Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

A short overview of the formation of aerated ocs and their applications

in solid/liquid separation by otation
Cristiane Oliveira, Jorge Rubio
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Programa de Ps-Graduao em Engenharia de Minas, Metalrgica e de Materiais, Laboratrio de Tecnologia Mineral e Ambiental,
Av. Bento Gonalves, 9500, Prdio 75, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 91501-970, Brazil

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 26 January 2012
Accepted 29 May 2012
Available online 5 October 2012
Keywords:
Flocculation
Flotation bubbles
Aerated ocs
Aeroocs

a b s t r a c t
This review summarises the formation of aerated ocs or aeroocs and describes their use in solid/liquid
or liquid/oil/water separations during occulationotation wastewater treatment. Here, the key future
occulation devices, techniques and trends are reviewed. Knowledge regarding the formation of aeroocs
and their current applications will be used for future applications and lead to the development of compact and high-throughput devices for rapid occulationotation separations.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents
1.
2.

3.
4.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recent techniques and upcoming applications involving aerated flocs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.
The Flocs Generator Reactor (FGR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.
Flocculationflotation (FF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.
Flocculation-Column Flotation (FCF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.
Turbulent microflotation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5.
ASH flotation (Air Sparged Hydrocyclone) and BAF (Bubble Accelerated Flotation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Future trends in the formation of aerated flocs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Introduction
Flocculationotation processes have been widely used in water
and wastewater treatment (urban and industrial), mineral processing, papermaking and hydrometallurgical treatments. Overall, the
objective is to efciently use solid/liquid, liquid/solid/oil or oil/
water separations in various technical applications, which include
the following: ne ore processing by selective occulation; oily
agglomeration of coal and gold particles; thickening of otation
concentrates; removing precipitated pollutant ions, suspended par Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 51 33089479; fax: +55 51 33089477.
E-mail address: jrubio@ufrgs.br (J. Rubio).
URL: http://www.ufrgs.br/ltm (J. Rubio).
0892-6875/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.05.024

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ticles, organic matter, emulsied oils or residual organics reagents;

separating precipitates from neutralised acid mine drainages; and
thickening, ltration, settling and otation in efuent treatment
(Amato et al., 2000; Bolto et al., 1996; Dobis and Stechemesser,
2005; Edzwald, 2010; Edzwald and Haarhoff, 2011; Finch and Hardie, 1999; Gregory, 1988; Gregory et al., 1999; Harbort et al., 1994;
Hunter, 2002; Jameson, 1999; Kiuru, 2001; Laskowski, 1992; Letterman, 1999; Matis, 1995; Mavros and Matis, 1991; Metcalf and Eddy,
2003; Miller, 2001; Nguyen and Schulze, 2004; Parekh and Miller,
1999; Perry and Green, 2007; Rodrigues and Rubio, 2007; Rubio,
2003; Shibata and Fuerstenau, 2003; Svarovsky, 2000; Voronin
and Dibrov, 1998; Warren, 1992; Yan and Jameson, 2004).
Rapid (aerated) ocotation is of great importance in efuent
treatment with or without water reuse. In addition, the application

