Flotation: P M. A Njit
Flotation: P M. A Njit
Flotation
Flotation is a separation process based on the use of very fine gas bubbles that attach themselves to the solid particles in suspension to make them buoyant and drive them toward the free surface of the liquid Air is the only flotation agent used in wastewater treatment Flotation is especially useful to separate very small particles or light particles with low settling velocities. In such cases more complete and rapid separation can be obtained with flotation than with sedimentation
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Vacuum Flotation
Air is first dispersed into the wastewater to achieve saturation conditions Partial vacuum is then applied to the wastewater. This results in the generation of small air bubbles that attach themselves to the solid particles and make them rise Typically, a cylindrical tank maintained under vacuum and continuously fed with wastewater is used for this purpose
Flotation Unit
Clarified Wastewater
Additives
Air
Retention Tank
Clarified Wastewater
Wastewater flow rate and solid loading Air-to-solid ratio (typically expressed as volume of
air/mass of solids or mass of air/mass of solids)
Overflow rate (or rise velocity of solids) Final solid loading in sludge
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The theoretical flow rate of air available for flotation (i.e., generated during depressurization) is:
Fair = Q (Sin Sout )
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Sin P = Sout Po
then, the theoretical amount of air available for flotation (i.e., released in the flotation unit) is:
P P Po Fair = QSout 1 = QSout Po Po
Fsolids = Q X o
Hence:
Sout (f P Po ) Sout f P Fair Air - to - solid ratio = = = 1 Fsolids X o Po X o Po
If the air-to-solid ratio is known from experiments the pressure to which the air must be pressurized can be calculated.
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Air
An analysis similar to that conducted for the norecycle case gives: R Sout (f P Po ) R Sout f P Fair Air - to - solid ratio = = = 1 Fsolids X o Po X o Po
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recycle
To convert air solubility data from mL air /L water to mg air/L water one should remember that: 1 mL air 1.3 mg air at standard conditions (0 C; 1 atm)
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Filename: Cls05-1.doc Directory: D:\TEMP Template: C:\WINWORD\OVERHEAD.DOT Title: Subject: Author: Piero M. Armenante, Ph.D. Keywords: Comments: Creation Date: 02/06/97 8:24 PM Change Number: 7 Last Saved On: 03/01/97 3:19 PM Last Saved By: Piero M. Armenante Total Editing Time: 12 Minutes Last Printed On: 08/31/99 11:19 AM As of Last Complete Printing Number of Pages: 25 Number of Words: 1,355 (approx.) Number of Characters: 7,727 (approx.)