FLOTATION IN ENVIROMENTAL APPLICATIONS

Utku Anl Bata Berk engl

Emre Ylmaz

What is flotation??
Flotation is an enrichment process, used for separation of valuable minerals from the gang minerals in the fine size range. Since 1925 It has gained additional importance as a result of its use in environmental applications.

APPLICATIONS
1)Recycling of Glasses 2)Recovery of Plastics 3)Wastepaper Recycling (deinking) 4)Flotation of Fly Ash 5)Electroflotation 6) Dissolved Air (Pressure) Flotation (DAF):

LIFE CYCLE OF GLASSES

From raw material

To Final Product

PLASTICS
Modern industrial and home use of plastics has created an environmental need to recycle waste plastics of a number of different types. Most of the commonly used plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonates,polyacetal, and polypropylene ether are naturally hydrophobic and are readily floated without addition of a flotation collector. Thus, process selectivity is a difficult task. However, plastics vary in their hydrophobicities and their critical surface tensions have been explored using surface-active reagents. Thus, their floatabilities can be modulated by use of suitable depressants, which include sodium lignin sulfonate, tannic acid, and Aerosol OT (Shibata et al., 1996).

Froth flotation is a new technology that can effectively separate two or more types of plastic that have similar or identical densities. It is applied as a finishing step to conventional separation methods already used for plastics of different densities. The froth flotation process uses the surface wetting characteristics of the plastic materials as the basis for separation. The plastics are immersed in a chemical solution that alters the surface-wetting characteristics of the different plastics. Small gas bubbles are attached to the surface of one plastic, causing it to float, while the other plastic sinks.

Selective flotation separation of the PET/PVC mixture is impossible without changing the surface properties of one of these polymers. Both polymers exhibit almost the same degree of hydrophobicity. In this research Tanic acid was employed as a wetting agent for selective depression of PET during flotation.

The selection of reagent and its dosage was based on the contact angle measurement () of PVC and PET at different conditions. Using a full factorial design procedure, the effects of depressant dosage (i.e., Tanic acid), temperature, and pH were optimized. The results indicate that at the optimum conditions, separation of PET and PVC by grade and recovery of more than 99% can be achieved.

The effect of ink types and printing processes on flotation deinking efficiency of wastepaper recycling Xiansheng Nie, J. D. Miller, Y. D. Yeboah
Newsprint oil-based (offset-cold-web/offset-heat) inks, and water-based ink are liquid, and laser-print and photocopy toners are solid powders. Except for water-based ink, which is soluble in water, the other inks (including dried water-based ink) are originally hydrophobic so that separation of ink can be achieved by froth flotation from the cellulose fiber. During the printing processes, newsprint oil-based offset-cold and offset-heat inks, and water-based ink have no significant change in their chemical properties, specifically their hydrophobic characteristics, which makes them easily separated from cellulose fibers by flotation.

On the other hand, during the printing process, the photocopy and laser-print toner particles undergo polymerization and oxidation with subsequent formation of peroxide bonds due to exposure to heat, light, and oxygen (air). The polymerization causes a strong chemical and physical bonding with cellulose fibers and creates larger particle sizes. The oxidation creates a greater polarity at the toner particle surface. Both factors account for the poor efficiency in the flotation deinking.

1.Waste paper 2.Pulper. 3.Koullandrc Tank 4.FolyoTutucu, 5.Flotasyon hcresi6.Filtre

Table 4. Contact angle for different materials

Sample (captive bubble) Blank Newspaper 0.07 Contact angle

Oil-Based Black Ink

Fresh Photocopy Ink Discarded Photocopy Ink

81.27
93.07 68.57 91.57

Fresh Laser Ink

Fly ash flotation

Municipal solid waste (MSW) fly ash has recently attracted much attention because of its large quantity and enrichment of heavy metals with low boiling point and trace organic contaminants such as dioxins.
Column flotation has been widely used in the solids separation encountered in primary mineral and chemical industries, such as coal cleaning (Leja, 1982). The separation process is schematically shown

Schematic diagram of the flotation column: 1, column; 2, gas distributor (porous plate); 3, air compressor; 4, flow controller; 5, flow meter.