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

of ocotation in mineral processing may be possible, especially

in mineral separation by selective occulation at the solid/liquid
stage (Attia and Driscoll, 1991; Chuanbing and Yuhua, 2008; Dogu
and Arol, 2004; Forbes, 2011; Ma, 2012; Patra and Natarajan, 2008;
Yuhua et al., 2011).
In this context, various important research studies have demonstrated signicant improvements in the occulationotation processes. These improvements were mainly from the generation of
aerated ocs (also namely, aeroocs), which are the central subjects of this short review.
Aerated ocs are structures composed of occulated particles,
polymers and air bubbles. These ocs (with trapped and attached
bubbles) become light and rapidly rise (high-rate otation) (Carissimi and Rubio, 2005a; Colic et al., 2001, 2007b; Da Rosa and Rubio, 2005; Kitchener and Gochin, 1981; Miller, 2001; Oliveira
et al., 2010; Oliveira and Rubio, 2012; Owen et al., 1999; Rodrigues
and Rubio, 2007; Rubio, 2003; Rulyov, 1999, 2001; Yan and Jameson, 2004).
The terms aerated ocs and aeroocs come from an analogy
to the aggregates generated in mineral processing otation that are
called aeroocs (a cluster of mineralised bubbles) (Ata and Jameson, 2005; Gaudin, 1957; Glembotskii et al., 1963; Malysa et al.,
1999a, 1999b; Schulze, 1984). These structures are composed of
bubble-particles and were only recently applied to rapid contaminant removal from wastewater.
Herein, this work summarises the basic principles and applications of aeroocs in water and wastewater treatment. Moreover, it
is believed that rapid oc formation may create opportunities for
additional applications and scientic studies. Fig. 1 summarises
some of these contributions.
In the 2000s a number of articles (Carissimi and Rubio, 2005a;
Colic et al., 2007a; Da Rosa and Rubio, 2005; Oliveira et al., 2010;
Owen et al., 2008; Rodrigues and Rubio, 2007; Rulyov, 1999,
2001) regarding the formation and application of aerated ocs
were reported. These articles reported that the oc structures
had the following features:
i. a large size,
ii. an up-rising rate signicantly higher than independent bubbles of gas (air),
iii. a high shear resistance during turbulent conditions, and
iv. a low moisture content.
However, although these studies provided useful information,
additional investigation is needed. In this context, Oliveira et al.
(2010) developed a new technique named Aerated Flocs Character-

2010

isation (AFC) for characterising the aerated ocs (multiphase systems) formed in occulationotation studies. This technique
used two cameras that were positioned orthogonal to each other.
One camera (coupled to the optical microscope) was placed at
the surface of the system to obtain qualitative data from the investigations. This qualitative data included the arrangement of the
bubbles in the ocs, the bubble size distribution, and the stability
of the bubbles inside the ocs and the attached and individual bubbles. Another camera placed in front of the tube was used to take
video recordings of the ocs ow to obtain quantitative data. In
this work, the techniques employed for image processing resulted
in a detailed evaluation of the aerated ocs (Fig. 2). This evaluation
included the size, shape factor, up-rising rate, fractal dimension
and density of the ocs. In addition, the adhered, attached and entrapped bubbles in the ocs were characterised (Fig. 2) by quantitatively analysing the captured multiphase system images.
Furthermore, the work showed that the presence (formation) of
these large bubbles within the ocs increased their air volume
and reduced their density.
According to some authors, the generation of the aerated oc
structures might occur in situ after injection of air under pressure and turbulence.
In addition, further investigation showed that aeroocs may
form after injection of air or air-saturated water during the occulation stage. In the rst case, air bubbles are formed by introduction of air in a suspension at a high shearing rate by using ow
constrictors as orices and needle valves, venturi or static mixers.
In this case, a wide size distribution of air bubbles is generated and
the air bubble size range depends on the air/water interfacial
tension.
Conversely, when the air-saturated water is depressurised in
needle valves or orice plates, consistent 3070 lm microbubbles
are produced (Rodrigues and Rubio, 2003).
Thus, aeroocs are formed by either form of injection and the
following mechanisms are held responsible for their generation.
i. Polymer precipitation at the air/liquid interface would occur
in the presence of excess air. In this case, a fraction of macromolecules would precipitate by entrapping bubbles within
the polymeric structure. Thus, the precipitation of a polymer
may explain the observation of ocs with high shear
strength.
ii. Elongated feature of the ocs can result from the uncoiling
of polymeric chains. This process results from salting out
at the water/air interface (under a high shear rate). In these
conditions, the repulsive hydrophobic forces between the

AFC technique and the flocculation mechanism named

flocculating bubbles or flocculation assisted by bubbles"

2008 CFS - Centrifugal Flotation Systems and

Conventional and Unconventional flotation

FF-Flocculation-Flotation and
2005
FGR-Flocs Generator Reactor
2004 Jet Flotation - Jameson cell
2001

ASH flotation - Air

Sparged

1999 Turbulent
microflotation
Rulyov (1999;
2001)

Miller (2001) Yan and

Jameson
(2004)

Da Rosa and
Rubio (2005);
Carissimi and
Rubio (2005a)

Colic et. al.

