Optimization of Flotation Recovery with Integrated Quadratic Control

Flotation is a mineral processing separation technology that underpins the production of many commodities that are essential for modern society. Optimal control of flotation cells is a significant challenge due to uncertainty from a lack of high-quality measurements, an over-reliance on experienced operators, and the presence of many interactive independent variables. In this work we introduce a novel single-input multi-output control strategy, i.e., integrated quadratic control. Moreover, we demonstrate how integrated quadratic control can be used to optimize the control of a column flotation circuit.