As Received Flyash Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at 1000X

Cenospheres removed during benefication. Hollow spheres with A1/Si ratios varied from 1:1 to 1:2. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) photograph at 100X

Large silicate pleurosphere Scanning Electron Microsope (SEM) at 200X

ELECTROFLOTATION
Electroflotation is a method by which dispersed solids are removed from aqueous mixtures by the production of hydrogen and oxygen gas through electrolysis of water. As the gas comes up from solution, particles adhere to the outside of the bubbles and are buoyed to the surface where they are removed by a skimmer

 Electrocoagulation: It involves the electrochemical production of so-called destabilizing agents that neutralize the charge of pollutants and enable easy removal.

Electroflocculation: Electrochemical production of agents that promote particle bridging or coalescence.

Applications of Electroflotation
Waste water treatment (oil,metals) Removal of fluoride from drinking water Purification of purines Emulsified oil in industrial wastes

Wastewater treatment process using electroflotation

Removal of fluoride from drinking water

Electrocoagulation and electroflotation combination Total hydraulic retention time 30 min Fluoride concentration was reduced from initial 4.0-6.0mg/L to lower than 1.0mg/L. Optimal influent pH range is 6.0-7.0 SO(4)(2-) had negative effect; Ca(2+) had positive effect; while Cl(-) had little effect on the fluoride removal Fluoride was reduced from initial 4.0 to 0.87 mg/L.

Purification of purines
Electroflotation consists in transferring the purine from one metal plate to another while injecting a lowvoltage electrical current between the plaques. Using this method and, as a consequence of the electric current, two phenomena are observed: - The iron (Fe2+) from the plates dissolves, coagulating the organic material of the purine and making it flocculent. - Hydrogen bubbles are created making the organic materia float on the water and creating an upper layer easily extractable.

Emulsified oil in industrial wastes

Current and future technologies will have to deal with some areas such as:
Process water treatment and recycling Removal/Recovery of ions *Heavy metal ions must remove the system especially Hg+, Pb2+, Cr6+ **Recovery of precious metals such as Au, Ag, and Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Cyanide & Arsenic emission control

 Oil spills separations Acid mine waters containing considerable amounts of harmful base metals such as nickel, copper, zinc, lead in addition to ferrous iron and sulfate Control and removal of residual chemical reagents such as frothers, flotation collectors and modifiers Separation of various wasted plastics

Table - Examples of some commercially available flotation devices for wastewater treatment

Table - Differences Between Flotation in Mineral Processing and in Wastewater Treatment

Dissolved Air (Pressure) Flotation (DAF)

DAF was recognized as a method of separating particles in the early 20th Century since then has found many applications including: Clarification of refinery wastewater, wastewater reclamation, Separation of solids and other in drinking water treatment plants; Sludge thickening and separation of biological flocs; Removal/separation of ions; Treatment of ultra-fine minerals Removal of organic solids, dissolved oils and VOCs (dissolved toxic organic chemicals);

Typical DAFUnit

Parts of DAF unit

Contact cell or coagulation chamber Flotation cell Surface skimmer Bottoms skimmer or auger. Effluent discharge baffle and chamber. Air saturation (whitewater) system

Cfh air/gpm: Air Solubility

Air Solubility in Water-Pressure

scfh air/gpm: Air Solution Rate

Comparison of Saturator Efficiencies for Different Types of DAF Recycle Pumps

Comparison of Published DAF Design Parameters

THE END

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References
J. Rubio, M.L. Souza, R.W. Smith, Overview of flotation as a wastewater treatment technique, 2001 Charles C. Ross, Brandon, M. Smith, G.E. Valentine, RETHINKING DISSOLVED AIR FLOTATION (DAF) DESIGN FOR INDUSTRIAL PRETREATMENT, WEF and Purdue University Industrial Wastes Technical Conference, 2000 F. N. B. Nahui, M. R. Nascimento, E. B. Cavalcanti, E. O. Vilar, Electroflotation of Emulsified Oil in Industrial Wastes Evaluated with a full Factorial Design Zuo Q., Chen X., Li W., Chen G., Combined Electrocoagulation and Electroflotation for Removal of Fluoride from Drinking Water