(2007); Rodrigues
and Rubio (2007);
Rubio et al.(2007)

Oliveira et al.
(2010);
Oliveira

Fig. 1. Examples of several published works regarding the formation of aerated ocs and the developed techniques and devices used for their formation.

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

Aerated carbon floc

Aerated kaolin floc

Bridges of bubbles

Trains of bubbles

Clusters of bubbles

Fig. 2. Aerated carbon and kaolin ocs formed by the addition of a high molecular weight polymer occulant with bubbles that are free, attached and trapped inside ocs.
Sources: Oliveira (2010), Oliveira and Rubio (2012).

iii.

iv.

v.

vi.

polymer and the liquid phase are reduced by the presence of

the hydrophobic phase (air). Consequently, fewer molecule
interstices are available to be lled by water, which results
in ocs that have higher solids content.
Coalescence of ne bubbles inside and on the surface of the
ocs may occur. In this case, the entrapped bubbles coalesce
and the resulting large bubbles rise at a high speed.
Bubble-particle collisions and attachment and detachment
phenomena that are similar to what happens during the otation of mineral ores also may occur.
Heterogeneous precipitation of pressurised gas may occur at
the internal and external surfaces of the ocs. In this case,
the precipitation of the dissolved gas that results in bubbles
is known as cavitation or the formation of gas wells in a
continuous liquid phase. The rst stage of cavitation is the
generation of the gas nuclei, also referred to as bubble nucleation or dissolved gas precipitation.
Bubble nucleation, which occurs in the homogeneous phase
(liquid) or on the solid surfaces (heterogeneous phase) may
also occur. The cavitation process is enhanced in the presence of dust or mineral particles. These particles may act
as nuclei for the bubbles that arise from small amounts of

non-dissolved air in the particle pores. Moreover, the internal roughness of the containers may enhance the cavitation
phenomenon (this process has been modelled by several
researchers).
vii. The interactions between air bubbles and polymeric macromolecules (occulants) have recently been revealed by Oliveira and Rubio (2011, 2012) that may also enhance the
formation of aeroocs. These authors showed a signicant
change in the air bubble surface charge in the presence of
polymer occulants, which indicated the adsorption of macromolecules at the air bubble/water interface. This nding
results in a new mechanism for bubble and particle adhesion, which may play a key role in the formation of the aerated ocs.
2. Recent techniques and upcoming applications involving
aerated ocs
The upcoming and efcient techniques and the patents and
technologies associated with aerated ocs have been discussed
by several authors (Beeby and Nicol, 1993; Carissimi and Rubio,
2005a; Colic et al., 2007a, 2001; Da Rosa and Rubio, 2005; Lelinski,

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

Aerated flocs

Microbubbles

Flocculant

Effluent
Solid

Flocculant

Air

Fig. 3. A depiction of a Flocs Generator Reactor (FGR) with the formation of aeroocs along the helices. Source: Oliveira (2010).

applications that require high solidliquid separation rates (Rubio

and Zaneti, 2009; Silva and Rubio, 2009; Silveira et al., 2009).
A schematic of aeroocs generation in the FGR by introduction
of air microbubbles is shown in Fig. 3.
Recently, several applications of the FGR have been reported,
which include tap (potable) water clarication, treated wastewater
reuse and acid mining drainage (AMD) treatment (Carissimi and
Rubio, 2005a; Da Rosa and Rubio, 2005; Rubio et al., 2007; Rubio
and Zaneti, 2009; Silva and Rubio, 2009).
In potable water clarication studies, Rubio et al. (2007) used
three different coiled reactors (FGRs) (FGR1, FGR2 and FGR3) that
were constructed for aggregate generation at the semi-pilot scale
with ow rates of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 m3/h, respectively. Coupled to
a FGR, a otation cell (high rate dissolved air otation unit, HRDAF) was designed for the solid/liquid separation studies (Fig. 4).
Thus, raw water was pumped from the Guaiba Statuary (Porto Alegre/Brazil) and transported to a water treatment plant (So Joo)
that receives the chemical reagent. Next, the water was pumped
before entering the plant settling tanks and an extra reagent was
added to generate the ocs in the FGR and the solidliquid separation in the HR-DAF.
This process yielded treated water with reduced turbidity
(approximately 87%), which enabled the formation of ocs. The
authors believed that the HR-DAF has a great potential for tap (potable) water clarication at high hydraulic loading capacities,
shorter residence times (especially in the occulation stage) and
a smaller foot print.
In addition, this technique has been successful applied to the
treatment of coal acid mining drainage (AMD) in Southern Brazil.
Herein, some authors (Silva and Rubio, 2011a, 2011b; Silveira
et al., 2009) described AMD techniques of neutralisation. These

