Academic literature on the topic 'Dissolved gas flotation'

This paper presents a new method of dissolved air flotation with spraying of liquid. Liquid that needs cleaning is sprayed inside an overhead reservoir through a hydraulic nozzle allowing to enlarge the contact area between phases in comparison with traditional method of saturation by barbotage. Suggested method makes it possible to increase the gas content of the liquid processed for cleaning into a flotation section. This paper also contains the results of experimental investigation of the effectiveness of liquid saturation inside the overhead reservoir using spray-centrifugal and spray-percussive nozzles. Volumetric method was used to measure the amount of air escaping during dissolved air flotation and the results of the measurement were used to calculate the speed of barbotage. It was identified that when the method of spraying of liquid is applied, the amount of soluble air increases on average by 33% in comparison with overhead reservoir of bubbling type. The speed of barbotage increases with growth of saturation pressure and significantly depends on the area of the flotation section. If the saturation pressure exceeds 2 bars, the speed of barbotage in the center of the flotation cell becomes significantly higher than in the wall area.

Abstract The countercurrent–cocurrent dissolved air flotation (CCDAF) process is a new type of air flotation process integrating countercurrent collision and cocurrent flow adhesion processes. The structural form of the CCDAF tank and its process parameters are the required conditions to achieve countercurrent collision and cocurrent adhesion. In this study, eight CCDAF tank process models were established with a flow rate of 0.5 m3/h. Flow field numerical simulation and process optimization of a CCDAF tank was conducted using Fluent software. The simulation results show that the optimal conditions for the CCDAF process are as follows: contact zone ascending velocity 10 mm/s, separation zone separation velocity 1.5 mm/s, dissolved gas pressure 0.45 MPa, and recirculating dissolved-gas distribution ratio R1/R2 1:1. Under these operating conditions, the flow state in the flotation tank is the most stable and the gas in the contact zone is evenly distributed. According to the simulation results, a 5 m3/h pilot plant was built. The structural dimensions were: B × L × H = 1,020 mm × 1,300 mm × 1,350 mm. The test results show that the CCDAF has a significant decontamination effect and is clearly superior to the cocurrent flow DAF process and countercurrent flow DAF process.

After the successes of flotation of waste-activated sludge (WAS), using the new technique utilizing CO2 gas as well as using model gas (80% N2+20% CO2) in previous research because of the high water solubility of CO2 gas, the aim of this study is to develop a simple method for dewatering WAS for easier reuse and safe disposal. The paper introduces a laboratory model for dewatering WAS in two stages: flotation followed by filtration. The first stage enables recycling a mixture of greenhouse gases containing 20% of CO2 and 80% of N2 gases by volume. The second stage uses a simple compression cell for dewatering WAS. Experiments were carried out to reduce the moisture content and volume of WAS. This was executed using compression force introduced by a low value of air pressure. Using the experimental dewatering model, promising results were obtained. Furthermore, other data were obtained, such as the effect of temperature on the efficiency of dewaterability. It is hoped that the results of this study will lead to further study of collecting industrial CO2 gas emissions from burning fossil fuels for use in wastewater treatment to decrease the resulting harmful effects of global warming.

In plywood industry water is mainly needed for soaking the logs. Dissolved air flotation with chemical precipitation was found to be a suitable treatment method for the soaking basin overflow of a plywood mill using birch as raw material. According to pilot treatment studies over 90% reductions of the suspended solids are possible with a hydraulic surface load of 6.5 m3/(m2h). In subsequent experience in full scale following reductions have been achieved: suspended solids 93%, BOD7 50%, CODCr 57%, P 92% and N 52%. Two-thirds of the flotation treated water is led to flue gas scrubbers and circulated back to the soaking basin. Optionally water can be led to the heat recovery, too. One-third of the flotation treated water is disposed of as the mill effluent. Concentrations of organic matter in the system have been reduced after the addition of flotation indicating the possibility of further closure. However, due to the use of aluminium sulphate in coagulation, aeration is needed for sulphate reduction prevention. Further closure of the water system is possible in the future if the heat recovery is renovated, preventing the increase of the water temperature (now 37°C) which otherwise might cause occupational safety hazards.

