that need to be analyzed using a costly and time-consuming liberation analyzer. A bubble coarsening froth model has been incorporated into the flotation model to predict flotation more accurately. The model has a limitation, however, in that it cannot predict bubble-coarsening in the presence of particles. Therefore, a new computer simulator has been developed to predict the effects of particle size and particle hydrophobicity on bubble coarsening in froth phase. In addition, the first principle flotation model has been used to simulate flotation circuits that are similar to the Escondida copper flotation plant to study the effects of incorporating a re-grinding mill and using a more powerful collector to improve copper recovery. The flotation model developed from first principles is useful for predicting and diagnosing the performance of flotation plants under different circuit arrangements and chemical conditions. Master of Science

A new emulsified floatation agent with a compound of diesel, surfactant and water with a percentage of 27:3:70 was applied to the research on the floatation test with two coal samples of Guandi coal and Xingtai coal to solve the problem of low efficiency and high oil consumption of traditional floatation which used diesel itself to serve as the collector. The results showed that the floatation agent was good in performance and reliability, high in selection, and has improved the floatation performances. Based on the clean coal ash remaining unchanged, in comparison with the diesel, when EDO was applied as the collector of Guandi coal, the diesel oil could be saved about 73%, meanwhile, the clean coal production could be increased by around 3%. When EDO was applied as the collector of Xingtai coal, the diesel oil could be saved about 46%, meanwhile the clean coal production could be increased by 7% or thereabouts.

Master of Science Froth flotation is a common method in mineral processing to separate material based on hydrophobicity. This process becomes less efficient, however, as particle size is reduced. Because of this ultrafine particles are often discarded prior to froth flotation, and contributes to a substantial amount of coal waste in impoundments. An impoundment is a dam built using coarse reject to hold fine reject in slurry. Because of the land-use and risk of an impoundment failure, these impoundments pose an environmental liability. To address ultrafine coal rejection, researchers at Virginia Tech development the hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation (HHS) process. Unlike in froth flotation, HHS uses an organic solvent to separate and dewater hydrophobic particles from hydrophilic minerals. Past work on the HHS process yielded promising results. In particular, the HHS process has produced a low-ash (