1993; Miller, 2001; Owen et al., 1999; Rubio et al., 2007; Rulyov,
1999, 2001; Ye et al., 1988). Applications have been reported in different areas that signicantly improve pollutant removal and solidliquid separation. Surprisingly, no research studies have been
published regarding the use of aerated ocs in the selective occulation of ne mineral particles.
Some of these techniques and applications have been developed
in our research group, and a few are summarised as follows.
2.1. The Flocs Generator Reactor (FGR)
The FGR consists of an innovative helical mixing reactor for rapid aggregation followed by a solidliquid separation. In this device, the occulant is dispersed by the slurry ow through the
helical tubes, which permits the occurrence of both polymer
adsorption and occulation within seconds. Additional details are
described in the trademarked Flocs Generator Reactor (FGR) patent
(Carissimi and Rubio, 2005b) and in Carissimi (2007) and Carissimi
and Rubio (2005a).
The mixing regime has been characterised as a plug ow with
small dispersion, which has ideal hydrodynamic conditions for
the reagent and the growth of ocs.
However, FGR may be employed as a hydraulic occulator or as
rapid occulationotation machine if microbubbles are injected
(Carissimi and Rubio, 2005a; Rubio and Zaneti, 2009; Silveira
et al., 2009). Thus, after air microbubbles are injected, they may become entrapped, occluded and coalesced inside of the ocs (in
addition to the attachment of bubbles onto the particles). Thus,
aeroocs are readily formed and oat quickly like they do in otation processes (ocotation). Therefore, FGR has shown a high potential for use as an aggregation and otation reactor for

HR-DAF
pH adjustment
Flocculant
Air

Floated solids
Bubbles

Treated effluent

Effluent
FGR
Fig. 4. A pilot-scale rig using the FGR coupled to a rate otation unit (1 m3/h, HR-DAF).

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

techniques included the use of lime and the occulation of the

precipitates (by either otation with microbubbles or lamellar settling (LS)) using a small pilot unit for ocs/liquid separation that
treated approximately 1 m3/h1.5 m3/h over 8 months. The authors
showed that when microbubbles (generated by depressurisation of
saturated air in water, as in dissolved air otation-DAF) were injected, aerated ocs were formed (within seconds). These ocs were
raised at >120 m/h, which allowed for a rapid solidliquid separation by otation (HR-DAF) at a loading capacity of approximately
1315 m3/m2/h.
Therefore, these results showed that both otation and lamellar
settling (LS) had similar efciencies (at pH 9) for the removal of
ocs containing heavy metals (>90%). However, both units were
compact and took advantage of the rapid occulation in the FGR,
which allowed for quality water treatment. In fact, the treated
water was nearly free of heavy metal ions, had a low BOD (biological oxygen demand), low TOC (total organic content), a low solids
content and could be easily reused for irrigation, industrial
processes or wash water (among others, streets, vehicles, dust
control).
2.2. Flocculationotation (FF)

Air
Flocculant

The FF reactor is a special design (zigzag or static mixer type)

for generating light ocs (aerated ocs) that are formed in the presence of polymers, air bubbles (injected air), high shearing force and
a high head loss (or velocity gradient) (Da Rosa and Rubio, 2005;
Rubio, 2003; Rubio et al., 2002). Fig. 5 shows the FF scheme. A version of this FF was patented for treatment and reuse of wastewater
from washing vehicles (Rubio et al., 2003).
Applications of the FF technique include the separation of oil
from oil-in-water emulsions, occulationotation of suspended
(dispersed) solids and water treatment and reuse form washing
vehicles. Da Rosa and Rubio (2005) used a typical petroleum renery efuent in a FF system coupled by columns, tanks or centrifuges to promote not only solid/liquid and solid/liquid1/liquid2,
but also liquid1/liquid2 separations.
The resulting ocs were rapidly formed inside the occulator
and in the otation separator. The resulting large and low density
ocs oated within seconds. The extra air exited the otation
device through a special water seal in the top (avoiding ow turbulence). These results showed an excellent removal of oil, turbidity