Abstract Flotation is a separation process where particles or droplets are removed from a suspension with the aid of floating gas bubbles. Applications include dissolved air flotation (DAF) in industrial wastewater treatment and column froth flotation (CFF) in wastewater treatment and mineral processing. One-dimensional models of flotation have been limited to steady-state situations for half a century by means of the drift-flux theory. A newly developed dynamic one-dimensional model formulated in terms of partial differential equations can be used to predict the process of simultaneous flotation of bubbles and sedimentation of particles that are not attached to bubbles. The governing model is a pair of first-order conservation laws for the aggregate and solids volume fractions as functions of height and time. An analysis of nonlinear ingredients of the governing equations helps to identify desired steady-state operating conditions. These can be chosen by means of operating charts, which are diagrams that visualize regions of admissible values of the volumetric flows of the feed input and underflow outlet. This is detailed for the DAF thickening process. Dynamic simulations are obtained with a recently developed numerical method. Responses to control actions are demonstrated with scenarios in CFF and DAF.

Abstract Countercurrent–cocurrent dissolved air flotation (CCDAF), the popular water purification device, which consists of collision and adhesion contact zones, showed favorable flotation conditions for micro-bubble adhesion and stability. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation was employed to confirm that the unique CCDAF configuration create reasonable and that the flow field characteristics were good no matter for single phase or gas–liquid two-phase conditions. In addition, the turbulence of the flow field was enhanced with the increasing influent load; the swirling was remarkably reduced with the increase of gas holdup. Meanwhile, a thick micro-bubble filter layer was formed in the separation zone, which favored bubble-flocs agglomerating and rising. The force analysis also showed that the cross section within the tank contribute to the uniformity of the bottom water collection as well as enlargement of the bottom outflow area, therefore improving the overall flotation performance. The simulation results revealed for the CCDAF process can provide technical guidance for engineering design and application.

A field sampling and analysis program was carried out at a refmery and petrochemical industrial complex in the Shuaiba Industrial Area to characterize the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from wastewater and examine their removal by dissolved air flotation (DAF) and granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment Compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene were identified. The total VOC emission of these compounds ranged from 0.1 to 3.2 mglm3. The VOCs concentrations in wastewater ranged from 34 to 4445 g/l. An actual refinery wastewater was fed at a rate of 10 l/min into a pilot scale 592-liter dissolved air flotation(OAF) unit connected to a granular activated carbon column. Results indicated that liquid detention time and air/water ratio were the main factors affecting VOCs stripping from the OAF basin. Up to 20% of influent VOCs concentrations were lost by volatilization at an air-to-water ratio of 0.5. Adsorption by dry granular activated carbon (GAC) was capable of reducing the VOCs concentration in off-gas from the OAF unit by more than 99%. It is recommended to couple covered OAF units with dry GAC columns to minimize occupational exposure to VOC emission.

Dilute manure is classified as wastewater due to the large quantity of water used in livestock production in Korea. Livestock wastewater treatment is required in order to reduce high moisture content and treat fluids discharged from the digestion process. In livestock wastewater treatment plants, large quantities of CO2 gas are produced at combined heat and power facilities as well as in the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. This gas produced during livestock wastewater treatment can be used as a separator of solids from liquid in wastewater. In this study, a flotation system using recycled CO2 gas was used for sludge thickening. An anaerobic toxicity assay (ATA) and a biochemical methane potential assay were used to assess the toxicity impact of recycling CO2 on the methane production potential. ATA experiments confirmed that CO2 toxicity did not impair the AD process. The tests indicated that the cumulative methane yield from influent livestock manure enriched with CO2 was approximately 190 mL-CH4/g-VSadded. The data demonstrated the potential of using dissolved CO2 flotation in the AD of diluted livestock wastewater.

