Neutron Imaging of Foam and Froth

The present contribution reports on the investigation of particle movement and drainage in unsteady foam and froth using Neutron Imaging (NI) (S. Heitkam et al. "Neutron imaging of froth structure and particle motion." Minerals Engineering, vol. 119, pp. 126-129, 2018.)

Froth flotation is one of the major separation processes in mining. Billions of tons per year of ore are treated by flotation worldwide. Despite the industrial relevance, measurement techniques for the observation of particle movement and liquid distribution inside the froth are limited.

In this situation, NI can reveal new insights on the mechanisms in froth flotation. NI is similar to radiography, but X-rays are replaced by neutrons. The neutrons pass through the measurement object, being partially attenuated. Then they hit a scintillator, generating photons that are observed by a high-speed camera. The advantage of NI in froth research is, that some materials (e.g. gadolinium) offer extremely high attenuation of neutrons. And also water attenuates neutrons about 30 times stronger than X-rays.