Effluent

(a)

(b)
Fig. 5. The hydraulic occulant dispersers and occulators used in the FF
(occulationotation) technique with direct air injection and polymer solutions.
The letters correspond to the following components: (a) zigzag, and (b) static mixer.
Source: Oliveira (2010).

and suspended solids with chemical oxygen demands of 91%, 85%,

88% and 54%, respectively. The authors concluded that the process
efciency was, in all cases, a function of the trilogy, head loss, type
(and concentration) of occulant and air ow rate. In addition they
believed in its potential for treating large volumes of oily efuents.
Another important application of the FF technique is in the occulationotation of suspended (dispersed) mineral solids. Da Rosa
and Rubio (2005) reported data obtained following the occulationotation of mineral suspensions of hematite, quartz, bentonite and coal beneciation tailing, and showed that the FF was
efcient to occulate (with the exception of bentonite). The FF separations of all other solid materials were efcient, nearly complete
and proceeded rapidly.
Another application of the FF technique (the patented version)
is the treatment and reuse (back to the washing process) of water
from washing vehicles (mainly car, buses), which contains oils,
residual solids, greases and surfactants (soaps). Rubio et al.
(2007) reported success in the water treatment and reuse at a Brazilian bus company where a FF system was installed that enabled
the reuse of 80% of waste water. Additionally, the results showed
turbidity reductions of up to 90% and efcient removal of suspend
solids; oils and greases. This technology is now broadly used in
Brazil for this purpose (which consumes approximately 0.3 m3 of
water per bus. The main advantages of the FF system include the
small foot-print and the high process efciencies for water reuse,
pollution control, and separation kinetics.
2.3. Flocculation-Column Flotation (FCF)
Aerated ocs have also been formed in a Flocculation-Column
Flotation technique (FCF). Fig. 6 shows the layout of this FCF, whose
details have been described elsewhere (patent PI 0802871-0 by
Rubio and Zaneti (2010)).
This system consists of a hydraulic occulant disperser (zigzag)
coupled to a FGR (for generating the aerated ocs which feed the
otation column), where ocs and air bubbles (generated by a centrifugal three phases cavitation pump) are contacted and separated
by otation. Because of the low residence time, the rig has a high
hydraulic-loading capacity (>13 m/h) and has a small foot-print
area and reduced energy consumption.
To achieve high quality treatment of water, full-scale car wash
wastewater treatment and recycling using the FCF technique coupled to a sand ltration and nal chlorination systems were reported by Zaneti et al. (2011). These authors studied (during
20 weeks of operation) the more than 200 car washings and
showed that nearly 70% wastewater reclamation was attainable
with <40 L of fresh water per wash. In addition, the reclaimed
water quality was good in terms of chemical, physicochemical
and biological parameters. These parameters include the aesthetic
quality (water clarication and odour), health (pathological) and
chemical (corrosion and scaling) risks (with almost 70% of odourless and clear water achieved) of the water. Additionally, the
cost-benet analysis showed that at least 8 months were needed
for the FCF-SC equipment amortisation for a car wash wastewater
reclamation system in Brazil for demands exceeding 30 washes per
day.
A similar system was used by Rubio and Zaneti (2009) at the
Metropolitan Transportation Bus Company (a 250 bus eet site).
The company installed a FCF unit followed by a sand lter for the
treatment and recycling of eet washrack wastewater.
In this case, the FCF system produced clear, high quality water
(low turbidity and high colour reduction) for a high hydraulic reuse
load. With regard to water reuse, the FCF treated water is suitable
for washing busses. The aerated ocs were formed rapidly (10 s
residence time) in the presence of a Tanin base occulant and
the microbubbles within an in-line rapid occulator (retention

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

Column flotation

Flocculant
dispersing zigzag
FGR

Bubbles
Effluent

Flocculant
pH
adjustment

Treated
effluent

Centrifugal
cavitation pump

Floated
solids

Water
Fig. 6. The Flocculation-Column Flotation (FCF) technique, including a hydraulic occulator (zigzag) and a Flocs Generator Reactor (FGR) for the occulation stage.