A simple two-phase conceptual model is postulated to explain the initial growth of microbubbles after pressure release in dissolved air flotation. During the first phase bubbles merely expand from existing nucleation centres as air precipitates from solution, without bubble coalescence. This phase ends when all excess air is transferred to the gas phase. During the second phase, the total air volume remains the same, but bubbles continue to grow due to bubble coalescence. This model is used to explain the results from experiments where three different nozzle variations were tested, namely a nozzle with an impinging surface immediately outside the nozzle orifice, a nozzle with a bend in the nozzle channel, and a nozzle with a tapering outlet immediately outside the nozzle orifice. From these experiments, it is inferred that the first phase of bubble growth is completed at approximately 1.7 ms after the start of pressure release.

La séparation de nanoparticules (NPs) contenues dans des milieux aqueux est un sérieux challenge pour le traitement des eaux à cause de la grande stabilité et de la nature colloïdale de ces particules. Ce travail concerne le développement de procédés efficaces de flottation pour la séparation de nanoparticules. La première partie du travail est conduite pour obtenir une connaissance plus étroite de la nature et du comportement colloïdal des nanoparticules en suspension. Des tests de modifications de leur surface et des expériences d’adsorption-agrégation sont ensuite menés pour comprendre les mécanismes d’interactions entre les NPs et des réactifs d’aide à la flottation. Deux type des techniques de flottation (la flottation à air dissout (DAF) et la flottation par des aphrons colloïdaux (CGAs)) sont utilisés : le premier type a ici pour objectif de séparer les nanoparticules par des bulles d’air avec l’aide d’acides humiques (HA), alors que le second utilise des microbulles dont la surface est fonctionnalisée par des tensioactifs (CGAs), dans l’objectif d’accroître l’efficacité de séparation. Les résultats montrent que, par mélange avec une solution basique de HA (pH 12.9), la charge de surface de nanoparticules de TiO2 (TNPs) est d’abord neutralisée par des ions OH- et ensuite écrantée par les polyanions de HA. Quand le pH des suspensions TNPs-HA est en dessous de 3 par ajout de solution mère de HA de pH 4.9-9.0, l’attraction électrostatique entre les TNPs et les anions est insuffisante, mais on observe quand même l’agrégation entre TNPs et la part colloïdale de l’HA. Par des essais de DAF en continu, le pH optimal de la solution mère de HA (pH≦ 9) et la concentration optimale en HA (11.1 mg/L COD) permettent d’éliminer plus de 95% des nanoparticules. La concentration résiduelle de HA reste à un très bas niveau même quand l’acide humique est surdosé. Quand le pH des suspensions TNPs-HA est très acide, la plupart des molécules d’acides humiques ne sont pas solubles et ne sont pas chargées. Elles peuvent s’agréger entre-elles et former un précipité colloïdal hydrophobe pour minimiser leur contact avec le milieu aqueux. En ce qui concerne les CGAs, leur caractérisation montre que la vitesse d’agitation est un paramètre crucial pour créer des aphrons de l’ordre de la dizaine de micromètres. Les CGAs peuvent être chargés négativement ou positivement en utilisant des tensioactifs adaptés. Différentes nanoparticules de SiO2 (SNPs) peuvent être efficacement (près de 100%) séparées de suspensions aqueuses par le procédé continu de flottation par CGAs. La comparaison entre flottation par CGAs et DAF montre l’avantage du premier procédé plus efficace avec une moindre quantité de surfactant
The removal of nanoparticles (NPs) from waters is a serious challenge in the water treatment field owing to the high stability and colloidal nature of particles. This study is devoted to develop effective flotation processes for NP separation. The investigation is firstly conducted to get a good knowledge of features and colloidal behaviors of NPs in suspension. Surface modification tests and adsorption-aggregation experiments are then carried out to understand the interaction mechanisms between NPs and flotation assisting reagents. Two types of flotation (dissolved air flotation (DAF) and colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) involved flotation) were specially focused on: the former aims at using air bubbles to remove NP aggregates with the assistance of humic acid (HA), while the later employs the surface functionalized microbubbles, CGAs, to enhance the interaction of NP-bubble for the sake of high treating efficiency. Results show that, on mixing with the highly basic HA solution (pH12.9), the surface charge of TNPs is primarily neutralized by and then screened by polyanions of HA. When the pH of TNP-HA suspension is lower than 3 by adding HA stock solutions at pH4.0~9.0, the electrostatic attraction between TNPs and anions becomes insufficient but the aggregation of TNPs-colloidal HA occurs. In continuous DAF trials, the appropriate pH of HA stock solution (pH ≦ 9) and optimum HA concentration (11.1 mg/L DOC) for high TNP removals (> 95 %) are determined. The residual HA concentration remained in a low level even when HA is overdosed. When the pH of the TNP-HA suspension is highly acidic, most HA molecules are not really soluble and uncharged, and they may aggregate themselves and form hydrophobic colloidal precipitates to minimize the contact with the aqueous environment. As for the study of CGAs, the characterization results denote that introducing air flow during the CGA generation process can slow down the liquid drainage speed and may facilitate the particle separation performance; the stirring speed is a crucial parameter to create micron scale bubbles, and CGAs can be positively or negatively surface charged by using different surfactants. Different SiO2 NP (SNPs) can be efficiently separated from aqueous suspensions by the continuous CGA generation-flotation process with the highest SNP removal close to 100 %. The comparison tests between CGA-flotation and DAF denote that the former take the greater advantage because of its better treating effect and less surfactant demand