time equal to 10 s). Due to the rapid formation of these very light
ocs with high up-rising rates (up to 150 m/h), the FCF system was
able to handle a high hydraulic-load capacity (>15 m/h) with a
small foot print (compact unit) and low energy consumption.
Other techniques, such as ASH otation (Air Sparged Hydrocyclone), BAF otation (Bubble Accelerated Flotation), ultraocculation and microotation have also been reported (Beeby and
Nicol, 1993; Colic et al., 2001, 2007b; Lelinski, 1993; Miller,
2001; Owen et al., 1999; Rulyov, 1999, 2001; Ye et al., 1988).
Although these authors do not used the term aerated ocs or
aeroocs, they described the formation of aggregates with rapid
up-rising rates that improved the solid/liquid separation processes.
2.4. Turbulent microotation
The micro-otation is characterised by the use of extremely
small bubbles (diameter 550 lm) generated by electrolytic
decomposition of water (so-called electro-otation) or other
techniques.
It has been hypothesised that both turbulent microotation and
ultra-occulation (Rulyov, 2001) act simultaneously in generating
ocs that rapidly oat. To achieve this, occulants and microbubbles
are introduced into the efuent and then submitted to a vigorous
shearing regime. The mixing ow rate is adjusted into maintain a
turbulent stream ow, to avoid early phase separation, to ensure
the aggregation (occulation, coagulation) or heterocoagulation of
the particles (and/or their aggregates) with bubbles and to ensure
the aggregation of the bubbles with particles (Rulyov, 1999, 2001).
Moreover, by controlling the amount of microbubbles the selection of suitable reagents and their dosage points in the stream permitted an effective attachment of the particles to microbubbles.
Thus, large foam aggregates with high buoyancy are generated at
the channel outlet, which leads to an easy separation of the aggregates from the liquid.
Rulyov (1999) applied this technique for treating waste oil/
water emulsion lubricants. In this study Rulyov (1999) used turbulent microotation, which generated aggregates that had rising velocities that were hundreds of times higher than
treatment systems that did not use microotation and easy to
separate.

2.5. ASH otation (Air Sparged Hydrocyclone) and BAF (Bubble

Accelerated Flotation)
The ASH otation (Air Sparged Hydrocyclone) and BAF (Bubble
Accelerated Flotation) techniques have been reported that describe
the rapid formation of ocs (Beeby and Nicol, 1993; Colic et al.,
2001; Lelinski, 1993).
The ASH technique couples a porous cylindrical membrane
with the design features of a hydrocyclone. In this system, gas is
introduced through the membrane while wastewater is pumped
through the hydrocyclone. Because the bubbles are sheared off
the wall of the porous membrane (due to the high velocity and
centrifugal forces inside the hydrocyclone) they are dispersed into
very small bubbles that resemble those generated in DAF operations. Thus, the ocs oat within seconds after leaving the downcomer cylinder and are removed by forcing through an overow
(vortex nder).
The BAF technique is similar to the ASH technique. For the BAF
technique, the bubble/particle/polymer aggregates are formed in a
bubble chamber (Fig. 7) before they reach the tank. Thus, the tank
is used as an ancillary separator for the ocs. This feature (combined with the fact that the aggregates are already formed) allows
for high hydraulic ow rates through the otation tank. Fig. 7 depicts the air sparged bubble chamber, which is an important component of this device.
According to the authors, these technologies are particularly
efcient for the removal of free and emulsied fats, oils, and grease
(FOG). The BAF system has also been used to remove totally hydrophilic particles such as zeolites or quartz. In addition, the BAF system has a short response time (seconds) to changes in the solution
chemistry (contrary to hours in clariers or DAF).
Conversely, Colic et al. (2001) observed that high molecular
weight polymeric polymers can be added directly into the bubble
chamber head, which results in the rapid formation of large ocs
(aeroocs) with diameters of <10 cm.
3. Future trends in the formation of aerated ocs
A full knowledge of aerated ocs or aeroocs generation for different purposes and systems will further improve the techniques

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C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