Abstract The maximum use of existing surface produced water treatment (PWT) facilities is a prerequisite for an economic chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) in mature fields, as the erection of additional dedicated polymer treatment facilities can seriously harm the project's business case. These existing facilities often exhibit a reliable design, but do not necessarily fulfill the requirements of treating back-produced polymer. An optimization of installed facilities based on prior assessment of limitations is a way to upgrade facilities with regard to future EOR operations. Since its start-up in 2015, the main PWT plant comprised three separation stages: corrugated plate interceptors (CPIs), dissolved gas flotations (DGFs) and nutshell filters (NSFs). The plant processes up to 1,200 m3/h of conventional produced water at the Matzen field in Austria. Additionally, in 2009 a polymer injection pilot was initiated, with continuous polymer injection started in 2012, and now produces a segregated water stream containing back-produced polymer. Prior field tests with a pilot scale water treatment plant indicated operational issues with the existing set-up of facilities and the flotation chemicals used, with increasing polymer concentrations. At the end of 2018, severe injectivity issues were observed at injectors which were supplied with commingled conventional and polymer containing produced water. These were caused by a chemical interaction between the partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and alumina-based water clarifiers, which were applied in the dissolved gas flotation, finally leading to a loss of production. Therefore, a strict segregation of polymer and conventional streams at the common well network has been developed and established, where the separated streams could be injected into different parts of the injection system without any issues. This experience pointed out the future risks and hurdles of an economic cEOR full field roll-out where up to 200 ppm back-produced polymer at all surface treatment facilities is expected. Several studies were performed to identify alternative technologies able to treat polymer containing water. A business case driven option was to initiate an optimization program to develop smart upgrades and ensure maximum use of the existing PWT facilities. The main task was to substitute or stop the current poly-aluminum chloride-based coagulant in the DGF with a dosage of 40 to 60 ppm due to its unfavorable interactions with the back-produced HPAM. A technology assessment, comprehensive measures and economic retrofits of the installed gas dissolving units, the circulation cycle and bubble injection points resulted in a 200% higher flotation bubble bed density. Thanks to these improvements, the dosage of water clarifiers could be stopped, accomplishing similar or even better PWT performance values. In addition to the operational savings achieved, the existing treatment plant can now be used to treat cEOR fluids, as first tests with up to 59 ppm of back-produced polymer proved. Considering this new opportunity, a customized and economic modular cEOR debottlenecking concept was developed.