Header
Wastewater inlet

Corkscrew water flow

direction (internal)

Froth Water Porous

sludge layer tube
Pressurized air
chamber

Porous
tube

Air in
Spinning ribbon of water
inside porous tube

Air forced
through into
water layer

Outer shell

Side view
Contaminant particles
Air bubbles
Effluent
Fig. 7. A scheme of a bubble chamber with ASH technology. Source: Colic et al. (2001).

and technologies described above. The presence of rapid ocs in all

of these investigations demonstrated that it is important to search
for optimal conditions that favour the formation of aerated ocs.
Accordingly, a full understanding of the mechanisms involved in
the generation of these structures is needed.
Recently, Oliveira (2010) and Oliveira and Rubio (2011) showed
that important interactions between polymers and bubbles-particles occur in activated carbon and kaolin aerated ocs systems.
These aerated ocs had large bubbles inside their structures resulting from the interactions between the trains of bubbles, bridges of
bubbles and/or clusters of bubbles. The microphotographs obtained in these investigations suggest the formation of polymercoated bubbles that interact with particles, bubbles and/or other

particle-coated bubbles. According to the author, these structures

are highly interactive and facilitate the formation of light aerated
ocs in suspension with improved rising rates.
This nding led to new investigations regarding the interactions
between polymers and bubbles and to the improvement of these
mechanisms in a continuous system for generating aerated ocs
assisted by polymer-coated microbubbles. These ndings were
based on the images shown in Fig. 8, which veried the occulation mechanisms involving polymer-coated bubbles that strongly
interacted with particles, free bubbles, other polymer-coated bubbles and aerated ocs in suspension.
In addition to the existing data that indicated that interactions
between polymers and air bubbles occurred, this work considered

Fig. 8. Photomicrographs of polymer-coated bubbles interacting with ocs and/or other bubbles. Source: Oliveira (2010).

C. Oliveira, J. Rubio / Minerals Engineering 39 (2012) 124132

the occurrence of van der Waals and hydrophobic forces between

the air bubbles and the hydrophobic moieties present in the polymeric chain backbones. The hydrophobicity of the polyacrylamides
has been previously described (Ghannam, 1999; Oliveira, 2010).
Such interactions, phenomena and investigations could be important for explaining some of the discovered phenomena, which include the following: (i) the presence of large bubbles in aerated
ocs, and (ii) their growth assisted by the polymer-coated microbubbles. The improvements and knowledge of these phenomena
will improve the existing techniques and upcoming technologies
(with high loading capacities).
The rapid formation of aerated ocs is potentially useful
in several operations, which include mining, metallurgical and
physico-chemical separation. For example, the effective removal
of adsorbed pollutants onto carrier ocs (not explored yet); the solidliquid separation of slimes that are difcult-to-occulate
(clays) and sometimes pose settling problems in ore tailing thickeners and separation of organic and hydrometallurgical solvents
(emulsied); and the rapid separation by otation of rich protein
bearing dispersions.
Moreover, the aerated ocs may be employed to improve oil enhanced production in the reuse of water in thickener overows and
the treatment of water for reuse in ltered mining pulps (otation
concentrates, for example).
4. Conclusions
The formation of aerated ocs (or aeroocs) has been observed
in several research studies, patents and technologies that promote
and facilitate solidliquid separation operations by occulation
otation. The mechanisms of aerated oc formation involve many
phenomena that occur simultaneously, including the following:
polymer precipitation at the air/liquid interface; uncoiling of the
polymeric chains; bubbles, nucleation and/or coalescence inside
and onto the surface of ocs; bubble-particle collisions, attachments and detachments; heterogeneous precipitation of the pressurised gas; and the interactions of air bubbles with polymeric
macromolecules (occulants). Techniques and technologies for
the formation of these aerated ocs have been described that show
their high throughput. Future wastewater treatment trends
emphasise the importance of understanding and using new phenomena (namely polymer-coated microbubbles or occulant
bubbles) to improve rapid solid/liquid separation by advanced
occulationotation processes.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande do Sul and all of the institutions supporting this research
in Brazil. In addition, the authors thank their colleagues from the
Laboratrio de Tecnologia Mineral e Ambiental (LTM-UFRGS33 years in 2012).
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